Feeding Advice?

[crazyconnie]

I have bought a 15h Connemara and he will be coming sometime next week hopefully. He is currently on Baileys Everyday High Fibre mix, a scoop in the morning and scoop in the evening. I’m worried this isn’t going to be enough feed for him, as I think he should be getting about 1-2kg of feed if I’m correct? He is hacked 2/3 times a week and schooled once every couple of weeks with his old owners. With me I’ll be looking to school 2/3 times a week, hack 2/3 times a week and jump once a week. Once lockdown is over we will get a nutritionist out but wondered if he would need anything to bulk out his feed? Maybe some chaff? Not entirely sure! Any advice much appreciated!

 

[be positive]

How is he going to be kept? is the grazing reasonable? most native ponies can pretty much live on fresh air and nothing here will get any more than a tiny token feed to carry a vit/ min supplement in the summer, even those in fairly hard work going out competing regularly need no more than that and the grass, we still struggle to keep their weight down.

A nutritionist will tend to recommend feeding, if they are working for a company it is their job to sell feed, look at the pony in front of you, use a weigh tape to give an idea of his weight, condition score and keep feeding to a minimum for his own good, if he is on grass he should get plenty of nutrition and fibre from that for light/ med work, if part time in on hay that provides enough fibre, a small amount of fibre based feed to carry a good vit/ min supplement with some salt and maybe some micronised linseed will be all he requires at this time of year, once the grass quality has gone then he may require more but feeding less is usually best for most native ponies.

I use Equimins supplement.

 

[Starzaan]

I would second Be Positive’s comments. I wouldn’t be giving him any more than a tiny handful to carry his vitamins and minerals. He sounds like he’s on far too much hard feed for light work.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Sounds a lot of feed to me for what appears to be very light work. I used to work at a riding school where the ponies did up to 6 hrs a day at weekends and may be a couple of hours a day during the week. They got hay while they were standing in and a feed in the winter but otherwise they lived on grass and they all looked very well indeed.

 

[Shay]

A standard scoop holds 1.5kgs of the mix according to the manufacturer so he is in fact getting about 3kgs of feed per day which is fairly massive. And this isn't a low calorie feed - its 10MjKg Handily the manufacturer's site doesn't say what the reccommended feeding amouts is - but it should be printed on the bag.

You should aim for 1 - 1.5% of body weight in total feed - so that includes hay and grazing. Our connie is 15.3 and weighs in at 520Kgs so you would be looking at about 5kgs total feed to start with. That includes hay and grass. So at a rough guess you should be looking at 1/3 or less of what he has now. Just check on the pack to see you don't drop below the manufacturer's reccommended feed rate - if you do then supplement with a balancer or vit / mins.

When you first get a horse its a good idea to reduce any hard feed as far as you practicably can. Then build back up when you see what they need. Excess feed is a primary cause of difficult behaviour which you don't need in his first few weeks!

 

[scats]

Echo BPs comments. While you are in the ‘getting to know each other’ phase, I would knock feed on the head aside from a token handful of chaff. You can make adjustments as you go along and get a feel for how he copes with the work, whether he maintains his weight and energy requirements on grass and hay alone etc,
The last thing you want to do with a new Horse is potentially invite behavioural changes due to giving too much or the wrong type of feed.

My girls live off grass in the summer. The just get a cup of fast fibre to carry their supplements and work 5 days a week.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Be very wary of over-feeding, more damage is caused by overfeeding and under-estimating the amount of work, than almost anything else. A Connemara is a native pony, evolved to live on next to nothing and certainly not on lush grass and hard feed. Most nutritionists want to over-feed their clients, in order to sell their products. As be positive says, you need a weight-tape and maybe a camera to take photos every month to monitor the animal in front of you.
Don't fall into the 'new to owning' fault that many do of believing that the previous owner didn't really understand the horse's needs.

 

[crazyconnie]

How is he going to be kept? is the grazing reasonable? most native ponies can pretty much live on fresh air and nothing here will get any more than a tiny token feed to carry a vit/ min supplement in the summer, even those in fairly hard work going out competing regularly need no more than that and the grass, we still struggle to keep their weight down.

