Do you wet your horses feeds?

[chaps89]

Just a curiosity post
But I know some people who don't wet or mix their horses feeds up, yet I always make sure we dampen it with water and mix well, even if they're getting no supplements etc. I can't see it makes much difference to the horse if there's no supplements in there or of course if you feed something that specifically needs soaking like beet or that there's a right/wrong way of doing it, just curious what you all do?

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Yip ... I have always soaked Missy's feed, She has had choke on me twice and I really don't want to risk her getting it again .

 

[monkeybum13]

My boy no - he just has a balancer no point in wetting that!
For other feeds ie chaff and a mix always.

 

[Geraldine]

Yes - he has chaff so I damp it down.

 

[Charmaine18]

Yes, because he has chaff and I worry about him choking because he eats so fast! I used to damp it with water, but now he's losing weight and is in more work I can use a bit of Speedibeet instead.

 

[AmyMay]

Yes, always. I soak nuts for a minimum of 20 mins to ensure they're fully soft before adding the rest of the feed. More water. Feed.



.

 

[devilwoman]

Mine have sugarbeet 365 days per year so feed always wet from that - but if they didn't have the sugarbeet I would wet it with water always.

 

[loz9]

yep- al of mine are on a mainly chaff diet with a balancer/gen purpose supp so like to hav it all nicely mixed in for them! i sometimes think its more for me than them tho!

 

[LadyRascasse]

yes my mare choked on hay and i would never risk her being able to do it on hard feed.

think about what you eat, we usually have gravy or something with sauce (i.e ketchup or beans) with our meals so why wouldn't we put a bit of water in to make it nicer for them to eat?

 

[chaps89]

Yeah, I always feed damp/mixed feeds- seems more appealing to me! Just knew some people didn't, so wondered why/what a wider range of people did.
Hadn't really thought of the choke aspect tho.

 

[Puppy]

Yes, always.

 

[Collytown]

I started to add water to feed about 6 months ago, as one of my shetties started to cough when he had his feed, but since I have added water he has not coughed and I do tend to mix it up a bit by shaking bucket.

 

[debsflo]

yes.had previous experience of choke and my horses are very greedy and gobbble.

 

[Ellies_mum2]

Yes although she only has mix at the moment but will be adding chaff to bulk it out soon so will continue to wet it

 

[elliegirl12]

Yess always

sometimes i go over the top with waater tho annd they end up drinking it

or slurping haha! put water in it with sugar beet

 

[mickey]

I like to use sloppy sugarbeet or I wet and stir. Always.

 

[Tickles]

Share horsey has his dry but tends to dunk it in his water for himself. If you think about most of the stuff they'd eat in the wild it is often moist so makes sense...

 

[JoJo_]

Yes I put some water in with my mare's mix, chaff and supplements. Had to put more water in when she was on bute and antibiotics recently. She was almost just eating powder if I didnt add a bit more chaff.

 

[Rudey]

Admittedly once I 'over wet' my horses feed and he choked from putting too much water in!!!!

I wet his feed that much that his nuts reduced down to a soft mushy consistency, and when he bolted his feed, the nut form acted like a concrete to the rest of his feed jam-packing his throat!

I had local vets out 3 times tubing him and they couldn't budge it - the first and second time they were out, they hoped they would dislodge it enough for the feed to break down itself. By the third visit no change and so referred him - he had to go in and have a camera put down his throat so they could dislodage the feed!! £800 worth of vet bills later - he was fine! Needless to say, I put a brick in his feed after that to slow him down!n The vets said it happens alot with nuts and were annoyed that it carries on happening because the feed manufacturers don't put a warning on the feed bags!!

At the moment I don't feed overly much hard feed and so the oil has enough dampening effect for mine. But, I would use a trickle of water if I increased my neddies hard feed xx

 

[only_me]

Nope don't wet his feed, even with his supplements. I do mix it though!

He dunks it himself though, I have to clean his bucket out every morning because of the dropped feed

 

[celia]

Yep, always dampen feeds.

 

[Hels_Bels]

yes always

 

[Ziggy_]

I don't - my horse won't eat wet feed. She's not too bad with chaff but when nuts go mushy, ugh she won't touch it.

The feed I use is fibre based (winergy) so I think I can get away with feeding it dry.

 

[Lill]

Yes, Merlin's especially, he literally has soup for his feed as he had choke a few weeks back pretty unpleasant