Advice in adlib feeding please

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Festivepony

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Hi,

I'm having a bit of a disagreement with a friend I share the care of a horse with.The horse is out during the day and in at night. He's last tended to about 5pm, he has hay overnight. The dispute is about how much hay he needs and how early in the morning either of us put him out, or give more hay if we're keeping him in that day.

He's a good doer and tends to get fat, but I still think he needs enough hay to last all night or at least most of it. I get there about 8am and his net is empty. I've been putting one net inside another to slow him down, and stuffing it full. This way sometimes he still has a tiny bit left in the morning. He has a straw bed which he nibbles a little bit but not much.

My friend says I'm mad. She thinks he should have very little hay at night to stop him getting fat. She doesn't think the two net thing is necessary and says it doesn't matter if he eats it all in the first few hours and is left without. When it's her turn to do him in the morning she doesn't go up until 10am or later and when I said that's too late she said I'm being fussy as he's fine.

I've always thought horses needed adlib forage but she says they don't need food available all the time. Is she right and I'm worrying about nothing, or am I right?
 
If stabling I always have a little left the next morning, even if it's double/triple haulage netted. Hate a horse with nothing through its system. Starvation paddock at last yard always has hay out too. Nothing to do with putting on weight, but to keep something going through.
 
Never had a good doer so not really sure on that, but double netting ia a good idea wapecially if hes likely to hobble it all in the first few hours, personally they shoul have enough hay to last them, unless they are overweight. does he get hay during the day? does he get hard feed at all? what i dont agree on is f the horse is put in stable at 5 then 10 am is defintley too late!! You are right. Not your friend. I put my girl in at 9.30pm and get down for 8/8.30. I don't think a horse should be in a stable more than 12/13 hours unless for a health reason. It's like someone being locked in their bedroom for 14 hours lol
 
I would never forgive myself if I didn't get up and muck out until 10am. I start having kittens if they're not all finished by 7am. 10am is way too late in my opinion.

I think you're doing the right thing - they need something going through their systems to keep their gut functioning properly. Starving a horse doesn't work - it just causes problems.
 
PandorasJar said:
Ah just seen its a straw bed and eating too... Why not do a second net of straw?
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My friend would never agree to this. She already thinks he has too much hay.

Will it do him any harm running out of hay please? Especially the mornings when it's my friend's turn and she doesn't get there till later.
 
moodymare_1993 said:
Never had a good doer so not really sure on that, but double netting ia a good idea wapecially if hes likely to hobble it all in the first few hours, personally they shoul have enough hay to last them, unless they are overweight. does he get hay during the day? does he get hard feed at all? what i dont agree on is f the horse is put in stable at 5 then 10 am is defintley too late!! You are right. Not your friend. I put my girl in at 9.30pm and get down for 8/8.30. I don't think a horse should be in a stable more than 12/13 hours unless for a health reason. It's like someone being locked in their bedroom for 14 hours lol
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You say "unless they are overweight", so is it okay then for an overweight horse to run out of hay?

He doesn't have a hard feed and there's still a bit of grass in the field so he doesn't get hay during the day.
 
Festivepony said:
Will it do him any harm running out of hay please? Especially the mornings when it's my friend's turn and she doesn't get there till later.
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As he is on straw, thus can and will nibble on that, I would be more concerned about his lack of access to water (given the freezing temps we have been having).
 
If he was on the larger side of things and was running out of hay it wouldn't bother me too much. But when all the grass has totally gone he would benefit from having a full tummy in tbe stable especially if not feeding hay in the field. I think rather than addressing more hay with your friend that you need to address the fact that putting a horse in at 5 and not getting down till atleast 10 in the morning is the bigger problem. Its not good enough IMO. If he holds his weight well, I wouldn't worry about not hack g hay in the morning although it is ideal. If he has some left, it tells you that he has a nice full belly of hay
 
moodymare_1993 said:
*not having hay* my last post isn't meant to be rude, if it comes out that wAy then sorry. But I would be having words with your friend about getting down that late in the morning.
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It's very hard as we're really good friends and in every other way she's great with him. This is the only thing we don't agree on, and I need to know whether it's worth risking upsetting her.
 
Starzaan, I've said it once and I'll say it again - pack up your yard and find premises near to me. I need you in my life!

I have had to relent and change fatties routine, she now has more work, more hay and I have given up with the netting, double netting, trickle netting... I have never seen her happier in the stable than the first night I gave in and piled it on the floor. Seeing her snuffle through it like a proper horse was lovely.

10am is far too late for a horse put to bed at 5. He needs more hay and more work!
 
