Anyone else..?

[Pasture Mix]

..Get fed up of worrying about how much hard feed you're feeding?

In short, my girls don't get ridden a lot in winter by any stretch (I even have their shoes taken off!) and in the day they are turned out in a one-acre field which has been rested for about 6/7 months, which they strip graze. Once the grass is low, I put measured amounts of hay out. They have haynets in the stables overnight and straw beds which they will pick at.

I'm thinking of scrapping hard feed altogether. They don't have it in summer any more, partly as I have to force-feed it to SS as she is so lazy. The only reason they have it nowadays is to supplement - biotin, garlic and general purpose vits and mins. Since they no longer have it in summer it seems a bit moot in winter.

Any one else given up hard feed and gone back to basics? Would you give salt licks and mineral bricks instead?

Just trying to make life simpler where possible due to health issues and time restrictions x

 

[Moomin1]

I've never fed hard feed in summer. I don't see a point unless the horse is in extremely heavy work/elderly/ill/underweight etc or on very very poor grazing. Tbh in winter my mare could probably go without hard feed too, but she is a very food orientated horse and I tend to give her a low cal feed of balancer and bulk such as chaff or bran as a token when she comes in at night.

 

[twiggy2]

do you mean bucket feed, mine does not get hard feed but get and handful of fast fibre with, pro hoof, micronised linseed, and salt added but i class nuts and mix as hard feed and mine does not get any

 

[RunToEarth]

I feed in winter because they are in hard work and I struggle to keep enough weight on without it, I also feed for condition and various supplements. TBH I wouldn't feed for the sake of it, so in your case yes, I would scrap hard food.

 

[Pasture Mix]

Sorry, yes I mean bucket feed but I cut out Fast Fibre a while ago so my girls have only had TopChop Lite for a while anyway.

It's a hard balance with SS's weight sometimes after laminitis but when she's not in work it won't be as hard to keep weight on, she's a good-doer anyway and LL can put weight on just looking at food sometimes. They used to be so greedy but aren't that bothered any more so I'm kinda feeling like I'm wasting money and energy worrying about it x

 

[Pasture Mix]

The hard balance with SS being keeping her weight up without feeding so much I risk a relapse.

I'm a terrible worrier x

 

[Carrots&Mints]

I worry about too little feed at the moment as I am struggling to keep the weight on him. Hes fed calm and condition, blue chip, micronised linseed, garlic and alfa a, oh and Echinacea for imune boosting He gets as much hay as possible and is rugged up just to help keep the weight on. He is worked 4/5 times a week and shown regulary.

 

[Pasture Mix]

I suppose either extreme is as stressful as the other :/
I know for a fact if SS had as much hay as possible, she'd end up the size of a hippo and would be laminitic again within days. She'll eat 'til she bursts so I have to make sure she has the right amount. But she lost all her muscle on her diet and 2 months of box rest in 2012 so now we finally have muscle back and healthy feet I wanna keep it that way x

 

[Ibblebibble]

I never feed in summer as always have enough grass and they don't work hard enough to need extra , i started drifting away from processed nuts etc when i started to look into the sugar content and realised that a lot of the feeds are rather like mcdonalds for horses!! ie tastes nice, keeps the weight on but is nutritionally deficient!
this winter they will get fast fibre and a balancer to make sure they get the nutrients they need , big bird will need linseed and chaff added to keep her weight up

 

[Jericho]

My mare could easily do without hard feed all year round (ridden once or twice a week) but I give a handful of hay/straw chaff all year round plus a bit of linseed in the winter just because she too is very feed orientated, it builds/keeps a bond there and because she needs to have a joint supplement.

 

[Annagain]

Mine get nothing in the summer and relatively small amounts once they start coming in overnight in the winter(normally end Nov). It's more about keeping them occupied inthe stable than anything. They both have very heavily fibre based feeds - 90% Hi Fi lite and Fast Fibre and about 10% cool mix and considering they're 16.3/17hh IDx (and both 18) they have very small feeds about 750g dry weight in total (although heavily soaked so lots of swelling. The one isn't very greedy and will pick at it all night, the other tends to eat it all in one go unless we add something he's not so keen on so a bit of garlic means he'll pick at it too. They both obviously have enough haylage that there's always some left in the morning in a haybar too.

