Can only visit horses once a day. (suggestions please)

[popsicle]

It is extremely difficult for me to visit my horses more than once a day in the winter, but although they seem fine, i feel a bit guilty as one of my horses eats all the hay I leave out within a few hours, leaving most of the afternoon and overnight with no hay. She is not underweight at all and is probably a bit overweight if anything. They each have around half an acre and there is still a bit of grass.The other horse eats more slowly and always has hay left the next day. Both my horses live out 24 /7 They have a feeding station and a wind break, they also have lovely thick rugs. I keep them on a 'non horsey farm' where there is only one other livery, who does visit twice a day, but has her own horses to attend to, so can't ask her to put any extra feed out, although if there were medical issue, she passes them twice a day and would inform me.

Basically my concern is that although her weight is fine, will the long hours without hay have an impact on her health, as I know they have evolved to eat more or less continually. She is having the same amount of feed as the other horse, she just eats it so quickly. They both have a hard feed and up to 3 haynets of hay, which is left at about 10.00am each morning. What do you think? As long as their weight is holding, shouldn't I worry?

 

[kerilli]

are the haynets the ones with really small holes? i have a few of these (far safer too) and really rate them.
of course it's not ideal if she pigs her hay fast, surely if you left another haynet (or two) right by the fence you could ask the other livery to put them up, and in return you could perhaps do her horses one evening a week, say?

 

[Jesstickle]

Does she eat the grass that is there? As long as she is picking at the grass I wouldn't worry as that should be enough to keep her gut healthy. There may be no real goodness in it but it still gets digested and it sounds like she is getting plenty of calories already as her weight is good

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Does she eat the grass that is there? As long as she is picking at the grass I wouldn't worry as that should be enough to keep her gut healthy. There may be no real goodness in it but it still gets digested and it sounds like she is getting plenty of calories already as her weight is good

This is exactly what I was going to say.

She doesn't need to be eating hay all day, just so long as she is getting enough calories and is trickle feeding. If she is overweight, happy and healthy, she is fine.

 

[Cobiau Cymreig Wyllt]

Does she eat the grass that is there? As long as she is picking at the grass I wouldn't worry as that should be enough to keep her gut healthy. There may be no real goodness in it but it still gets digested and it sounds like she is getting plenty of calories already as her weight is good

This.

Mine are on weighed hay as they are all good doers ...whilst I am lucky not to be very far, so do visit twice and split their hay into two lots, they have enough nibbling material (3 on 3 acres) to keep them interested and to get fibre through their guts in between time...so although the nutritional count from the grass isn't much, they are still trickle feeding.