BillieBlitzen said:
Starzaan, I've said it once and I'll say it again - pack up your yard and find premises near to me. I need you in my life!

I have had to relent and change fatties routine, she now has more work, more hay and I have given up with the netting, double netting, trickle netting... I have never seen her happier in the stable than the first night I gave in and piled it on the floor. Seeing her snuffle through it like a proper horse was lovely.

10am is far too late for a horse put to bed at 5. He needs more hay and more work!
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Does your horse eat the hay really quickly on the floor though? Or do you just give her loads?
 
I think the best option is a compromise between the two extremes. If he is actually overweight then I wouldn't want him to have so much hay that there is a little left in the morning, particularly as he has a straw bed which you say he nibbles at, so it is not like he is left without any fibre at all. However, I would take measures to slow his consumption down, such as double-netting, or using a tricklenet.
 
Well, she certainly eats it more quickly than in a net but not a dramatic difference to be honest. She doesn't have enough to have quite ad lib as I simply can not give her enough work but she is muzzled during the day, ridden 5 times a week at least and now has another large wedge and a half and she is still dropping weight. In an ideal world I would like to be able to give her over half a bale a night but I just can't....
 
Nothing makes me more angry than a lazy owner who thinks its ok to lie in bed until mid morning whilst their horse is stood in its stable waiting for them.

The only way you'll resolve that is to the horse am yourself.
 
If your good friends like you say you are, then it shouldn't hurt the friendship. Just drop a few hints here and there And if she doesn't listen or understand then you'll just have to say it how it is, cuz ATM while your friend does the horse it is stuck in a stable for 17 hours, which only means 7 hours out in the field. Either that or put the horse to bed at a later time and by that I mean 8/9 pm. She should understand as a horse owner thAt 17 hours in a stable is not fair on the horse :/
 
I used to share a horse with my friend and we had the exact same problems as you have now. We are so different!

I wanted the horse out as she was hardy but friend wanted her in. In the end she came in, but then friend didnt want to pay much for hay so on her days didnt give her much at all and HATED mornings so poor horse was turned out eventually on her days.

She still has the horse and I have my own now as I couldnt bare sharing any more. Shes in her stable by 4pm and not turned out again until 11am... All on a couple of slices of hay. Friend complains when I put hay out in the field. I personally think shes trying to save money at

Could your friend be thinking the same?
 
Horses should always have something to eat.
If they are waitching their weight then just slow down their feeding rate.

what you say is correct.
He should not be left without.

Plus 10 am is far to late to be seen to.
If she i going to the yard later cant she atleast get someone to give hima haynet in the morning.


Not the sort or person i would want looking after my horse.
 
Horses are trickle feeders, they always need something passing through them or they're going to get a belly full of acid. I would feed hay, not haylage, double/tripple netted. If he is still munching through it all, put another net up or if he is overweight soak them.

10am is also far too late to turn up when your horse was last seen at 5pm! :eek: nothing more annoying for me. If he was seen at 7-8am, there probably would be hay left.
 
I don't have a problem with my horses not having hay left in the morning but then they get hayed at 5pm, fed at 7pm and hayed again at 10 pm. They get fed and turned out at 7am.

I do think leaving a horse at 5 pm and not feeding again until 10 am is too long although it would appear that your horse isn't coming to any harm. If the horse is overweight then I would be concerned about giving him too much food. How about soaking his hay for 12 hours a s then giving him two decent sized double netted haynets?
 
I completely agree with you - he does need ad-lib forage. If he is fat, then maybe soaked hay in small holed haynets is a good alternative as some of the nutrients will have been removed when it has been soaked which in turn means some of the calories have been removed. Horses are trickle feeders and are designed to eat little and often and to be able to graze freely. Obviously by stabling them we are going against this somewhat, so providing ad-lib forage is the next best thing. Also, restricting forage will cause boredom, which in turn could lead to vices and also stomach ulcers are caused by horses being left without forage regularly for a long period of time - research has shown that this is three hours. If a horse is left without forage for longer than three hours then the stomach reaches dangerously high acidic levels which is uncomfortable and stressful for the horse. The acid damages the stomach lining causing problems such as ulcers. Horses have a great desire to chew as part of their mental wellbeing - preventing this is unnatural and very unfair for a horse.

My boy is on ad-lib haylage. He has a haynet in his stable all day which he 'grazes' on and then I give him two haynets overnight and he always has a bit left in the morning - which is what I aim for to ensure he gets a continuous supply.

Oops - this was long, sorry! But this is something I feel very strongly about and a lot of people just don't seem to realise how important it is.
 
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