Feeding fat horses - do they need any hard feed?

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skye123

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My mare is currently out over night and in during the day. She has one slab of hay soaked between 2 - 22 hours (depends if I get time to do it) and that's it. However I've heard I should be giving her a vit and min supplement so would giving her a couple of scoops of hi-fi good doer be alright? She's not really overweight but certainly doesn't need to get any bigger and I'm just paranoid giving her hi-fi good doer will make her put on weight which is a bit stupid seeing as it's designed for overweight horses but just need reassurance
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I'd feed Hi-fi lite, just a couple handfulls to add vit/minerals to.
And soak the nutrition and sugars out of the hay.
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ooops ignotre the hay bit, just re read yours
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I would worry that 1 section of hay for the entire day would not be enough to keep the gut ticking over....
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Re vitamins & minerals, my mare is a fatty and I find Bailey's low cal balancer absolutely ideal for her
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Your mare's condition will let you know if what you are feeding is sufficient. I worried about if she has enough hay but have just seen your last post.

What about a broad spectrum vit and mineral lick in her stable or field?
 
Ah, right, cool
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As Naturally has said, does your horses conditions suggested they are lacking in nutrition? I said above I really rate the Bailey's low cal, I feed it with some dengie good doer (chubby chaff
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My spotty horse gets fat on thin air. He lives out on not great grazing 24/7 in summer and just gets a few hours out every other day in winter. I don't give him hard feed at anytime during the year. He obviously gets hay at night when he's in

I would only feed a supplement or balancer with hi fi lite if I had a particular reason for feeling he was lacking in something eg if he had a dull coat or his feet weren't holding up etc.
 
My girl gets a mug of Baileys lo cal and a handful of Mollichaff Calmer (she needs the calming bit!) and she is out 24-7 in a fatty paddock. Despite the new grass tryingto come through she is slimming down nicely.

Can't recommend the Lo Cal highly enough. It seems quite expensive to start with but it has made a massive difference to my girl and she loves it too. If you phone Baileys they'll send you a decent sized trial bag and a £1 off voucher which always helps.
 
Rockies do a chelated mineral block or use a handful of hi-fi light wth a vit/min supplement once a day. Hi-fi light is only chopped straw and a handful or two will really not give your horse any extra calories.
 
I do not feed my good doer anything - even though he is in light to medium work. I wont bother feeding him until he starts doing HARD work.

So in a word, no.
 
i feed my good doer a handful of chaff with a scoop of equivite a day. Makes sure they get all the minerals and vitamins they need but not the bulk of hard feed
 
thanks guys it's the Dengie good doer I feed her (forgot the name
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) her condition is fine, she's seems happy and healthy and has more than enough energy (unfortunatlty
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) will def look into that lo-cal though!
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I give my lad an all round supplement in a couple of handfuls of hi fi lite just because he is on restricted grazing and usually year old hay.
 
My gang get a handful of HiFi Lite with a broad spectrum vit/min supplement. They are looking and acting great
 
i give my very good doer a handfull of forage n fibre so i can get his supplements in to him and a salt lick! i always soak my hay for 12hrs!
 
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