Why Do I need to Know About Grass?

hoof of the dead tissue from within especially when the horse has suffered laminitis and a large amount of toxins must be removed. When the blood flow that carries these toxins away from the hoof is compromised by shoeing or lack of movement such as when the horse is footsore and cannot move much then an abcess is the only way to force the toxins out.
So what has this all got to do with grass I hear you say?
Well grass manufactures sugars in the form of nonstructural carbohydrates NSC and when these sugars overload the horses hind gut in simple terms it causes the gut to release toxins into the blood which then flows to the hooves and effects the laminae as described above.
So if we know how to limit the NSC to a safe level then we can save our horse from a lot of suffering and save ourselves from a lot of vet bills.
Most people already realise that a horse who gets into the grain bin and gorges will founder as do ponies on rich grass in spring time.
This is the extreme end of the scale but if we are more aware of what is happening to our horses hooves they will show us that minor episodes of laminitis a major episode is called founder are happening in response to the grass or concentrate feed our horse is eating.
Commonly horses become sensitive in their hooves when they have a minor laminitic attack. You may notice your horse is reluctant to move forward takes short steps or plays up when asked to circle. They will be footsore on gravel or rocky surfaces always looking for the edge where the grass grows or the going is softer. Thats what makes most horse owners reach for the phone to call their farrier to put shoes on when in reality they should be restricting grass intake and buying a set of boots to help protect the hooves in a healthy way when they want to ride.
Some footsoreness can be due to lack of good hoof form ie flat soles therefore sensitive but this is also just another symptom of mild laminitis. The soles appear to have dropped but whats really happening is the hoof wall is seperating and growing forward from the coffin bone because of a weak laminar attatchment causing the sole and coffin bone to become weight bearing and therefore
sensitive to direct pressure.
As you can see the root cause of many hoof problems and therefore soundness is the damage to the laminae which is like velcro it holds the hoof together.
The cause of damage to the laminae is commonly the toxins released from the horses hind gut in response to an overload of sugar.
The sugar overload comes from a high level of sugar or NSC in the grasses the horse eats even in the dried grass hay which is the reason we need to know more about grass.
We need to know when it is safe to allow the horse to eat grass or when the grass has a low level of NSCs.
We need to know what types of grasses have lower levels of NSC and which ones have a higher amount usually those developed for the beef and dairy industries to grow lots of muscle fat and milk.
We need to know what affects the NSC content of grasses like the weather fertilisers used when it is cut for hay etc.