A nutritionist will tend to recommend feeding, if they are working for a company it is their job to sell feed, look at the pony in front of you, use a weigh tape to give an idea of his weight, condition score and keep feeding to a minimum for his own good, if he is on grass he should get plenty of nutrition and fibre from that for light/ med work, if part time in on hay that provides enough fibre, a small amount of fibre based feed to carry a good vit/ min supplement with some salt and maybe some micronised linseed will be all he requires at this time of year, once the grass quality has gone then he may require more but feeding less is usually best for most native ponies.

I use Equimins supplement.

Thank you! I will look into that. He will be stabled at night as our yard does not allow 24/7 turnout and will be out from 7-4 everyday in summer. X

 

[crazyconnie]

I would second Be Positive’s comments. I wouldn’t be giving him any more than a tiny handful to carry his vitamins and minerals. He sounds like he’s on far too much hard feed for light work.

As he isn’t at my yard yet, it is just what the old owner feeds him. I thought it sounded a bit much. As a yard policy to let them settle in we wait a week to turn them out and a couple of days to ride so don’t really want to be feeding him that much feed if he can’t burn it off. X

 

[crazyconnie]

A standard scoop holds 1.5kgs of the mix according to the manufacturer so he is in fact getting about 3kgs of feed per day which is fairly massive. And this isn't a low calorie feed - its 10MjKg Handily the manufacturer's site doesn't say what the reccommended feeding amouts is - but it should be printed on the bag.

You should aim for 1 - 1.5% of body weight in total feed - so that includes hay and grazing. Our connie is 15.3 and weighs in at 520Kgs so you would be looking at about 5kgs total feed to start with. That includes hay and grass. So at a rough guess you should be looking at 1/3 or less of what he has now. Just check on the pack to see you don't drop below the manufacturer's reccommended feed rate - if you do then supplement with a balancer or vit / mins.

When you first get a horse its a good idea to reduce any hard feed as far as you practicably can. Then build back up when you see what they need. Excess feed is a primary cause of difficult behaviour which you don't need in his first few weeks!

He won’t be ridden for 4/5 days and won’t be turned out for the first week as yard policy to help settle in, so I’m just concerned he won’t be burning anything off and he won’t need all of it. Thank you though. X

 

[crazyconnie]

Echo BPs comments. While you are in the ‘getting to know each other’ phase, I would knock feed on the head aside from a token handful of chaff. You can make adjustments as you go along and get a feel for how he copes with the work, whether he maintains his weight and energy requirements on grass and hay alone etc,
The last thing you want to do with a new Horse is potentially invite behavioural changes due to giving too much or the wrong type of feed.

My girls live off grass in the summer. The just get a cup of fast fibre to carry their supplements and work 5 days a week.

A nutritionist recommended Dengi Hi-fi lite, so I might try that and gradually wean him off the baileys everyday fast fibre, maybe just giving him 1/4 scoop/handful per feed with some of the hi-fi. X

 

[crazyconnie]

Be very wary of over-feeding, more damage is caused by overfeeding and under-estimating the amount of work, than almost anything else. A Connemara is a native pony, evolved to live on next to nothing and certainly not on lush grass and hard feed. Most nutritionists want to over-feed their clients, in order to sell their products. As be positive says, you need a weight-tape and maybe a camera to take photos every month to monitor the animal in front of you.
Don't fall into the 'new to owning' fault that many do of believing that the previous owner didn't really understand the horse's needs.

Thank you! This is very helpful. A nutritionist recommended Dengi hi-fi lite, so we might give that a go and reduce the amount of baileys everyday fast fibre until he only has 1/4 cup/a handful per feed. I think once I start riding me and my instructor will have a better idea. He will be getting a large haynet in the evening and will be out everyday. X

 

[be positive]

He won’t be ridden for 4/5 days and won’t be turned out for the first week as yard policy to help settle in, so I’m just concerned he won’t be burning anything off and he won’t need all of it. Thank you though. X

He will need the feed cut back if he is stood in 24/7, having run a yard for many years that is the first time I have heard keeping them shut in for 4/5 days is done to help them settle, it is not going to settle most to have no exercise, no turn out and may cause more issues than it can possibly resolve, isolation is fair enough but if that is the case it needs to be longer and they can still be exercised, mine get ridden and turned out from day 1, except sometimes mid winter if they arrive late in the day, they settle far more quickly in a similar routine to the one they are used to and the one you plan to continue with, it seems totally unfair to shut them in and almost a punishment.

