Founder Danger From Drought

Although most of us are well aware of the danger of that young spring grass and it’s ability to cause laminitis, colic and diarrhea, many of us don’t realize that grass that has been stressed by drought can cause these problems too.

When stressed by drought most cool-season grasses accumulate sugar and fructan (a type of sugar). The growth slows but the sugar levels rise in intense sunlight. This can make the grass as dangerous as the new spring grass for horses predisposed to founder. It is many of our hardiest and most common grasses that are most likely to cause the problem.

When the rains return the fructan and starches are converted into sugars. The new green shoots can be very high in sugar. This can cause digestive upsets and laminitis.  It can also cause a metabolic crisis in a horse with impared glucose metabolism.

Alternatives are restricting pasture and feeding more hay. Of course drought years make hay less available and more expensive which doesn’t help things. But you can consider limiting your horses exposure until the grass is 2 or 3 inches high (whereupon the grass growth has used up the excess carbs) by dry-lotting part of the day or putting up portable  fences to allow restricted strip grazing.

Be careful when restricting your horses grazing that you are not forcing him to eat weeds that could be toxic or disruptive to his digestive system. Even weeds they would normally eat such as dandelion and thistle can cause problems when stressed by drought.

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