feed advice please

[pixiebee]

my 13.2hh new forest pony is currently stable kept 24/7 and has a tiny amount of haylage during the day (by tiny i mean a few handfuls) and a small haynet at night as he is holding is weight rather well and doesnt appear to be loosing any! He is ridden approx 5/6 times a week and is jumped about 3 times a week. He has begun to lack enthusiasm a bit, he was quite fizzy when out on grass but has now begun to be rather chilled and find i am having to keep kicking him on to really get him going foreward. What kind of hardfeed do you think might give him a bit of energy but wont put alot of weight on him??

 

[fairhill]

He might be lacking in vitamins and minerals if he's on restricted hay.
You could try mixing a general supplement with a small amount of chaff such as happy hoof or safe and sound before you try adding cereals to his diet.

 

[EllieBeast]

i would say that he isnt getting anywhere near enough fibre. can you feed hay at all? if so i would soak it for a couple of hours - if you are worried about weight gain this should remove most of the nutritional content from the hay, so less chance of weight gain. this will help his digestive system to stay healthy. I also agree as above, a good suppliment (can just be added to a baisic chaff) will help him stay well.
Good luck

 

[Stasha22]

The first thing I would do is give him more hay/haylage as horses need constant roughage to stop them getting digestive problems.

You'll probably find that with access to more roughage his energy levels will increase without the need for lots of hard feed.

Also, is there a reason for him being kept in 24/7?

 

[pixiebee]

there is no winter turnout at my yard sadly. Ive tried upping his haylage (thats all i have as it comes with the livery and its very rich!) and all that happens is his weight ballons upwards-so am wanting to supplement him with something else rather than upping the haylage.

 

[hollyzippo]

Hi, I would say as above, not getting enough roughage so may have to track down some poorer quality hay and feed in addition to haylage.
Also if you speak to Dodson and Horrell they are pretty good. Loads of feeds now for the porkier pony! (My mum has section Ds and feeds hifi lite). Maybe something like that with a generl vitamin supplement to make up for not being at grass as most are lost once made into hay/lage and no longer green!
Hope it helps

<font color="blue"> </font>

 

[vicm2509]

You could maybe try the Hi-Fi light. That is high in fibre. I have started feeding Baron the Top Spec comprehensive supplement which was reccomended by quite a few people on here, I have onle been feeding it for 2 weeks so cant really comment on it but it does contain all the vits and minerals they need.

 

[aran]

your pony doesnt need hard feed it needs more fibre and a vit min supplement. horses require a lot of fibre to keep their guts healthy and also for their mental well-being. i'd give him adlib hay (soaked if required to keep the calories down). if you cant add hay then go for a hay replacement like happy hoof, ready grass, fibre-blend, hifi.

 

[samp]

I would use another source of fibre - hi fi and sugar beet and try to up the forage content. As the others say he is not getting enough calories etc for his workload.

 

[miamibear]

Cutting down the amount of haylage he gets wont help.

His body is supposed to be constantly grazing and you are feeding him a little rich haylage then leaving him with nothing then feeding him some more rich haylage wont be good for the digestive system.

Low quality hay is the answer and a vitamin &amp; mineral supplement. This way you will be helping the digestive system to cope being in 24/7.

Not having adequate forage and being in 24/7 can cause some horses to get vices.

The hay is the cheapest option of feeding and wont fizz him up.

Explain to the livery yard owner your situation and ask if you could have some moeny deducted off your bill for haylage and go and buy some hay, I am on diy with everything included and we do this with shavings.

 

[pixiebee]

ive asked the yard owner about a duiscount for having no haylage and going out and buying hay and he says no!!! i cant afford to buy hay on top of my livery yard price as its already quite expensive-i am however moving yards in a few months were i can give hay so am not overly panicking about it! I'll give him haylage during the day too now(didnt realise witholdiong it during the day could cause problems-thanks for informing me) and perhaps up his workload to keep weight down???? What about speedi beet?? thats high in fibre isnt it? will that give him some nutrients aswell as an energy boost?? I forgot to add that he is hunted about once/twice a month and competes at showjumping about one a month and is taken for a good gallop once a week.

 

[H's mum]

If you can't buy your own hay then go for a hay replacer which is aimed at good doers - you could feed Dengies "good doer" which is an all in one fibre provider with added vits - or you could feed him a big tub of hi fi lite - which is blended with straw so more bulk/fibre than calories - this is a short chop which would encourage gut motitiliy which is the most important thing - Feeding him barely anything is not the key to this as he needs the forage to keep his digestive system working.
Kate x

 

[sleepingdragon10]

You could use Speedibeet,but you could also use grass nuts soaked so they take longer to eat.

 

[miamibear]

I think you are doing all you can at the moment then. I never understand these yard owners who wont let people deviate from the haylage / hay. Some horses for health reasons need another type of feed and the same thing happens with bedding!

Just move yards as soon as possible - i know that isnt easy or feed more haylage in very small holed nets so he is getting a little haylage and it lasts him longer.

