Feeding hay to horses living out in winter

[spotty_pony]

When do you all start?

I have just moved house to a place with quite a lot of grass and this will be the first winter ever my horses are wintering out. They have lots of trees for natural shelter and are well rugged. They have been here a week so far and although there is a fair amount of grass, I am worried about it's nutritional value at this time of year. They are getting a scoop of chaff and a balancer everyday, but concerned about them dropping weight.

I guess what I want to know is; if I put hay out when there is plenty of grass will I be wasting my time as they won't eat it? And also with grass that's already grown will it still have lost its nutritional value or is it just any new growth which won't have the value? I rode my Appy yesterday and could swear he has dropped weight in a week but that could just be me fretting.

I've kept horses for years but always had them in at the this time of year so just looking for some advice/reassurance. To add - three out of four are veterans and all are in light/no work currently.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

The first thing you need is a weight tape Get into the habit of 'weighing' them once a week, so that you don't have to guess at loss/gain. Then you could start by putting a small amount of hay out. They will probably be very enthusiastic about it but if they have enough grass they won't finish the hay up

 

[HashRouge]

I wait till they tell me they're hungry. As soon as they start hovering at the gate waiting for me and doing that "I'm hungry" whinny I start putting hay out. Atm they all come over when they see me as the old girl has a feed and the 2 boys know I'll have treats, but then they head straight off again to graze. I don't think we're far off needing to feed hay though, looking at how much grass we've got. Maybe a week or two?

 

[Carrottom]

I have just started giving mine a couple of slices each a day and they are eating it all so I will increase it over the next few weeks. Of they don't eat it all I would give less, but I do have one greedy boy who will always clean up.

 

[be positive]

I have kept some out every winter and generally start giving a flap or so well before they look as if they want it, if they are hungry they will eat it and I prefer a bit of waste than waiting too long, unless they need to drop off, as getting weight back on is far harder than maintaining it, I gradually increase it until they are leaving some and give a little more if it is ever all gone next day or if it is very cold.
They is adequate goodness in grass to sustain a healthy horse, mine didn't get hard feed other than a token as I refer them to have plenty of fibre to keep them full and warm.

 

[Nudibranch]

I have two on 9 acres in winter and I don't put any hay out unless the weather is atrocious. Last year they didn't get any at all and still came out of winter bigger than I'd have liked. They would definitely eat it if I put it out, but by Spring I'd have a serious issue on my hands.

If I felt they were dropping weight I would start, but that depends totally on the individual. With previous horses I've fed hay from about December to March.

 

[laura_nash]

I have two on 9 acres in winter and I don't put any hay out unless the weather is atrocious. Last year they didn't get any at all and still came out of winter bigger than I'd have liked. They would definitely eat it if I put it out, but by Spring I'd have a serious issue on my hands.

If I felt they were dropping weight I would start, but that depends totally on the individual. With previous horses I've fed hay from about December to March.

This^^. My first year here, so first year out 24/7 on a decent amount of land, I started giving hay at the usual time in winter and ended up with a very tubby horse, a mud hole where the hay was fed, and a nightmare come spring (which is not the best time to diet a good doer). I now weigh tape and very rarely feed any hay in the field, sometimes trugs of oat straw chaff if I'm worried about the low volume of poo or its very cold. I keep the hay for if they have to come in during very bad weather, and only usually use about 20 bales for the two horses for the winter.

Obviously it depends on your horses (mine are both very good doers) and your land / location. My land is pretty wet but the grass seems to keep growing a bit all through winter as it never gets that cold, and there are plenty of edible trees and shrubs.

I know its the conventional wisdom, and I always believed it, but the grass here doesn't seem any noticeably lower nutritionally in winter, okay its lower sugars than spring grass but I see that as a plus. Obviously its lower in things like Omega 3, but so is hay and a mug of linseed will help with that better than hay does. My two don't start losing weight come winter on the same amount of grass, its only if the grass runs out they lose any.

 

[Goldenstar]

I have four horses living out in work three are hunting they are getting no hay they are all too fat .
they get forage if they are in for longer than a few hours waiting to ridden or for the farrier .
You need to look at the horses and decide what they need there’s no hard and fast rule .

 

[Ceriann]

Mine will have no hay out this winter - plenty of grass and they don’t need any top up given weight. They come in overnight some nights and obviously get a net then but I don’t give them hay if they stay out. I’ve got feeders to give hay if we get heavy snow etc and fed hay a few winters ago when grass was poor and weather bad.

 

[Wishfilly]

Can I add on to this post?

Do people put hay out for horses that are in overnight? Blue is in from about 4pm until about 8am the next day. He has two haynets, which he doesn't usually completely finish. He also gets a small feed in the evening. There is grass in his field, but it is getting quite short and we are having frosts in the mornings now.

He is a healthy weight (maybe on the good side of healthy) but he has lost a little bit of weight over the last couple of weeks according to the weigh tape (this may also be a fitness thing as we have been doing a lot more trot work recently).

