Does anyone just feed grass and hay alone?

daisydoo

daisydoo

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My 17 month filly is on good quality hay (always topped up) and a split feed of speedibeet, just grass chaff, sure grow (balancer). She is penned over winter so only gets a bit of inhand grazing daily. Now my farrier commented that she doesn't need anything other than hay and that I'm just supplying her with energy that she's not using and jumping on the supplement bandwagon and that id find her easier to do without the excess feed. I'm so confused everyone seems to have a different opinion! I called D&h and they recommended alfalfa and a stud mix! Argghhh! She was like a coiled spring when she was on stud mix. Is hay alone really enough for a youngster?
 
Well, mine are no longer youngsters, but when they were they got grass (+ hay in winter), and MAYBE a balancer if they were ribby (which, TBH they never were). Now they get restricted grass in summer and a bit of hay in winter and NOTHING else. And they're tubby enough that I really keep the excercise up as much as I can. BUT, we are in Ireland, have more than enough acreage and they are all easy-keeping breeds.
 
I can't believe D and H told you to feed a stud mix if she is maintaining her weight on forage alone!!

Youngsters that are good doers should have a stud balancer so that they are getting there vits and mins without the calories not a high ration stud feed! She would gain considerable weight with that!

Youngsters only need a stud feed up to 2 years of age as this is when their nutritional demands decrease. As she is 17months old her main nutritional demands have been and gone so i would put her on an adult ration (this is smaller than a yearling ration) If she was mine I would put her on a stud balancer. She would require 100g per 100kg of body weight of what she should make at adulthood. So if she is to be around 16hh and a TB she would be around 500kg at full height so that would be 500g per day.

A balancer is low starch and low sugar, it is simply to get the correct levels of vits and mins without the added calories.

Hope that helps :)
 
Me. They have a salt lick as well. Ages rising 2, 5 and 8. Have never fed supplements to any horse I've owned and they have all lived to old ages and been sound and had no problems.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Me. They have a salt lick as well. Ages rising 2, 5 and 8. Have never fed supplements to any horse I've owned and they have all lived to old ages and been sound and had no problems.
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i second that, mine get grass and a little hay if they've run out of grass in winter and start attacking the hedges! both 5.


but they are 1) tubby and 2) easy (as easy comes) doers!! :)
 
yes me, only one who gets a token hard feed and basic vitamins over winter is the big girl and thats purely because my hay is not always the best quality so i like to make sure she's getting her vits. The rest all cope perfectly well on just hay and whatever grass they can find:)
 
No. Mine all get varying amounts of balancer depending on their ages. I feed balancers to all the youngsters until they are 3. You don't need a lot and if you do go for a balancer rather than a regular mix then it's concentrated with all the required nutrients and you probably only need to feed 1/2lb (1 cup) of it daily. I feed balancers at half the amount suggested on the bag BTW
 
Me.. My 2 and 3 year olds have had only grass, hay/haylage and salt lick since birth and are more than healthy and well covered with slow, steady growth..
 
Me :)

I have fed hard feed to poor doers in the past, but the current herd are all natives and do well on just grass and hay - Oh, and blackberries, hawthorn, and whatever else they scavenge from the hedgerow.
 
My foals & youngsters get grass and hay or haylage when the grass stops growing. They get nothing else until they're older and doing a job. I think too many people overfeed their youngsters and wonder why they end up bad mannered or with joint problems.

Touch wood, we've always had sound, healthy youngsters and as long as they stay that way, i'll keep on giving them nothing but grass, hay or haylage
 
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