Are they fit enough? And food advice

Omarkiam

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I have a 17hh Cob x Arab gelding and a 15.3 TB ex-racehorse.

First question is food, they both get 1 & 1/2 scoops of chaf, the cob x has hifi original, and the tb has mollichaf.
They both have half a scoop of pony nuts, and every couple of days htey have speedibeet aswell, depends on whether I have the time to sit and wait for it to soak up!

Do you think this is enough? Both have okay grazing, not great but not horrendous, I am resting a section of field for them but both need restricted grazing in summer as they both can get fat off thin air.

They dont have hay everyday, they have it most days though, probably 5 out of 7, sometimes they have it everyday, I dont go up everyday as someone else feeds them some days, and if im working etc, i dont get to ride, they have 24 hour supervision.

They look okay to me, but havent had a the tb long and was told he copes very well, but not sure myself as have always had cob breeds!

Second question is regarding hacking.
Omie (the cob x) I have had for about 5/6 months and when I got him he was very rarely ridden, only once every couple of weeks, now I ride him at least 3 times a week, sometimes alot more, again it depends on my routine, which forever changes! He goes out for about an hour, then he comes back and goes in the school to do some harder work, as we dont tend to do anything more than trot when out.
He gets cantered or galloped a few times, lots more trotting then some slow calming don work, so he does about 2 hours I guess.
The tb was being ridden a couple of times a week, but only in the school to do some flatwork, nothing much, very little canter and no gallop, when he came here, I started taking him out to do walks and a bit of trot, which has now gone up to a few trots and maybe 1 small stretch of canter, for about an hour. then we come back and normally untack although I do try to take him in the school to do either a couple of small jumps or some trot, so he doesnt rush home all the time thinking works over.
Ive had him for a few weeks.

I want to take them both to the forest, which is a half hour hack there and half hour back walking with some trot and obviousley however long I spend there which I would like to spend an hour. Is this too much? Whats the max that you think they would be able to comfortably work with time wise? I hope I am not overdoing them. Thanks.
 
I think they would be fit enough to hack to the forest from what you say. I would take it a bit steady the first time and not plan to go too far, then if you find they cope easily with this do a bit more the next time you go and build from there.

With regards feeding their diet sounds ok. They are not doing masses of work so don;t need masses of feed. I am a bit concerned about irregualrities in their diets, you say they sometimes don't get hay, do they have plenty of grass in the field? I assume they live out all the time?

Also with the speedibeet, why not put it on to soak when you first get to the yard, that way once you've done a few jobs it will be ready. Also so long as weather is not too hot it will last for a few days so maybe make a larger load up then use it up over 2-3 days. I would try not to just give them it occassionally though, either give them it regularly or not at all, it's not good to keep changing horses diets all the time, they need time for their gut bacteria to adjust to the new food.
 
I suggest that you find a good book or internet article on feeding horses, or ring one of the feed companies and ask to speak to a nutritionist (although you should remember that they are trying to sell their own company's products).
Horses should be fed the same ingredients in their diet everyday, the quantities may change according to work/condition but the gut flora need consistency or there is a risk of colic. What do they eat on the days when they don't get hay? Again, horses thrive on routine.
The best way to know whether you are feeding enough is to monitor the horses' weight with a weight-tape weekly and then adjust the quantities of feed accordingly.
If you often ride for 2 hrs then the planned 2 hr hack sounds reasonable. Again, horses need routine, it is no good riding for 1/2hr per day for weeks and then suddenly going on an 8hr hack.
 
Don't know about feed, sorry, but re hacking if you take it steady I am sure they will be fine. Just leave yourself plenty of time so not hurrying back before it gets dark etc. They'll tell you what they can and can't do! Are they turned out, and if so on what sort of country, and how long for? Mine keeps v fit turned out on a steep hillside each day, in at night. He's always fitter than I am anyway ;)
 
They are living out yes, and the grazing is good but not great as such, its better than your average grazing these days as field was rested for a while before mine went in it, and they are slowly getting through it.
My friend who feeds them refuses to wait around and do speedibeet, and I dont like how it goes when I make a load up and leave it for days, the young girl who feeds my boys goes to school so she rides up every morning and is often rushed. I start work early and dont get a chance to get up early so I cant do it either. I shall ditch the speedibeet altogether then and stick with nuts and chaf. I do tend to take hay up in the evenings if they have not had hay during the day, so they probably only go 1-2 days MAX without hay.

As for hacking I will build up to it I think, thats the best option, many thanks for all replies!
 
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