 

[teddypops]

This year I have lots of grass so mine are all still out and only having grass, nothing else. They were making out they were starving yesterday, (one jumped into the churchyard to graze there???)so I felt bad and put a bit of hay out. They had a few mouthfuls then went back to grazing.

 

[honetpot]

I have two on 9 acres in winter and I don't put any hay out unless the weather is atrocious. Last year they didn't get any at all and still came out of winter bigger than I'd have liked. They would definitely eat it if I put it out, but by Spring I'd have a serious issue on my hands.

If I felt they were dropping weight I would start, but that depends totally on the individual. With previous horses I've fed hay from about December to March.

It's the yearly dilemma. For some reason mine who live out, 24/7, actually lost weight last winter, and come March they were really quite slim. They are now huge, and still have fresh grass to eat, and I am feeling mean that I didn't give them any hay with the snow.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

Mine usually let me know they don’t think they’ve enough by becoming unsettled and stupidly behaved in the field. To avoid injury I start haying them then even though one is a bit on the fat side. The other is my veteran who needs more so always a bit of a dilemma. My oldie loves his brother so I won’t separate them unless totally unavoidable.

 

[Goldenstar]

Can I add on to this post?

Do people put hay out for horses that are in overnight? Blue is in from about 4pm until about 8am the next day. He has two haynets, which he doesn't usually completely finish. He also gets a small feed in the evening. There is grass in his field, but it is getting quite short and we are having frosts in the mornings now.

He is a healthy weight (maybe on the good side of healthy) but he has lost a little bit of weight over the last couple of weeks according to the weigh tape (this may also be a fitness thing as we have been doing a lot more trot work recently).

No I don’t do this ever .
I want them moving about as much as possible during the day when they are in at night not standing in one place eating .

 

[Gloi]

We move ours to the field that had hay taken off in summer and strip graze it. Depending on the weather it has lasted to January before hay was needed but a couple of years lasted all through winter. Just natives on it.

 

[Wishfilly]

No I don’t do this ever .
I want them moving about as much as possible during the day when they are in at night not standing in one place eating .

That's a really good point. I do want to avoid putting hay out in the field for as long as possible, but I'm worried it might get to the point where there is not much grass left at all.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Mine have access to a round bale which is in a shelter from early Autumn onwards. They can eat if they want. Grass is normally their preference so let them select. They are very much eating grass given the choice.

They are now shut on the hard standing track at night. To give their feet a break from the wet ground and give the fields a chance.

 

[HashRouge]

I have kept some out every winter and generally start giving a flap or so well before they look as if they want it, if they are hungry they will eat it and I prefer a bit of waste than waiting too long, unless they need to drop off, as getting weight back on is far harder than maintaining it, I gradually increase it until they are leaving some and give a little more if it is ever all gone next day or if it is very cold.
They is adequate goodness in grass to sustain a healthy horse, mine didn't get hard feed other than a token as I refer them to have plenty of fibre to keep them full and warm.

I feel like this is a slight dig at my post (possibly being oversensitive) so I would just like to stress I have been following the same approach for years and never had any issues with underweight horses in winter. I don't wait till they're starving, just till it's clear that they aren't getting enough from the grass. The behaviour change is usually obvious. My 27 Yr old (nearly 28) has a feed year round because she just needs a helping hand due to her age. The only time I had any issues with her being underweight was a few years ago in the summer, when I consulted with the vet, followed their advice, and got her back to a great weight. My experience with grass kept horses is they will let you know as soon as they start to feel hungry.

 

[laura_nash]

as getting weight back on is far harder than maintaining it

I guess this depends on your horse, as this is definitely not my experience! Mine can go from condition score 3 to 4 in about two weeks on nothing but forage - and then takes about 3 months of strict dieting to lose it again.

 

[Nudibranch]

Very much depends on the horse! The two I have now can go 3 to 4 in a week on spring grass.
I took on a TB who condition scored about 1.5, and even she was relatively easy to get the weight on living out 24/7.

 

[Goldenstar]

Everywhere you go nowadays you see horses that are like whales .
People are far more likely to be dealing with horses carrying to much weight in winter than too little .
Horses who are stabled at night are very unlikely to need forage during the day when they are turned out unless their field is one of those awful small individual paddocks that you see in some places .
Horses need to move as much as possible particularly if they are stabled at night not feeding hay in the field .
Of course you need to consider differently horses who tend to loose weight I have never had in all my years had a horse who was well who I struggled to keep weight on I have bought poor horses they are never remained poor doers here .
The vast majority of us need to be thinking I need this horse coming out of winter slimmer than it is now .
My horses where looking good until the second lockdown stopped hunting and despite work have gained weight I had to move fields due to the wet that did not help .
Winter grass is not without calories at this time of year .

 

[spotty_pony]

thanks for all of your replies. I think I eas overthinking and fretting somewhat! I had all of their rugs off today and took some photos so I can compare again in a couple of weeks time. 3 out of the 4 have actually put on weight if anything so just my Appy who appears to have lost a bit but I think this may be due to us having just moved them home and him not being completely settled yet. I gave them all a small amount of hay and they started tucking into it straight away but 5 mins later were back munching on the grass so obviously not that hungry. ? will see how much is left tomorrow morning and use that as a gage to how hungry they are. Photo below of my little Appy all wrapped up and helping me poo pick today!