 

[Eclipse 2020]

I would cut back the feed and change to what a nutritionist recommended. You really don’t want to with a very fresh horse when you’re getting used to each other.

 

[crazyconnie]

He won’t be

He will need the feed cut back if he is stood in 24/7, having run a yard for many years that is the first time I have heard keeping them shut in for 4/5 days is done to help them settle, it is not going to settle most to have no exercise, no turn out and may cause more issues than it can possibly resolve, isolation is fair enough but if that is the case it needs to be longer and they can still be exercised, mine get ridden and turned out from day 1, except sometimes mid winter if they arrive late in the day, they settle far more quickly in a similar routine to the one they are used to and the one you plan to continue with, it seems totally unfair to shut them in and almost a punishment.

He won’t be completely shut in! I’ll be handgrazing him for an hour or so a day and taking him for in-hand walks so he gets to know the hacking area, outdoor school etc. I’m speaking to my YO about a private lesson after a couple of days so we can get him into a routine as quickly as possible! There is no set policy on when we can ride, only my first ride I would like to be with my instructor so will be riding as soon as she’s available. Thank you for your advice though! X

 

[Upthecreek]

If you are keeping him stabled and only hand grazing for an hour each day be prepared for some lively behaviour when you do ride. For most horses that are used to turnout with company being constantly stabled will not help them to settle into their new environment. Isn’t there a quarantine paddock he could go in for a few hours each day where he can see other horses without touching them? I would just feed a handful of chaff with a multi vitamin supplement to start with.

 

[crazyconnie]

If you are keeping him stabled and only hand grazing for an hour each day be prepared for some lively behaviour when you do ride. For most horses that are used to turnout with company being constantly stabled will not help them to settle into their new environment. Isn’t there a quarantine paddock he could go in for a few hours each day where he can see other horses without touching them? I would just feed a handful of chaff with a multi vitamin supplement to start with.

Think this is what we will be doing now! We have managed to sort a field for him to go in, so he should be turned out everyday. He will be arriving late afternoon so will spend the evening in and go out the next day. X

 

[be positive]

Think this is what we will be doing now! We have managed to sort a field for him to go in, so he should be turned out everyday. He will be arriving late afternoon so will spend the evening in and go out the next day. X

That sounds a much better plan, hope he is everything you want.

 

[crazyconnie]

That sounds a much better plan, hope he is everything you want.

Thank you! Glad we got it sorted as it wasn’t fair to him to be cooped up without a chance to properly stretch his legs! X

 

[Shay]

A nutritionist recommended Dengi Hi-fi lite, so I might try that and gradually wean him off the baileys everyday fast fibre, maybe just giving him 1/4 scoop/handful per feed with some of the hi-fi.

Do give serious consideration to using Hi Fi Molasses free instead. Although it is a higher calorie feed it has significantly less sugar. The Hi Fi Lite is top dressed with molasses and that much sugar can be a recepie for disaster.

 

[crazyconnie]

Do give serious consideration to using Hi Fi Molasses free instead. Although it is a higher calorie feed it has significantly less sugar. The Hi Fi Lite is top dressed with molasses and that much sugar can be a recepie for disaster.

I will look into this! Super helpful, thank you xx

 

[Equi]

Just be aware that Hi Fi molasses free contains alfalfa, which can also send some horses barmy if its fed to the "recommended" rate. Mine gets a literal handful because he eats it with his supplement and he only eats it cause its quite sweet (i try all my horses feed myself...so i know this hahah)

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

I was on hi fi lite, then hi fi molasses free and now am on honeychop lite and healthy and have had lots of compliments on how slim and well she looks.

my 14.1 connemara gets 1/4 scoop of pony nuts and chaff split between two feeds with her supplements, then has 3kg of hay when she is in from 8-4 and is then out overnight. She is schooled 3 days a week, hacked 1-2 and jumped once and has more than enough energy!