Feeding advice?

[Siam Jack]

Help.... need some advice folks
This is the first winter with my 2 and as a V Very new owner I'm so confused with advice on feeding them. Everyone on our yard has different advice about everything and my head is spinning now...

I have a 14.2 Fell/Dales cross gelding who is 7yrs old and very hardy (so I've been told) never been clipped or rugged at all. I also have a 15yr old mare cob cross thingy? who was fully clipped when we got her in october along with rugs etc.Before this winter time we were only feeding hay overnight in small nets, When the bad weather came along we decided to give them some extra feed in the form of a coolmix and a few carrots thrown in, they get 1 large scoop in the mornings then turnout all day (in not so very good fields, hardly any grass now) and then 1 large scoop in the evening with a small net of hay. They have not been in work at all over the bad weather and when they are ridden it's just in the school and hacks.

Someone last night said "well you wont be feeding them at all now seeing they are not doing anything?" when I told her they were fed twice a day she was horrified!! they are not fat and seem perfectly healthy ponies to us, ( although my mare has a skin problem, which she has always had) Their haynets are the small pony nets, some people have I'm sure trawler nets for their horses here, so I thought they were Ok?

I really do not want to make them ill with my ignorance, any views please...

 

[Hot_Toddy7]

At the end of the day, you know your horses best!
It doesn't sound too much to me, and I'm certain if it was too much - you'd have fatty ponies!!
Some people just have to stick their 5 eggs in!! - take no notice, not at all ignorant.

 

[touchstone]

Personally I wouldn't be giving hard feed, but upping the fibre intake. Fibre is what will keep your horses warm, as it is digested in the gut it acts as a central heating boiler! It also keeps the gut healthy and your horse occupied for longer.
Feeding cereals, especially to native types and small amounts of hay can open up potential (and unnecessary) problems including laminitis.

I'd increase the haynet and see where you go from there, a horse should be eating around 2% of its bodyweight a day as a guideline.

If you want to feed something from a bucket then I'd go for things like a high fibre chaff, speedibeet or fast fibre. Much safer for native types.