is it okay for horses to be loose?

this is probably a stupid question, since I am not a horse person, but in the last few weeks coming home I have seen horses in peoples front yards that look like they are loose (no fencing) eating grass. right now our wild grass is growing like crazy because of spring time. I live in a rurual area where everyone has horses. but this has been off pretty busy roads. I was wondering if they just let their horses out to eat down the grass.

honeybear

 

when we were kids we would tie our horses to a metal thing.. (cant remember what it is called) and they would eat the grass in our yard... we didnt have a lawn mower LOL

are you sure they aren't tied to something?

 

they could be, I was driving by pretty fast, and their heads were down eating. what made me think of people letting out the horses to eat the grass is that it has be mowed because when it dries out, its a huge fire danger. my husband and I say we want to get a goat to clear our property since it takes my husbnad about 5 week-end sto cut the spring grass. LOL then he says no, I would have the goat sleeping with us.

I will stop next time I see a horse like that to see if they they are tied out, they ddint looke like they anything around their neck though

 

The horses might be hobbled, rather than staked out. Hobbles go on their legs, not their heads.

We used to have a horse that wouldn't step over any kind of wire or string on the ground. So we'd put him in the yard and lay twine around him. That was all it took to keep him in the yard.

 

I bet they were hobbled. I let my horse out all the time to eat. I'll just let the lead rope drag on the ground and when he steps on it he backs up about 10 steps so he never really goes anywhere and does a great job mowing down the yard.

 

thanks everyone, hobbled, boy a new word for me.

honeybear

 

honeybears,

We have goats, don't plan on them eatting the grass. They strip the trees and bushes first and won't hardly touch the grass. We have 24 goats and have over a foot high grass in places.

April