critique on my horses diets please help ?????????

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cumbriamax

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I currently have 7 equines (I say equines as one is a miniature donkey:D)

this a breakdown of what they get daily:

1 16hh TB gelding in Very light work- 2 scoops of hi fi original= 700g, 2 scoops sugar beet and one scoop show & condition mix, this is twice daily- ad lib haylage- he is doing ok

1 traditional cob- 2 scoops of hi fi original= 700g, 1 scoops sugar beet and half scoop pegasus mix, this is twice daily- ad lib haylage- he is a bit overweight

1 warmblood x ish rising 2 years- 2 scoops of hi fi original= 700g, 1 scoops sugar beet and half scoop youngstock sure grow feed, this is twice daily- ad lib haylage- he looks to be doing ok

1 native cob mare - overweight, one scoop hifi, half sugar beet quarter pegasus mix- good haynet at night and helps her self to haylage during turnout

continued in next post...........
 
1 traditional cob weanling - 1 scoop hifi wet with water and youngstock cubes- looks ok also gets haylage twice daily

1 minatuare donk EXTREMELY OVERWEIGHT 1 scoop non mollassed chaff - high fibre cubes just to make him eat it and hay but helps himself to haylage when turned out with others

one festively plump shet cross- 1 scoop non mollassed chaff - high fibre cubes just to make him eat it and hay but helps himself to haylage when turned out with others.

scoop is one stubbs scoop all get cod liver oil too. what does anyone else think about this

was told by vet that horses not in work don't need hard feed but just hay or haylage and other thread made me think how to get feed bill down if possible.
 
Ahhh just typed out a big long reply and it crashed.
Heres the short version, cut out the fatties feed espeacially if there overweight, they dont need it and it will save you pennies.
My daughters ponies native he lives on hay and 3/4 safe and sound split into 2 feeds he works 6 days a week for often an hour a day, competes or does PC training most weeks too. He still looks very round and has a coat like glass and he doesnt have oil, they can get all there goodness from hay,grass. Also i wouldnt be putting hay or anything out for fatties now, the grass is starting to come through weve had a few with glands up from new grass at ours so it is starting to poke through. As the poster above said, you want them on the slim side coming up spring or sping time will come and thats when lami attacks rears its ugly face.
 
Splinting it into when turned out, and when stabled and into the 'ok's', the 'tubbies' and the right 'fatties'

Turnout:

Ok's :adlib haylege as they currently are

Tubbies: still adlib haylege but I'd look at clipping or reducing rugs to help weight loss.

Fatties: if a different paddock with just a little hay. If that's too much hassle then could you make it hard for them to reach the haylege due to their size? Maybe build a haybox they can't reach into? (also save wastage)

At night:

ok's : as they are but I'd change the feed type to just one for ease: any conditioning mix(pretty much all the same) in a quantity to suit their condition. The 2yr old's a bit past suregrow age (up to 18mnths) so I'd cut that out and for ease just have the weanling cob without it too(tho not reason why he can't have it if you particularly want him too). If they're getting adlib haylege/hay overnight then there's no need for a large amount of chaff in their feed: I'd cut it back to just a scoop each.

tubbies: NO HARD FEED!!!!!! And no speedibeet either (it's a conditioning feed!). Just a scoop of chaff: the new Dengie Mollasses Free Hi-fi would be perfect as it's got little pellets in it so they think they're getting and it tastes yummy too (according to my horses!). They would be getting hay or hayledge in a smaller amount, in a small holed haynet, and a little straw mixed in if they're eating it too quickly.

Fatties: NO HARD FEED!!!!! Just a handful of chaff to make them think they're getting something. They would be getting a small holed haynet with a mix of straw and hayledge.

They'd all be on a general supplement too, unless they're getting the full reccomeneded amount of the hard feed (TB would be the only possible one). Pink powder is a cheap supplement as they don't need much.

That way you only need one condition feed, speedibeet and one chaff.

I don't think hay or haylege makes much different in terms of calories, but hayledge is tastier so often gobbled quicker. The straw needs to be good quality and clean but barley straw is fine if you can't get oat straw. It's also cheaper than hay! I wouldn't feed pure straw adlib but up to half and half is fine.
 
Agree, cut out hard feed, they dont need it unless in hard work. Anything with native blood that is. Mine are restricted on everything, I like them lean for spring too. The pressure on the legs etc of overweight really worries me.
 
I'd cut out the hard feed too for fatties and the youngsters - the youngsters really only need vitamins and add lib hay/haylage - especially the cob/native/good doer types. As others have said you want to be able to feel their ribs easily by spring or you will have to have them on restricted turnout so they don't get joint problems. Mine are out 24/7 with access to a shelter, add lib haylage and vitamin licks and they have held their weight really well this winter, I've never fed hard feed unless in foal or in work, even my TB's have been out unrugged all winter with no hard feed and are fine.
 
Put it this way, your natives are getting more hard feed that my 17hh TBxWB and ID put together!

My 2 have adlib hay or haylage (one can't have haylage) and a token feed with a supplement in it. Their main feed is less that one stubbs round scoop of mixed unmolassed beet and Alfa A oil. Their morning feed is a single handful of dampended Alfa A oil.
 
My 8 yr old 15.3hh cob has ad-lib haylage, a level scoop Hi-Fi Lite twice a day and vit/min pellets mixed with 3/4 mug dry weight Fast Fibre.

She hunts hard one full day a week on this and looks and feels fabulous. Cobs just aren't designed to run on hard feed. You can definitely save money there.
 
I would cut out most of what you are feeding. Unless they're in medium work ad lub hay or haylage and a little handful of something to put vitamins in should be fine for most of them.

I have a 17.2hh Westphalian who is ridden for an hour every night and taken for long hacks at the weekend. He's only on half a scoop of Alfa A once a day and then ad lib haylage. He used to get speedibeet when he needed to put on weight but I took him off it once he was up to weight.
 
As already said, cut right down or even cut out hard feed for the ones looking well, you'll save a fortune!! I'd even ristrict access to the haylage for the chunky ones.

My young horse had quite a belly when I had him at 6 months and was fed loads by his breeder- stud cubes/sugar beet/chaff but he didn't need it so in the winters I just gave him a youngstock supplement so he was having vits/ mins with hi fi lite.

He's 4 in April and still chunky, Im currently trying to slim him down for the summer as last year he was HUGE and had a grazing muzzle on all the time. He is currently on poorish grazing 8am- 5pm and overnight has 2 big sections of hay (soaked for 12 hours) and a small scoop of dengie healthy hooves with pink powder (because he's not having the reccomended 3kg a day of h hooves). He is loosing a little but still looks fat 2bh.
He was on baylies lo cal but was gaining too much condition on the reccomended amount.

If he had access to more hay/ hayledge he would eat it and put too much weight on.

If I were you I'd gradually reduce the feed the chunky ones have down to just chaff/ hi fi and in the winter give them something for the vits and mins like a supplement or a lick. In the summer the grass alone should be fine!

Horses are best eating forage ie grass and hay :)
 
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