Feed for horse living out 24/7

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b0508

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My horse lives out 24/7 and is given hay when required but I am thinking of adding a bit of hard feed now as she is starting to eat her bedding.I don't want to be spending alot of money on it. I was thinking of some chaff or grass pellets? Any info would be helpful as I have little knowledge on hard feed.Thanks.
 
You say she is given hay when required - does that mean she is getting as much hay as she can eat? If not, I would up the hay before introducing hard feed (hay nearly always works out cheaper than bucket feed), although you might like to add a vit/min supplement in a handful of chaff or beet if you are worried that the hay is not enough to supply all her vitamins and minerals. Is the horse maintaining good condition or losing some?
 
Exactly as TGM says. Even if she's still got grass to eat, there's virtually no nutrition in in at this time of year. Take care if she's eating her bed which I'm guessing is straw. It can cause impaction colic.
 
Okay thanks for that.She is getting as much as she can eat but it is not of that good quality so she is now getting ad lib and i was just thinking of something to give as a little token feed with some supplement.She is loosing condition but was rather porky coming into winter.The vet also believed that she has had lami in the past .
 
she needs ad-lib hay, imho, unless she's overweight.
you don't say what breed or age she is, and what work she's doing if any, and her energy levels if she is working - these would affect what else i'd feed, as would the quality of the hay.
e.g. if she's mature, native type, and holds her weight well, ad-lib hay is v probably enough.
if she's a growing youngster, or an oldie who struggles to hold weight, or a tb type that struggles to hold weight, then i'd add a balancer at least (Baileys Stud Balancer is brilliant imho), and possibly mix or nuts, and/or alfa and/or sugarbeet.
 
She is a 6 year old native type.This is our first winter with her.She has held her weight well. I think i will just continue with ad lib and see how she gets on.She is manily used for hacking and a bit of jumping.Thanks for your advice all
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If she has had laminitis in the past then you need to be careful what you feed her. You need feeds that are low in sugar and starch and should avoid any cereals such as oats, maize, barley or wheat, and any mixes or cubes that contain cereals.

Laminitis Trust approved feeds include Spiller's Happy Hoof, Spiller's High Fibre Cubes, Dengie HiFi Lite, Dengie Alfa A Lite, Dengie Alfa Beet and Speedibeet. As it sounds like she is a good doer I would feed a small amount of something like HiFi Lite at the moment, with a supplement in it, then monitor her weight regularly. You want to be able to feel her ribs easily but not see them. If she starts to drop too much weight then you could add some Speedibeet (or another unmolassed beet) as this is relatively high in calories, but still low in sugar and starch.

I would be a little worried if she is getting adlib hay but still eating her straw bedding though. Might be worth seeing if you can get some better quality hay. Is she eating a lot of straw or just nibbling at it?
 
Id make sure she's getting vits & mins as well as hay on its own (and cruddy grass at this time of year) wont be enough IMO. You could just give her one of the many vit & min licks available, just make sure to get one with a low molasses content due to her possibly being laminitic. My lami-prone veteran ponies get as much hay as they eat and 2 feeds a day of speedi-beet with a basic chaff and a high spec vit & min powder added.
 
I have 3 good doing natives living out 24/7.

They do have a bucket feed all yr of Baileys Lo-Cal Balancer purely as my grazing quality althou lush in summer isn't superbly mixed, and this time of yr that is supplemented with Tiger Oats (they use more energy out 24/7 so need this for working), Top-Spec Lite Chop (chaff) and now the snow is here Speedibeet as well. I drop the beet out when the temperature rises thou, i like to keep them warm from inside out. They don't have ad-lib hay as they would balloon on it, one of mine just doesn't know when to stop eating whereas the others do so when they stop he keeps going and eats their rations too.

So half a small bale between 3 in the morning and again at night is fine for them. When the snow isn't here they forage on trees and scrub around in the mud for scraps of grass as well.

I do use winter to lose weight off their big bellies but one is losing too rapidly so she will have a fleece under her rainsheet for now and a little more chaff/beet added.
 
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