Having said that, one seems to have dropped a bit of weight in this last week or so - hardly any by normal standards - but it's never happened before so keeping a close eye on him and he's having a feed already. Will get vet if it continues. The extra fatty is most put out his mate is getting a bucket while he gets an apple!

 

[MissMistletoe]

If you are feeding good meadow hay or haylage, then these forages do contain adequate levels of vits and mins for your average leisure horse/pony.

My OAP gets soaked pony nuts to compensate for poor dentition, but the others just get a small handful of course mix in a bucket purely as a token feed for when they come in.

IMO, many horses, partiularly those poorer doers who tend to drop off over winter, would thrive on lots of good quality forage.

My old boss's rule of thumb with the horse that needs to keep weight on would be increase hay/haylage first rather than fork out for conditioning cubes/mixes.

 

[Sukistokes2]

last year I fed ab lib hay, I had bought some round bales really cheaply, I ended up cutting out all hard food apart from a little chaff in order to get in vits and meds. They looked great on it and I am hoping to do the same this year. They loved it and looked great and it saved me loads of money.

 

[Cortez]

I haven't fed mine hard feed for over 10 years...........

 

[Spring Feather]

About half of the horses on my farm are hard fed over the winter (we're in Canada so very cold winters!) and the other half do very well on hay alone. We do feed ad-lib top quality alfalfa/grass hay so hard feed costs can be kept lower. It's mainly the pregnant broodmares, old retired horses, youngsters and a couple of the riding horses who get hard feed. The quarter horses don't need it. The only horses who are hard fed during the summer are the broodmares, foals and retired oldies.

 

[Janovich]

I too am not a hard feed feeder and haven't been for years now!... and apart from the little bit of Fast Fibre he gets in order to mix his 'forage plus' balancer, Linseed and Mag Oxide in, he gets nothing in the way of hard feed.

If he looks like he's dropping any kind of weight, I up his fibre intake i.e. hay quantity of an evening when he has to come in from the field (our yard advocates a 'day time' turnout policy through the winter months).

We go for a high fibre/low starch/low sugar diet, and nothing cereal based at all for us, as he's an EMS horse and since sorting his diet out with Forage Plus, we've gone from strength to strength health wise. He's a barefooter too and his feet are fantastic.

 

[Janovich]

I haven't fed mine hard feed for over 10 years...........

Me neither Cortez

 

[Pasture Mix]

These responses are all really great, you've given me some other perspectives to look at. Mine don't need any help keeping weight on tbh, it's just my own judgement that I doubt... But I am more confident this year of the amount of hay I can safely feed SS anyway.
I'm torn between cutting out the feeds (with a possibility of increasing hay slightly) and just keeping them on TopChop Lite but without the expense of the supplements. I know TCL has vits and mins in it anyway so I think I'm gonna save the pennies and buy salt licks and mineral bricks in wall-mounted holders for them instead. They have been known to self-medicate with mud, weeds, etc. anyway so should use these if they're available.
I might just stick to plain feeds as a token gesture for when they come in and days where they can't go out x

 

[blitznbobs]

Mine get a token handful of chaff with balancer for the youngster and just the handful of chaff for the rest... Cobbo drops weight like mad in the winter so I feed slobbermash between Christmas and the grass coming in in the spring... Feed em if they need it don't if they don't ...

 

[Janovich]

These responses are all really great, you've given me some other perspectives to look at. Mine don't need any help keeping weight on tbh, it's just my own judgement that I doubt... But I am more confident this year of the amount of hay I can safely feed SS anyway.
I'm torn between cutting out the feeds (with a possibility of increasing hay slightly) and just keeping them on TopChop Lite but without the expense of the supplements. I know TCL has vits and mins in it anyway so I think I'm gonna save the pennies and buy salt licks and mineral bricks in wall-mounted holders for them instead. They have been known to self-medicate with mud, weeds, etc. anyway so should use these if they're available.
I might just stick to plain feeds as a token gesture for when they come in and days where they can't go out x

Sounds like a good plan to me!

 

[Janovich]

Also... if you felt the need, you could always buy a bag of Micronised Linseed from say Charnwood Milling - 20kg bags at a delivered price of around £26 ish, (my bag last me an absolute age as when I feed it, I only give 100gms at a time) as it's good for the coat, feet and could help with condition if needed.. and the oil in it is easy on the joints too!