 

[windand rain]

Mine are on a foggage maze strip grazed into it they wont get any hay until there is either heavy snow or they run out and droppings reduce we are still getting too much poo. They are fed year round on grassnuts and pink mash to carry vitamins as our grazing is poor for vit and minerals (too many years of poo picking daily and not fertilising) It is field rules so nothing I can do about it but I am OCD about every bit of poo being removed at least daily. So it suits me. I also like my fat natives to at least end winter skinny so they can eat the grass in summer I am not a fan of grassless keep unless absolutely neccessary if being allowed to get thin over winter means they can eat in summer so be it. It is afterall natures way. Like Goldenstar said it would be better if every fat horse lost half its body weight in winter and we resolved the obesity in horses crisis that we seem to accept as normal

 

[Sprig]

Mine live out and generally I start to feed hay after Christmas. I thought that it was already looking like their wasn't much grass this weekend so I put hay out but they have barely touched it, so there is clearly still plenty to eat. I use a sheep hay rack on wheels to feed my hay. It's brilliant. There is barely any hay dropped on the floor and you can move it regularly to stop poaching. It definitely earned its keep.
https://iae.co.uk/product-agriculture/sheep-hayrack-on-wheels/

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

Can I add on to this post?

Do people put hay out for horses that are in overnight? Blue is in from about 4pm until about 8am the next day. He has two haynets, which he doesn't usually completely finish. He also gets a small feed in the evening. There is grass in his field, but it is getting quite short and we are having frosts in the mornings now.

He is a healthy weight (maybe on the good side of healthy) but he has lost a little bit of weight over the last couple of weeks according to the weigh tape (this may also be a fitness thing as we have been doing a lot more trot work recently).

Mine are in at night but I still hay them when the grass is depleted. It depends on the weather and grass growth and how much acreage you have. Last year the fields got mashed really quickly due to all the rain so started feeding early. This year they’ve had no hay until today when there was a heavy frost.
They’ll change paddocks soon and hopefully won’t need hay again until sometime late January. Some years I’ve never needed to hay but the dry summers we’ve had the last 3 years and the very wet winter we had last year has meant our grazing has really suffered. Even seeding and fertilising it hasn’t done much.

 

[sjdress]

My veteran lives out and has Adlib hay. The grazing isn’t that good, but she is a good doer. I Hay according to how she is looking/feeling. if she starts to waste it then I know she isn’t hungry and will cut back. I have to be careful not to over feed though as she balloons in the spring. Easier said then done When she makes out she Is so hungry! (She really isn’t, she looks fab!)
i also make a few hay piles so she not not just stood in one place stuffing her face.

 

[Wishfilly]

Mine are in at night but I still hay them when the grass is depleted. It depends on the weather and grass growth and how much acreage you have. Last year the fields got mashed really quickly due to all the rain so started feeding early. This year they’ve had no hay until today when there was a heavy frost.
They’ll change paddocks soon and hopefully won’t need hay again until sometime late January. Some years I’ve never needed to hay but the dry summers we’ve had the last 3 years and the very wet winter we had last year has meant our grazing has really suffered. Even seeding and fertilising it hasn’t done much.

Fairly limited space, and he can't move off it until February(ish) as I'm on livery and we are on winter fields until then. There is still grass, but I'm worried it's lacking in nutrition. I think he's dropped weight and we had a hard frost at the weekend, and he seemed hungry when he came in tonight. I think I'm going to start to put a bit of hay out in the day and see if it gets eaten- I'll spread it around the field so that he is encouraged to move.

 

[Fruitcake]

We move ours to the field that had hay taken off in summer and strip graze it. Depending on the weather it has lasted to January before hay was needed but a couple of years lasted all through winter. Just natives on it.

This is what we do, but for the past couple of years, we haven’t even bothered cutting it for hay. We just leave it standing and strip graze over the winter. I do put hay out if there’s frost, snow, or if it’s particularly rainy and they’re hanging around the field shelter. They still seem to come out of winter a little too well.

An old pony I had was brilliant for letting me know when she needed hay. If I put a slice out and she ate it, I knew to start feeding. As soon as the grass started coming through, she would stop eating the hay. With this lot though, they’ll eat hay at any time (and end up as wide as they are tall).

 

[HannahB]

I don't use a weight tape but can tell how big Bumbles is by the holes on girth. I stable Bumbles in winter but for the sheep I start feeding hay when the grass stops growing, so probably in the next week or so. Also when keeping the animals at grass, in the winter we let them over a larger area then only restrict grazing in spring/summer when grass in plenty.

 

[Neddie123]

No I don’t do this ever .
I want them moving about as much as possible during the day when they are in at night not standing in one place eating .

Im interested to know why you don't feed at night when horses are stabled? Ive always fed haynets when horses are in overnight as I thought that leaving them 12 hours plus with no forage was a bad idea?! Unless Ive misunderstood what you mean?