Managing Your Horses During Drought Conditions

supply to preserve the longevity of your pasture Hiney continues. It cant handle two stressors at the same time being overgrazed and underwatered. Think about your pasture as a valuable resource you want to protect. I think thats the biggest lesson. If you overuse it it can take years to get it back.
Hiney suggests contacting a hay supplier sooner when its hot and dry because hay sources often become limited. Also dont forget to figure the additional expense into your hay budget for the year. A little preplanning helps you be prepared to pay a bit more than usual.
Grazing Weeds and Toxic Plants
When grasses go dormant weeds may not because many weeds tend to be more resilient than grasses. Your horse may be ingesting more weeds than usual some of which might be toxic.
There are also some plants that become more toxic during drought conditions Hiney says. We tell people to avoid the sorghums. Those plants when theyre stressed can be potentially more toxic to horses.
If horses come off pasture and are restricted to a dry lot take a close look at your fence lines and the weeds growing along them. The horses arent going to be happy about life without any greens to graze even if youre feeding them hay. Theyre going to try reaching over and under the fence.
Is there a hotwire thats functioning? Hiney asks. Whats the twofeet buffer like from the fence? Have you cleared that and are there any weeds? Birds poop out seeds on the fence. Thats why you get such a different variety of weeds along the fence line versus in the pasture. Plus fence lines are kind of protected from being mowed or eaten. You really want to pay attention because your horses are going to be reaching for a snack.
Watch out

for signs that your horse may have ingested a toxic plant. Unusual salivating blisters in the mouth or an alternation in the GI tract such as diarrhea could indicate they got into an irritant. Altered motor functions lethargy and holding the head differently can also be signs of nervous system trouble. Other possible signs include elevated heart rate pale gums labored breathing and colic
Exercising Horses in Drought
Besides humans and primates horses are the only mammals that cool themselves primarily by sweating. During hot humid weather sweat doesnt evaporate and a horses body doesnt cool down as it should. If youre