# Centipede grass. Is it horse safe?



## BlondieHorseChic (May 6, 2011)

A place i am considering keeping my horse/turning into a pasture is lush with centipede grass. I have searched it on google to see if its horse safe and have found nothing that says YES or NO.
Any one know anything about it from experience? or better searching/computer skills?

these were my thoughts on it
>it grows with a root system that comes up when you pull on a blade of the grass. when a horse is grazing on it will it end up eating more dirt?
> it supposably is a courser grass so it wears the teeth down naturally
> it supposably has some nutrients, but never found exact ones and i don't know much about the nutrients grass should provide.


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## BlondieHorseChic (May 6, 2011)

Any thoughts/ ideas anyone?


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## BlondieHorseChic (May 6, 2011)

No one?


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## BlondieHorseChic (May 6, 2011)

No input? Anyone?


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Sorry, never heard of it. Does it have another name?


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## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

Centipede grass is not the best forage for horses. It is low growing and not leafy. It wont do any harm to your horse, but it will not provide adequate forage for your horse by itself. if you want to know the exact nutrient count on it, i would suggest taking a sample of it and sending the sample to a lab. The grass can vary from place to place due to soil quality.


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## BlondieHorseChic (May 6, 2011)

Ok. Thanks. It's not a long term grass for my horse, it's just at a place I trailer to on weekends and I didn't know if I should continue to bring hay or let him graze. He still gets grain no matter what though.


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## wetrain17 (May 25, 2011)

If he is there all night as well, I would throw him a couple of flakes of hay. It certainly won't hurt anything and he may enjoy having the option. If he is only there a couple of hours, there's no reason to bring hay and you can let him graze.


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## BlondieHorseChic (May 6, 2011)

Ok. Thanks that's really helpful!


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

In my experience, he'll tell you if hay is necessary. When hay gets scarce on my pasture, my girls will eat as much hay as I put out for them. If there is plenty of good grass, they won't touch the hay.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

iridehorses said:


> In my experience, he'll tell you if hay is necessary. When hay gets scarce on my pasture, my girls will eat as much hay as I put out for them. If there is plenty of good grass, they won't touch the hay.


I have heard other people say this, but it is not always true.
Just because a horse eats all the hay does not mean there is or is not enough grass.

Two of my three will eat every stitch of their hay before going out to graze. No idea why, but they do.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Just because a horse eats all the hay does not mean there is or is not enough grass.


While that may be true (as it is in your case), it is better to have it out there and not need it then wish you had put it out. Bottom line, put some hay out and if they don't eat it, you can be fairly confident that the grass is enough and tastes better - but watch the grass to be sure they don't eat it all down and you need to supplement with hay. If they do eat it, then they may prefer the taste over the grass or there isn't enough grass - either way they win.


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## Royal Pine Buck (May 28, 2011)

iridehorses said:


> While that may be true (as it is in your case), it is better to have it out there and not need it then wish you had put it out. Bottom line, put some hay out and if they don't eat it, you can be fairly confident that the grass is enough and tastes better - but watch the grass to be sure they don't eat it all down and you need to supplement with hay. If they do eat it, then they may prefer the taste over the grass or there isn't enough grass - either way they win.


 
this^ i agree wholeheartedly. it is always good so they have the option. it is better to put some hay out and them not eat, than not to have any options at all. horses can eat grass down very quick (depending on the amount of pasture,weather conditions,amount of horses. etc) 

better safe than sorry.
and putting hay out won't hurt anything.


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