Feeding good doers in winter

[Bruce17]

As title, do you feed your good doer in winter? And if so, what do you feed?

Pony is healthy and in good condition. He's living out at the moment but in autumn and winter will be in over night with hay.

He's in light work, schooling, hacking, bit of jumping. Gets fat easily and is a laminitis risk. Not sure whether to just give a token feed of something? Light chaff?

 

[meleeka]

I feed Honeychop Lite and Healthy just so I can put their supplements in. Mine gets a joint supplement and Spillers Lite Balancer for crunchy bits.

 

[Chinchilla]

In winter girls get handful of hi fi lite and a sprinkle of pony nuts and a bit of hay (chunk or so per horse). That's it! They aren't rugged unless it's bucketing down and freezing either.

 

[scats]

Diva gets light chaff and her Balancer split into two feeds, hay overnight and all day turnout.
She is fully clipped in winter but generally just wears a medium weight rug and is absolutely fine in this.

 

[Puff]

I guess you're not feeding him anything now? If so I would continue with just that, with ad lib hay if the grass gets poor. Keep an eye on his condition but bet he'll be fine

 

[JillA]

The only reason IMO to feed a good doer native is to carry supplements. And for that, a handful of damp bran would do or a few soaked grass pellets.

 

[Cheshire Chestnut]

I just fed mine Allen & Page Cool and Collected. Just added water as it needs to be a mash. He loved it and looked fantastic on it, including his hooves. He was a Welsh D who had a tendency to be fat all year round but that feed kept the weight off and him in good condition. A bag lasted ages too, so good value for money.

I liked it because in winter I'd make it with warm water so it was nice for him on a cold day.

 

[Supertrooper]

Mine gets 1/2 Stubbs scoop of Hifi molasses free with his supplements in and a medium size tubtrug of TopChop zero. Plus hay in winter xx

 

[Bruce17]

I guess you're not feeding him anything now? If so I would continue with just that, with ad lib hay if the grass gets poor. Keep an eye on his condition but bet he'll be fine

He's not fed at the moment no. With his previous owner he was only fed in winter, so I've continued with that for now. This will be our first winter together.

The only reason IMO to feed a good doer native is to carry supplements. And for that, a handful of damp bran would do or a few soaked grass pellets.

He doesn't have any supplements either.

Looking at responses so far it seems people are generally doing as you've said and only feeding if supplements are needed. I might leave it as long as possible and just feed something light if he starts to lose condition.

Thanks all