Spring grazing gets all the buzz. But, did you know that fall grass can be just as dangerous as its springtime counterpart?
Keeping your grazing horse safe during the fall season
Tune in September 21 at 8 p.m. EST for a free webinar with Dr. Joyce Harman to learn why fall grass can be just as dangerous for your grazing horse as its springtime counterpart.
Tune in September 21 at 8 p.m. EST for a free webinar with Dr. Joyce Harman
Learn all about how you can keep your own horse safe during fall grazing with this FREE, interactive webinar on Wednesday, September 21 at 8 p.m. EST with leading holistic veterinarian Dr. Joyce Harman.
âWhile grass tends to be lower in fructans and starch during the summer heat, the situation changes as the nighttime temperatures dip in the fall,â said internationally known integrative veterinarian Dr. Joyce Harman, owner and operator of Harmany Equine. âLaminitis is a very real threat once the nights turn cool and grass gets stressed.â
Here are a few teaser tips (be sure to tune into the webinar for more!):
- Watch the overnight temperatures. Grass produces sugar and starch due to photosynthesis during the day. During warmer months, grass would burn up these carbs during the night (thus making the early morning hours the safest time to graze). However, grass likes to hold onto the sugars overnight during the Fall, therefore it's not a good idea to let your horse graze on pasture when it was below 40 degrees the night before.
- Stressed grass is high in sugar! Grasses that have been over-grazed during the summer months, suffering from drought or grass that has been touched by frost is stressed, therefore it is unsafe to let your at-risk horse graze.
- Take a close look at brown grass. Although warm season grasses go dormant in the Fall, be careful before you turn your insulin resistant or laminitic horse out on brown grass-- many times, if it's still warm during the day, there will be green, sugar-rich blades still growing.
Want to learn more? Register for the free âFall Grazingâ webinar on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. EST. Click here to register.
ABOUT JOYCE HARMAN
Dr. Joyce Harman opened Harmany Equine Clinic, Ltd in 1990, bringing holistic healing to horses from all walks of life, backyard retirees to Olympic competitors. Over the years, Dr. Joyce Harman has observed and adapted to the changing needs the industry. Twenty-plus years ago, no one had heard of Lyme disease or Insulin Resistance, yet today that makes up a large part of her clinical practice.
In 2001, she wrote the first paper in a peer-reviewed journal about the possibility that horses have insulin resistance (IR), and now it is part of our every day conversation. In 2004 she published the first comprehensive book on English saddle fitting since the 1800âs, with the western version of the book following in 2006. To this date, these books are the only books written by an author who is independent from a saddle company, which brings unbiased information to the horse world.