Speedibeet is fibre but instead of feeding this in one go i would be tempted to feed more haylage instead so its a constant inflow of fibre

 

[Theresa_F]

Good doer or hi-fi light - give him this in a bucket with a good vit supplement such as benevit - not expensive and few cals to fatten him up but takes time to eat and will provide fibre.

You can also give him some nuts - bailey economy or highlife cubes in a ball again to spread out his eating time.

Speedibeet is also useful and the Dengi is less cals - you could mix a little in with the chaff as a dampner.

Hopefully on the new yard you will be able to swop to hay. I use hayledge nets to feed mine hay so it last longer and they are nibbling away all night.

 

[jayvee]

I echo aran.
But what I don't understand is why look for hard feed which will cost and yet you can't afford hay? Hay is cheaper, espech on the amount you will feed for a pony. You don't have to stop the haylage just fill in the time gaps with hay.

 

[LauraBR]

[ QUOTE ]
But what I don't understand is why look for hard feed which will cost and yet you can't afford hay? Hay is cheaper, espech on the amount you will feed for a pony. You don't have to stop the haylage just fill in the time gaps with hay.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm wondering the same?

 

[merlinsquest]

If the yard owner wont let you keep hay at yard, could you not buy a couple of bales a week and keep it in the shed/garage at home and then take up a days ration in a haynet???

 

[pixiebee]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But what I don't understand is why look for hard feed which will cost and yet you can't afford hay? Hay is cheaper, espech on the amount you will feed for a pony. You don't have to stop the haylage just fill in the time gaps with hay.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm wondering the same?

[/ QUOTE ]

because i dont believe just hay/haylage will give him enough nutrients/energy for his workload. plus a bag of feed at around a fiver will last him atleast 6 weeks where as hay at 3.50 a bale-1 a week will cost more anyway!! what i meant by cant afford is to spend an extra 7 quid a week (2x bales if its instead of haylage) on just hay instead of haylage-i hadnt thaught of giving both! plus-although he holds his weight well, ive noticed without hard feed his coat has begun to get quite dull and his energy has zapped-and that was when i was feeding large haylage nets day and night!!!

 

[pixiebee]

i only dropped the amount about a week ago as the yard owner told me he is too fat so to only feed haylage at night and nothing else. having got advice this seems to be incorrect!!!

 

[lilym]

rachel..... i really wouldn't give him hard feed, you need to get some more fibre into him. is it possible to get some hay?? being in 24/7 with so little fibre is going to cause him lots of problems, and the lack of energy is just the start of it, he sounds as though he is lacking vitamins and trace elements, these are an important part of the diet, and help to support body systems, as well as energy uptake. if you can get hay, soak it for 12 hours, this will leach the goodness but give him plenty to chomp on, another alternative is hi-fi lite or good doer, both by dengie feeds, if you feed good doer at the recommended level you won't need to add a supplement. but please, please don't be tempted to starve him, you could cause hyperlipeamia (sp) where he will start to mobilise fat reseves which his liver cannot cope with and will start to fail, not meaning to scare you but just letting you know how important fibre is to horses. if you really must give a bucket feed use some hi fibre cubes preferably at least 20% fibre and give in a ball.

 

[pixiebee]

been and spoke to an experienced person today in my local tack shop-he's had horses for years. he said give him a small haynet during the day and one at night. and he suggested i put him on a handfull of speedi beet and a handfull of happy chaff-not aot but to give him a bit extra. he also told me that not feeding him during the day would cause problems-i would never forgive myself if i had caused anything-so...he is now having small amounts but constant haylage with a very small feed morning and night so he is eating little and often. the bloke said to me that suprising enough-he is more likely to loose wiehgt when being fed more and regularly and upping his execise than eating not alot as his metabolism will slow down otherwise!!!

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Glad you've had some good advice re:your boy

And as for feeding him to lose weight,it works on the principle that if you give them very little they go into starvation mode and hang onto their fat stores as the body doesn't know when it's going to get some more.
Feeding him more fibre and upping his exercise will hopefully help his weightloss

Good luck with him

Bethxx

 

[pixiebee]

thanks for the advice!!! im glad ive sorted it now as i would have hated to carry on how i was and cause my poor pony problems!! He seemed over the moon when he saw his haynet being filled up more and a feed coming his way.lol!!!

 

[lilym]

that sounds nice and sensible, ignore the YO and go with blokes' advice!! sounds like a draconian yard to me, if you can get hold of a good all round supplement that will help too, as certain vitamins have to be provided in the diet as horses cannot synthesize them, NAF oilovite is good and very cheap at under £7 for a month's supply!

 

[MillionDollar]

You need to feed ad lib hay, horses are trickle feeders. He'll be much happier and healthier. I have 2 NFs so i know what its like, but he'll be fine if you just give him ad lib hay. Hay doesn't have that much energy so he will be fine on it.

 

[MagicMelon]

Its obviously far from ideal keeping the horse in 24/7. And the fact that he seems to have nothing to eat all day??? That is definately very bad! Horses need to keep eating to keep their gut going. If I were you, Id swop the haylage for hay and give him as much as he likes. For more of a kick feed wise, maybe try adding something like oats which shouldnt give him weight, and remember to give him a vit &amp; mn supplement.