do you still feed in summer?

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impresario08

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The horse I might be getting is out on good grass and is a little bit podgy as he's not in work either (owner has no time at the moment)

Normally I've fed through the summer as I've always had typical poor-doer TB's.

Do you personally continue to feed in the summer if they're a good weight and on good grass?
 
My current 2 get 'a something' in the bottom of a bucket twice daily, one is a muppet to catch sometimes but always comes for bucket so hence me carrying on :)
TF doesn't need any feeding all yr round, but her desert spoonful equivalent of hi-fi lite and 5 or 6 pony nuts drizzled on it is her twice daily delight, prior to muzzle going on/off.
 
I don't if they are only in light work - mine are fed twice a day atm.

Four year old gets one mug of Lucie nuts plus supplement - older two who are competing get four mugs plus supplements. One is on Red Grass Nuts and one is on Turbo in an attempt to whizz her up.

They are worked six days a week and the older two are competing every week.

So they are not fed very much, out at night, in daytime with a little day - they all hold their weight a little too well!
 
I have to feed my ISH boy this summer as he broke his knee in September so he needs to get a joint supplement every day. He is fed a lite balancer, joint supplement, garlic and agnus castus. He is on decent grass so he is looking a bit podgy at the moment but he needs the supplements.
 
I have 3 competing so they are fed twice a day. My other 2 are both semi retired but need supplements so they have a token feed once a day.

I think if your horse does not need it don't feed it. God made them to eat grass etc so that is what they should have.
 
paulineh said:
I have 3 competing so they are fed twice a day. My other 2 are both semi retired but need supplements so they have a token feed once a day.

I think if your horse does not need it don't feed it. God made them to eat grass etc so that is what they should have.
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Actually God made them to browse on herbs, stalky grasses and shrubs over sparse grasslands and steppes, covering maybe 30 miles per day and living in large herds, it was man who decided first to eat them, and then to tame them to become beasts of burden. Any "fields" are man made, and are "improved", most of the grass species we have now are not natural, this is the main reason moorland ponies easily get fat and laminitic.
I feed a small mineral mix all year round as the hooves grow all year round and it makes the skin, hair, and hooves better. I only did this when I got interested in barefoot riding. Before that I did not feed if they were out on good old fashioned pasture. I always let them browse hedgerows in winter to make sure they get some herbs and so on.
 
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Yes, conditioning feed and a good gp supplement as he's still having less hard feed then the recommended dose. He tends to get fizzy but the weight melts off him when doing fast work. He's in moderate work (i.e 5 days a week, 3x 2 hour hacks on undulating/hills mostly at trot, and 2x 1hour schooling sessions mostly in trot).
 
Small feed with vits & mins in summer, strip graze from spring to winter as grass very rich so hay feed also.
 
Yes I still feed, but much smaller feeds and really just enough to get his supplements in to him, I also cut down his hay ration by about half as he's stabled less (but hes still got enough to be ad lib while in). He's always been a good doer and I do try to keep his weight on an even keel and I would always cut down on his 'bucket' feed and increase his excercise rather than skimp on his forage/hay x
 
Mine gets a balancer all year round, so yes I feed in the summer. Lo -cal balancer for a podgy one is all I would feed in the summer!
 
Bonkers2 said:
Actually God made them to browse on herbs, stalky grasses and shrubs over sparse grasslands and steppes, covering maybe 30 miles per day and living in large herds, it was man who decided first to eat them, and then to tame them to become beasts of burden. Any "fields" are man made, and are "improved", most of the grass species we have now are not natural, this is the main reason moorland ponies easily get fat and laminitic.
I feed a small mineral mix all year round as the hooves grow all year round and it makes the skin, hair, and hooves better. I only did this when I got interested in barefoot riding. Before that I did not feed if they were out on good old fashioned pasture. I always let them browse hedgerows in winter to make sure they get some herbs and so on.
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What mineral mix do you feed?
 
My boy gets a token feed with vitamins & minerals all year around - he's in light work (a mixture of hacking, groundwork & schooling) & is partly stabled all year around.
 
I tend to give my horses 2 meals a day all year round, the amount varies, this time of year it is literally just a bit in a bucket to carry supplements.
 
My welsh cob who's in little to no work and lives out 24/7 doesn't get fed in summer. My hanoverian mare is in daily work but slowly moving towards retirement, goes out for most of the day (7-15) and is fed a few handfuls twice a day. So in total, nah, not really. Mostly just token feeding the mare as everybody else on my yard thinks they still need to give their horse bucketloads of nuts even though they're in light work, and they all get fed at the same time. But my chubby cob is sadly mistaken if she thinks she's getting any!
 
Hi I still feed mine during the summer but half their normal feed which is just 1/2 scoop of Baileys lite chaff and lo-cal balancer as they are on restricted grazing and soaked hay all year round and need supplements/meds.
 
Bonkers2 said:
Actually God made them to browse on herbs, stalky grasses and shrubs over sparse grasslands and steppes, covering maybe 30 miles per day and living in large herds, it was man who decided first to eat them, and then to tame them to become beasts of burden. Any "fields" are man made, and are "improved", most of the grass species we have now are not natural, this is the main reason moorland ponies easily get fat and laminitic.
I feed a small mineral mix all year round as the hooves grow all year round and it makes the skin, hair, and hooves better. I only did this when I got interested in barefoot riding. Before that I did not feed if they were out on good old fashioned pasture. I always let them browse hedgerows in winter to make sure they get some herbs and so on.
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This. I also happen to know the land here is magnesium and copper deficient. We are very lucky; mine are on old pasture which has a stream running through. I did a quick count one day and stopped at 35 different species of plant. Even so they still get a level scoop of Pro Balance and some linseed each day. It seems to work for us - I must post some pictures of the new TB for example- you can see a massive change in the hoof angle and quality growing down since he's been here.
 
The two oldies still get two feeds a day, albeit in reduced quantities. My grazing isn't great and once the condition goes on an oldie it is really difficult to get it back again. They get cushcare, hi-fi molasses free and a bit of fast fibre.
 
I feed the same in winter as I do in summer, my mare gets ad lib hay at night when she is in , her 'hard feed' is 1 scoop of hi-fi molasses free, a 3/4 cup of topspec cool balancer, garlic and magnesium twice a day. The grazing isn't great but she doesn't need lush grazing.
 
impresario08 said:
The horse I might be getting is out on good grass and is a little bit podgy as he's not in work either (owner has no time at the moment)

Normally I've fed through the summer as I've always had typical poor-doer TB's.

Do you personally continue to feed in the summer if they're a good weight and on good grass?
Click to expand...
ours get one meal a day, they are out at night and come in and have their breakfast, soon their supplements will have their morning ones only
 
Yes - they graze the same patch of grass 24/7. and have done for the last 15 years. So am conscious that a bit of variety in their diet is a good thing, but it's nothing fancy.

If they are getting fat, then it's the grass that gets limited.
 
Just a light balancer consistently every day all year around. Grass modified in summer according to porkiness.
 
Mine has probably been fed more so far this summer than he did in winter, but I think as I ride slightly more in summer and he is fit he needs about the same all year around. I only feed mine half scoop chaff, 2 cups of high fibre cubes, a pinch of burdock root and a tablespoon of salt. I will be upping that to a full scoop of chaff in winter. He is out 24/7 at the moment with plenty of fresh, new grass too.
 
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