Anyone else with "well" looking horses?!

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AutumnDays

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I know nearly everyone is struggling with crispy beige fields, but I'm assuming what little green is coming through is ultra high calorie because of the weather? Because my three wonkies are on crispy/balding paddocks, no extra hay and only some fast fibre for meds, and they are are looking a bit well! The youngest one I am going to have to take out for in hand marches if she (and me!) copes, ribs have disappeared and her behind is looking rather peachy! The older boys aren't as bad, I can still see the outline of ribs, but are still a little more covered than I'd expect. Anyone else?!
 
AutumnDays said:
I know nearly everyone is struggling with crispy beige fields, but I'm assuming what little green is coming through is ultra high calorie because of the weather? Because my three wonkies are on crispy/balding paddocks, no extra hay and only some fast fibre for meds, and they are are looking a bit well! The youngest one I am going to have to take out for in hand marches if she (and me!) copes, ribs have disappeared and her behind is looking rather peachy! The older boys aren't as bad, I can still see the outline of ribs, but are still a little more covered than I'd expect. Anyone else?!
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Sounds just like ours. Dry crispy field, no hay and just a small feed of FF to take their supplements. All three look very well.
 
Errin Paddywack said:
Sounds just like ours. Dry crispy field, no hay and just a small feed of FF to take their supplements. All three look very well.
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Same here. Dry crispy field, I have been giving some hay overnight as a top up but when I weigh taped the other day they were between ‘spot on’ and ‘well’
I’m going to reduce the overnight hay.
 
Mine are currently being restricted a bit and strip grazed as they are all looking rather well too! It does seem to have stopped growing back as quickly now after last week’s heat wave though but I’ve got lots of fenced off grass too!
 
Mine are an ideal weight at the moment, but only because I am feeding winter levels of hay. If we don't get rain, soon, I'll have to open up the winter grazing, which I normally do in November. :(
 
I weighed my 14 sheep this morning. They are running on 12.5 acres of no grass grassland. In 17 days they have put on a total of 51kg between them. Four aged ewes 20kg, five shearling ewes 16kg and five ewe lambs 15kg. I had intended to start feeding sugarbeet this week prior to tupping but it looks as if that is not necessary at the moment. One ewe had put on a whopping 8kg.

What grass there is must be rocket fuel.
 
rabatsa said:
I weighed my 14 sheep this morning. They are running on 12.5 acres of no grass grassland. In 17 days they have put on a total of 51kg between them. Four aged ewes 20kg, five shearling ewes 16kg and five ewe lambs 15kg. I had intended to start feeding sugarbeet this week prior to tupping but it looks as if that is not necessary at the moment. One ewe had put on a whopping 8kg.

What grass there is must be rocket fuel.
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Yes, my Shetland ewes are looking quite well too, despite them screaming starvation whenever they see me with anything bucket shaped!
 
That's really interesting to hear - we're sadly not at all the same and are on winter feeding of hay and hard feeds to try and maintain weight and they're really hungry. I think they're also sick to death of dry hay and dry crispy grass, I've never known the so keen on their hard feeds.
 
Mine are hangry at eachother in the gateway - and clearly keen to come in during the day for a net/away from the flies (even though that is actually part of their slimworld regime 🤔). But yes, they’re quite round despite the exercise and what looks like nothing in the field. The Welsh more-so than the PRE … no surprises there.
 
My 2 bays are on the rounder side still, even with my field now identifying as a desert. They get a small amount of hay morning and night now as there really is nothing out there. Hedge browsing the small offerings seems to be sustaining the round look. I'm sure they have dropped a little which has been a blessing for them.
 

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Mine are also acting like they’re starving (so are the sheep in the neighbouring fields strangely. Screaming at me if they see me with hay) yet poo count/volume hasn’t dropped and they’re still weightaping the same 🤷‍♀️ at least they’re not still putting on. Muzzles will back on if/when it rains because I think the grass will go mental when it does! They are drinking LOADS as well, thought my trough had a leak 😝
 
Bare & crispy here for the vast majority of the summer, although ever so slightly green tinged last couple of weeks.

The old retired mare is fat. She has always lived off fresh air though.
One 2yo is on the fatter side of good, the tall lanky 2yo is spot on, the rapidly growing yearling is on the lighter side of good.

The babies need hay. The old fatty doesn’t really, but gets it anyway
 
I'm almost finding it harder with my little fat pony. Most summers I muzzle and he is out with the others over night. Now I can't muzzle as there is no grass, literally but that means I'm feeding huge amounts of hay in the field so he's getting ad-lib hay- Maybe i need to muzzle to slow the hay consumption. 🤷‍♀️ I can't believe how much of a tummy he has.
 
My cob has been muzzled 24/7 pretty much since March. We took them off the summer grazing 6 weeks ago as there was just too much so have decided to save it until the current field is bare (also gives the summer field some rare summer rest time). Winter field is fully grown back. Not normally in use until January. It's all a bit odd and backwards but clearly the underground water in our area must be doing OK as we've not seen proper rain for months and they keep talking about hosepipe bans.
 
I've spent the afternoon putting a track up in one of the scrubby, less stressed fields that the sheep had been grazing for a couple of weeks. A lot of swearing, as tape always gets caffled, and the clay ground is baked solid. Snapped a few posts and bent a few ground spikes 🙈 hopefully with this some weight will start to shift a bit. Have order a trickle bale net too for when I do need to feed hay, but I need to see ribs again first!
 
Ours don’t look bad at all but our field isn’t completely brown. Still has green areas amongst the poo. Hasn’t been harrowed as no rain to wash it in! Looks pretty awful. Still putting out hay too!
 
We toss up between worrying about potential laminitis, on greener field or sand colic from grazing on brown crispy field. Feeding hay not feeding hay.. almost looking forward to winter...almost😜
 
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