Feeding change?

[voiceoftruthandwisdo]

Hi all! I'm looking for recommendations about what you would change in my horse's diet due to an upcoming yard move.

Horse:

• 16.2 ISH gelding
• Currently lives out almost 24/7 (brought in to stable for a couple of hours every morning)
• Fed daily on 1 Stubbs scoop of Hi-Fi Lite, 2 mugs of D&H Classic Fibre Nuts, 1 mug of D&H Build Up Mix, D&H Daily Vitamins and micronised linseed
• Currently good condition (5 out of 9) although we are working on removing a bit of a "hay belly"!

Currently the field is pretty much bare, so while I feel like this is a large amount of food for the time of year, he has this much food because there is no grazing. He has hay whilst in the stable, but pretty much all of the owners at the yard are now feeding twice daily because of the lack of grass. He is an average do-er, so can't live on air but certainly doesn't need a lot of bucket feed when the grass is growing well.

Next month, we are moving yards, where he will need to live in overnight during winter. While stabled, he will have ad-lib hay but they have a policy of no hay in the fields. He's never lived like this, so it will be a change for us both.

I would like/need:

• A fairly simple feeding regime
• Something that I can alter easily, accordingly to season and to the amount of grass available
• A diet that won't let him pile on the weight whilst stabled overnight

I'd love to hear your recommendations! Sorry for the long post

 

[be positive]

I would prefer to give hay if grass is short at this time of year but as you are moving it makes sense to change at the same time.
I would keep the linseed as it has many benefits, give a vit/ min supplement, the same as now if it suits and a base feed of fibre, this can be high fibre cubes, grassnuts, my preference, or chaff twice a day, if he needs more energy or weight you can either increase the base feed or add something appropriate for what you are trying to achieve but if he is a good doer with plenty of energy he should be fine if they genuinely do feed ad lib hay when stabled, some people do set limits yet still call it ad lib.
It would not concern me that they do not feed hay in the fields as most prefer to pick at grass all day if they have hay all night, but I would expect hay to be put out if the ground is totally frozen or covered in snow, that is the only time the ones here that are out day time only ever bother with hay.

 

[voiceoftruthandwisdo]

I would prefer to give hay if grass is short at this time of year but as you are moving it makes sense to change at the same time.
I would keep the linseed as it has many benefits, give a vit/ min supplement, the same as now if it suits and a base feed of fibre, this can be high fibre cubes, grassnuts, my preference, or chaff twice a day, if he needs more energy or weight you can either increase the base feed or add something appropriate for what you are trying to achieve but if he is a good doer with plenty of energy he should be fine if they genuinely do feed ad lib hay when stabled, some people do set limits yet still call it ad lib.
It would not concern me that they do not feed hay in the fields as most prefer to pick at grass all day if they have hay all night, but I would expect hay to be put out if the ground is totally frozen or covered in snow, that is the only time the ones here that are out day time only ever bother with hay.

So, in effect, you would remove the fibre nuts and the build up mix and just keep the other ingredients to his feed?

 

[be positive]

So, in effect, you would remove the fibre nuts and the build up mix and just keep the other ingredients to his feed?

Yes if he does not need them for weight gain or energy why feed several different feeds, if you have one that does the job it makes everything simple to deal with and saves you money, most horses do not really need a bucket feed.

 

[voiceoftruthandwisdo]

Yes if he does not need them for weight gain or energy why feed several different feeds, if you have one that does the job it makes everything simple to deal with and saves you money, most horses do not really need a bucket feed.

Brilliant, thank you so much! I suppose if he starts to lose weight, I could always add a different feed at that point