Advice on feeding please .....confused

Erow4945

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I have a 15’2 sports horse and a 14’1 Connemara. Both are ridden 3/4 times a week. They are turned out daily on grass 7am-5pm and brought in at night. I’ve been giving them one section of hay, a scoop of fast fibre and pasture mix plus vitamins. Both seem to finish their hay in a heart beat never anything left. I alway increase it to 3 sections in winter and same hard feed. Is this correct? I’ve seen so many posts I’m starting to doubt myself!! my new hay is very soft and light compared to last years would you add some straw to it, so it last longer?? Thanks xx
 

daydreamer

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Feeding is said to be a science and an art! There are many variables to think about - what is your grazing like? how intense is their work? what body condition are they currently in? how old are they? are they good doers or do they struggle to keep weight on? what time are they given the hay and how are they fed it?

Really you need to weigh your hay to make sure they are getting enough. Forage should not be restricted to less than 1.5% of bodyweight per day and feeding 2% is often given as a guideline. How are you giving it to them - loose or in a haynet? Obviously a haynet or a double haynet will make it last longer. You could soak the hay to reduce the calories and therefore feed more so it lasts longer.

It doesn't sound much hay to me but then I am used to feeding an old TB! If they were mine and in good condition I would probably cut out the pasture mix, add a vitamin and mineral supplement or a balancer and then up the hay to give the extra calories.

Most of the big feed companies have advice lines so you could ring up those and get some different opinions (I'd try a couple because they might be inclined to try and push their own products!)
 

JillA

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Equines need fibre in the gut at all times, otherwise they are prone to ulcers. If you feel more than the hay you are feeding (which to me isn't anywhere near enough, my lot get at least 3 slices/night) will lead to weight gain, supplement it with good quality clean straw. Otherwise they will be spending most of the night with nothing to do and very little in the gut, risking boredom vices and ulcers
 
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TGM

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What is their condition like? If they are not overweight at all then I would give them as much hay as they can eat overnight. If necessary, reduce the pasture mix and fast fibre to the minimum needed to mix the vit/mins in.

If they are prone to being overweight even when hard feed is reduced then you can look at other ways of reducing the amount they eat. Perhaps using a smaller holed net for some of the ration, or mixing some straw into it or soaking the hay ration to reduce the sugar level. But if them being overweight is not an issue you should feed ad lib hay as this is better for them in terms of gut health and also from a mental point of view, having something to pick at all night.
 
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Pearlsasinger

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1 section of a small bale of hay is really not very much at all. I would expect the bigger horse to eat at least 1/2 a bale per night. You could probably cut down/out the pasture mix, which will most likely be a high starch & high sugar feed. TBH, your current regime sounds like a textbook recipe for gastric ulcers. If you think that they are getting too fat on more hay, you can mix it with long straw (oat or barley) or plain oat straw chaff but they must have access to forage all night, to keep their digestive systems healthy. If your horses are bedded on straw, they may have been eating that rather than starve overnight.

I am not surprised that you are confused, horse feed companies tell us that we need to feed all sorts of things that they can put into bags, while really to be healthy horses just need grass in one form or another.
 

Red-1

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My 15.3 is on 4 sections of hay at night, but different bales will have different weights of flaps so weighing is preferable.

Having said that, mine is a good weight (slightly over but still sleek looking as opposed to podgy) so has enough hay that she does not run out, but in a small holed net so it is not as much as it would otherwise be. As she never runs out and is a good weight, I don't weigh.

I don't feed hard feed per se unless they are in fast work. She is having some Lami-gel with a handful of Agrobs just to act as a carrier for vitamins.

ETA - mine gets one of these nets when she comes in at 3pm and another at 9pm, but she could have both at once as she always has spare.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Standard...var=572801782473&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
 

twiggy2

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My 15.1hh mare never had less than 2/3 a small bale of hay per night even when in light work and with that she would always have access to straw as she would eat all the hay every night. She was never fat.
My daughters 15 hh mare would eat less and had at least half a bale and often a little left in the morning, she was never offered straw as she was not so greedy.
If they had no hay left one morning they would be given a bit more the next night and that increase would continue if needed till they had a little left in the morning.
They would also have a section in the field each on winter morning-first thy did not pig out on frosty grass.
When in hard work and turned out from 7-3 (livery rules) my mare was happily eating well over a bale a night.
They need fibre in the gut at all times, one section is nowhere near enough.
They won't need the hard feed though, so I would give a handful of fast fibre with supplements and as fibre as they will eat, all hay if their weight is poor or perfect and some straw mixed in if overweight or gaining too quick.
 

Erow4945

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Am I reading this correctly? One section of hay (from a small bale?) is all they get from 5pm to 7am?

ETA - you've asked this question before and have been given advice. I don't understand why you ever thought that one section was enough? https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/hay-consumption-help.768142/
Am I reading this correctly? One section of hay (from a small bale?) is all they get from 5pm to 7am?

ETA - you've asked this question before and have been given advice. I don't understand why you ever thought that one section was enough? https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/hay-consumption-help.768142/


Is there really a need to be a bitch?? No but having checked out how many other posts you have made it’s clear you need to get a life... thanks for the reminder it’s amazing what you forget ..
 

twiggy2

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Is there really a need to be a bitch?? No but having checked out how many other posts you have made it’s clear you need to get a life... thanks for the reminder it’s amazing what you forget ..
Wow, what a response.
To be fair you have asked this question before and had plenty of replies.
 

JillA

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Is there really a need to be a bitch?? No but having checked out how many other posts you have made it’s clear you need to get a life... thanks for the reminder it’s amazing what you forget ..
Play nice - people have taken the trouble to respond with suggestions - if you don't like it, the answer is to leave, not antagonise people
 

Red-1

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Is there really a need to be a bitch?? No but having checked out how many other posts you have made it’s clear you need to get a life... thanks for the reminder it’s amazing what you forget ..

Wow, not sure why you have responded like that. I had not realised you had already recently asked the question - and had it answered perfectly reasonably. If I had realised, I would not have taken the time and trouble to answer. I can only presume you didn't like the answers first time round? Anyway, this time, like last, the horse needs to eat more.
 

Upthecreek

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It’s really very simple and I find it truly amazing the amount of horse owners that ask about this......... give them more hay, add straw, whatever combination you want but horses need access to forage at all times. If they are stabled from 5pm until 7am they need enough forage to last this amount of time. If you arrive in the morning and they have some leftover so what? Better than spending hours with nothing to eat.
 

NinjaPony

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My 11.2hh welsh a gets more than 1 slice a night...! He gets 1 slice when he comes in at 3, then 2 slices overnight, soaked to reduce sugar. My 14.2hh connemara gets about 9 kg of haylage split into one small net when he comes in, and one big one when I go home. Sometimes there is some left over but as others have said, better leftovers than not enough. At the moment all I need to feed him is a scoop of hifi plus supplements twice a day. Much better to give plenty of forage, and not much hard feed, than the other way round..
 

Hallo2012

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kids pony is prone to being very fat and he does only get approx 1.5 slices of hay overnight BUT he also has ad lib straw chaff in a big trug which he eats more slowly so if you are worried about weight gain try that.

i use the E-feeds one.
 
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