Am I starving my pony 🙈

I am reluctant to feed straw but am going to. I use trickle nets and small cob can still eat 6kg in 2 hours. Last year she had bad faecal water and vet suggested needing more fibre might be a reason.

Horses can't digest one of the fibres in straw ( lignin I think) which is what can cause compaction, along with not chewing it properly. There are a few studies on feeding straw, one notes a high incidence of colic but those horses were being fed 100% wheat straw.

BHS advice on feeding straw and a link to the 30% barley straw study

Feeding horses: horse diet & feed | The British Horse Society

Like us, horse’s need a healthy, balanced diet, so it is important to understand the basic requirements for feeding horses.
www.bhs.org.uk www.bhs.org.uk



Finding organic oat straw would be ideal. I have tried and failed, even the straw chaffs aren't organic.

Nitrates in straw:
 
Straw does definitely cause colic in some horses my friends horse kept getting colic whilst on a straw bed, bed changed no more colic so it can affect some.

If I remember rightly AdorableAlice on here had a horse that was really ill from eating straw.
 
Pinkvboots said:
Straw does definitely cause colic in some horses my friends horse kept getting colic whilst on a straw bed, bed changed no more colic so it can affect some.

If I remember rightly AdorableAlice on here had a horse that was really ill from eating straw.
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Has anyone come across a horse kept in the field 24/7 getting an impaction from eating oat or barley straw?

We used to give the ponies who gorged a straw bed, shavings. It drove up the cost of stabling at shows.

I can imagine that anything that is sprayed with anti-fungals is more likely to give a horse colic.
 
Jambarissa said:
I am reluctant to feed straw but am going to. I use trickle nets and small cob can still eat 6kg in 2 hours. Last year she had bad faecal water and vet suggested needing more fibre might be a reason.

Horses can't digest one of the fibres in straw ( lignin I think) which is what can cause compaction, along with not chewing it properly. There are a few studies on feeding straw, one notes a high incidence of colic but those horses were being fed 100% wheat straw.

BHS advice on feeding straw and a link to the 30% barley straw study

Feeding horses: horse diet & feed | The British Horse Society

Like us, horse’s need a healthy, balanced diet, so it is important to understand the basic requirements for feeding horses.
www.bhs.org.uk www.bhs.org.uk



Finding organic oat straw would be ideal. I have tried and failed, even the straw chaffs aren't organic.

Nitrates in straw:
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Re lingin: equines & mammoths adapted over millions of years to chew cellulose and lignin with their teeth.
That’s why equine teeth keep growing: naturally they are constantly worn down by chewing abrasive grasses and browsing on trees.

In an unnatural situation, the vet/ equine dentist wears down equine teeth instead of the lignin.

Natives munch away on heather that is 40% lignin (although they only browse the softer shoots).

That’s why you shouldn’t feed straw if the horses have poor dentition. Their stomach can’t break down the lingnin/ only their teeth: hence why people say horses can’t digest lignin.

It’s also why equines are such an important part of ‘rewilding’ projects: naturally wool mammoths were the only other cold-climate herbivore that could eat the most abrasive plants and they have gone extinct.
 
We feed a hay straw mix routinely to weight management cases at work. Sometimes Barley and sometimes wheat straw. They are on a soaked 1.5% hay diet then have straw to pick at when hay finished. We have had a few mild impactions doing this, but a very small percentage of the ponies kept this way. The key to avoiding colic seems to be good dentition as mentioned above and movement. Not had any cases where straw was fed and they were on turnout or in a large area. Need to be careful if bringing in to small area due to lami flare it stacks the risk factors of no movement, change of diet and suddenly no grass. In these cases we start with hay only and give sloppy fibre feeds for the first few days to ensure enough fluid intake then slowly introduce straw after a week or so and wean off the fibres- not had any cases since doing it that way.
 
Michen said:
I have a retired Connemara who has always been a good weight and been free fed forage. In the last couple of weeks he has piled on weight and had puffy hollows above his eyes, pulses and a hot foot. I removed him from grass immediately and then worked back up to a couple of hours turnout a day (he has a stable with an attached little dirt run/paddock so not confirmed to box rest!).

Feet are now cold and all settled. I’ve been weighing his hay- what a revelation- and feeding 9kg a day which seems right for his body weight (500kg ish). Soaked hay. I honestly think his hay has been almost halved so I’m a bit horrified at how much I’ve been allowing him to eat with ad lib!

But, despite being fed from a slow feeder- I can’t do a tiny haynet as he has neck arthritis- he’s getting through it quick and therefore having long overnight periods without forage. Not ideal. I can’t do more than twice a day feeds most of the time.

I’m also unsure if he’s even getting enough- in a 12 hour period he did 3 poos overnight. That seems about half of what’s normal for him, and I can only assume because less food going through him? But the weighting seems correct…

He is at least self exercising
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To maintain weight , aim for around 2 - 2.5% total food intake, so around 10kg - 3 poos in 12hrs is a little light . If hay soaked well ( not just an hour ) or is under 10% combined sugar and starch then I would probably feed more to ensure they werent without for too long . I would also maybe consider having bloods done on your next routine vet visit to check for EMS and Cushings as the puffy hollows above the eyes are an indicator.
 
I appreciate with Bog there are slightly different considerations due to the past ulcers etc, but mine absolutely have limited soaked hay overnight and I’ve never had any issues (three different horses - elderly Connie, young Shetland and big ID x Connie). If I let them have ad lib I’d have three porkers on my hands…!
 
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