It's easy to store too,...I just keep mine at home in the utility room where it's nice and cool and take up to the yard, a plastic tub full of the stuff and replenish as and when.

Just a thought OP.

 

[Pasture Mix]

Thanks guys! Think my problem is now solved x

 

[Pasture Mix]

I've heard a lot of people talk about Micronised Linseed but have never really looked into what it is/what it does... Will do some research! x

 

[windand rain]

mine are the other way round they cannot eat huge amounts of hay it gives them the runs so they have grass in a bucket all year round with vitamins and minerals added
so soaked grass nuts and grass chaff with a bit of brewers yeast for flies in summer and tummies in winter and salt as they wont touch pure salt blocks but greedily eat flavoured ones in minutes

 

[Pasture Mix]

They do like to be different don't they?
I had a word with a friend on my yard who works in a horse shop and knows a lot about feed. She's advised against micronised linseed for my girls specifically but tbh I can see why; I don't need to be accidentally feeding too much to SS and putting weight on her. I think I'll stick with the TopChop Lite and bricks (with the option of a general purpose supplement too maybe) and keep it simple. The mineral bricks and salt licks will at least give them something to do in the stables overnight once they've finished off their hay x

 

[Auslander]

They do like to be different don't they?
I had a word with a friend on my yard who works in a horse shop and knows a lot about feed. She's advised against micronised linseed for my girls specifically but tbh I can see why; I don't need to be accidentally feeding too much to SS and putting weight on her.

Care to share her views? I'm interested to know why she doesn't think you should be feeding linseed - it's so good for horses, even in tiny amounts.

 

[Janovich]

Care to share her views? I'm interested to know why she doesn't think you should be feeding linseed - it's so good for horses, even in tiny amounts.

Mmmm... must admit, I'd be interested in her views/reasons for not feeding ML too!!

 

[JennBags]

It's so nice to hear that there are other people who don't pump their horses full of hard feed! I see so many people struggling with their horses due to too much energy generated from feeding them too much.

My good-do-er 17.2hh TBxID hasn't had "hard feed" for almost 2 years now. He gets chaff, and a powder balancer (Alltech Lifeforce) and ad-lib hay. He's looking great on it (this was him at the beginning of the summer):

And the other day:

He's certainly not having issues keeping weight on - and his paddock is almost completely bare of grass.

 

[rara007]

My PBA is unfed at the moment and distinctly round! He's not the best doer in hard work but he's only being worked 4 days a week at the moment and less intense than during the Summer. We're strip grazing down one of our hay fields still and he's on it 24/7. He looks fine (reserve champion showing at the weekend) and has less energy than when he was in, in hard work and fed, and less energy than when it's really cold , but that's a positive for what I want now, he's still not exactly a plod and has his Araby silly days.
Infact we have a yard of 12 or so none of which are being fed.

 

[Pasture Mix]

Hi guys! Sorry, I'm at work and haven't been able to reply 'til now. Basically, she said because I'm not looking to give them any more condition (as I'm very happy with how they look now) they wouldn't be getting much out of it that I want for them that they're not already getting. And also she reiterated what I've read about it being used to put weight on and my concerns about SS (lami-recoveree).
However, having had last night and this morning to ponder over it, I can still see the benefit if I was to swap from 3 separate supplements that they had last winter (garlic, biotin and general purpose) to ML on it's own. I think it does have enough goodness in it for me to get away with doing that, as long as I can make myself comfortable with the weight gain part of it. She may just have to be on less than recommended for a pony to make sure she doesn't pile on the pounds!
And JennBags, I hear you! Several times I've wanted to shake people who are giving their horses huge buckets of several kinds of hard feed, with no real idea of what's in them and then complaining that their horse is overweight, badly behaved and a pain to ride... I think I've gotten through to a few people before by gently coaxing them into listening to me - but all some people want to do is moan rather than listen to the advice that could help them!
And rara007, you've got a similar train of thought to myself too. Mine don't get worked much through winter but I am also after less energy They're always desperate to get out of the stables in a morning so more energy is definitely not needed for turning out! x