Daft question re: Feeding

Kat

Kat

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My four year old (well rising 5 now it is 2012 I guess) is eating absolutely loads at the moment and only maintaining her weight. It makes me think of a typical teenager, eating loads and loads, and not putting weight on because they are "a growing boy/girl". :rolleyes:

So does that translate into horses? Should a youngster eat more than a fully mature horse? Will she grow out of it or is she just a poor doer?

She did fine over summer on grass and a handful of cubes, but since she has been coming in over night it is like you can't shovel enough feed down her!

At what point do I start to worry?
 
I think it can be deceptive how much they can actually get from summer grazing alone, because we don't actually see how much grass they really eat, so when the winter grazing is at its lowest ebb it can be a shock to see how much they need to replace it, even for mature animals. Mine are munching through haylage like there is no tomorrow at the moment! With a youngster having a growing spurt, the difference is even more apparent. However, I would try and make the emphasis on giving your youngster as much as possible in the way of forage, and just giving the minimum amount of hard feed needed to maintain condition.
 
TGM said:
I think it can be deceptive how much they can actually get from summer grazing alone, because we don't actually see how much grass they really eat, so when the winter grazing is at its lowest ebb it can be a shock to see how much they need to replace it, even for mature animals. Mine are munching through haylage like there is no tomorrow at the moment! With a youngster having a growing spurt, the difference is even more apparent. However, I would try and make the emphasis on giving your youngster as much as possible in the way of forage, and just giving the minimum amount of hard feed needed to maintain condition.
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I hope that is all it is! And I wouldn't mind a growth spurt we bought her at 15.3hh in the hope she still had some growing and filling out to do.

She is apparently now eating more hay than any other horse on the yard, :o and is getting enough that she has some left in the morning. She is also getting two feeds a day and we've added oil to try and keep weight on her. I'm just starting to panic about how much she is eating now in fairly light work unclipped and wondering how much she'd eat if we were hunting or eenting :eek::eek::eek:
 
What are you feeding her? This was the same case with Roo the last two winters since he was 3. He was eating and eating but not putting on any weight. He was on oil, spedibeet, Alfa A Oil, TopSpec cool conditioning cubes and later on Baileys outshine on top of 2 nets of haylage each night (although he hardly finishes one). Then a friend recomended Top Spec Super Conditioning Flakes and we haven't looked back since. He's a good weight and it stays on all winter even fully clipped and in medium work. All he has now is 2 scoops of this and a round stubbs scoop of Alfa A oil once a day with one net of haylage.
 
I wouldn't be worrying too much, but worth having her worm counted and checking witht he vet that the worming programme she is on is the best one for her circumstances.

Are you happy with her weight at the moment? How much hard feed does she need to maintain her condition on top of the adlib hay?
 
She is getting two massive nets of haylage weighed at 18kg then two feeds a day each consisting of 2kg scoop heygates conditioning cubes, speedibeet, and hi fi chaff. She has oil added and a magnesium suppliment. She is turned out 9-3 but they don't get hay in the field. Exercise wise she does 2 hacks of about an hour and a half and 3 schooling sessions of about 30mins on an average week.

She dropped weight when we first started bringing her in at night and her weight had been a bit of a battle since, although she is just about right now, with her ribs well covered. Although her neck is a bit weedy and her bum a bit pointy that is more lack of muscle I think.

Any comments or suggestions gratefully received!
 
Kat said:
I hope that is all it is! And I wouldn't mind a growth spurt we bought her at 15.3hh in the hope she still had some growing and filling out to do.

She is apparently now eating more hay than any other horse on the yard, :o and is getting enough that she has some left in the morning. She is also getting two feeds a day and we've added oil to try and keep weight on her. I'm just starting to panic about how much she is eating now in fairly light work unclipped and wondering how much she'd eat if we were hunting or eenting :eek::eek::eek:
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Keep piling the hay in, dont stint, TRY TO FEED LITTLE AND OFTEN (Not an old wives tale, you get a 25% kickback in energy by promoting bacterial activity in the gut, research by Tisserand verified by Wolfe)A growing horse will need considerably more protein and energy than a mature horse. What are you giving in the way of concentrates?
 
Mike, the haylage is being weighed to make sure she gets enough rather than to limit her, the aim is that she has a little left on in the morning.

I think I've answered the question about hard feed above.

She is never without access to either haylage or grass. She gets her feed twice a day but I'm wondering about putting some of her feed in one of those treat feeders to spread it out......
 
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