horse in paddock

Does your horse have a spring in their step?

Across a lot of paddocks, we’re starting to see the first flush of sweet, fresh, yummy green grass, and along with it the excitement in our horse’s eyes… but what if that also means excitement in other places?

Spring grasses are generally high in sugars, high in moisture, high in potassium and low in magnesium and fibre content – and they’re also delicious to nearly all horses. While many horses handle the changes in spring pastures without any issues, in some normally quiet horses and ponies these elements can contribute to them exhibiting spooky or excitable behaviour.

There are a few tools that can be used to reduce intake of spring grasses if they are causing behavioural problems such as reduced turnout time, strip grazing and grazing muzzles. Incorporating hay and fibre based feeds, such as the Johnson’s Natural Formula range, can also replace some or all of their requirements and reduce the impact of the spring grass while still ensuring your horse is receiving the vital fibre and minerals they need to keep the gut healthy and counteract some of the undesirable elements in fast growing spring grass.