Feeding multiple horses in the field

Titchy Reindeer

Titchy Reindeer

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Hey, wondering if anyone has some good solutions to my problem.

I have 4 horses, all kept together and out in a field most the time:
- 28 yo Old Lady, missing some teeth and needing extra feed to keep the weight on
- 16 yo Little Madam, greedy so an so, dominant over Old Lady in food situations
- 18 month old, Sassy, merrily shares a bucket with anyone who doesn't chase her off
- 6 month old, Pippin, also eats from any and all buckets he can get his head in

The issue is that only Old Lady really needs her feed, it is larger than the other's feeds which are mainly token feeds to keep them happy and to put their oily herbs and vits and mins in. Old Lady is also a slow eater and lets the two youngsters eat from her bucket and is easily chased off by Little Madam. Most of my fields are a ten min walk away from the stables, so if I were to bring in, leading two horses at a time, that would be 40mins, and then another 40 minutes to turn out again.

Last winter, before the youngsters arrived, I would either put a headcollar on Little Madam and hold her until Old Lady had finished eating, but I can't really do that with 3 horse to hold now, or separate Old Lady out for the day time, so she could receive two feeds and then put them back together for the night. I don't want to do this anymore as Old Lady is aunt / nanny to the youngsters.

So far, I've thought of putting up 4 tying posts in each field, so I can tie the horse up while they eat (the youngsters don't yet tie up, but I could work on that). This could be quite time consuming and fiddly getting all the headcollars on.

Other option would be a small pen to put Old Lady in while she eats and let her out afterwards. The ideal would be one with some kind of one way door, so that I could put her in and she could let herself out when she's finished, which would make feeding her twice a day less time consuming when we reach that stage. Only I can't think of any "one way gate" that would be foal (Pippin!) safe. Any ideas?

Open to other suggestions or any issues with my current ideas.

Thanks
 
An electric fence pen for the oldie would be the quickest if you don’t mind the other 3 sharing buckets.

Historically I’ve never tied babies up, but now I have my own place and can stage manage things easily during the training, all mine have now started tieing from weanlings.

So I feed 4, all tied up. 3 youngsters and an oldie. I use hang buckets cable tied to a fence. Tie up spots. Ropes stay attached to ties.

Horses all park them selves by their places now. Headcollars on and attached up. Feed dispensed. It’s all very sweet & easy
 
ihatework said:
An electric fence pen for the oldie would be the quickest if you don’t mind the other 3 sharing buckets.

Historically I’ve never tied babies up, but now I have my own place and can stage manage things easily during the training, all mine have now started tieing from weanlings.

So I feed 4, all tied up. 3 youngsters and an oldie. I use hang buckets cable tied to a fence. Tie up spots. Ropes stay attached to ties.

Horses all park them selves by their places now. Headcollars on and attached up. Feed dispensed. It’s all very sweet & easy
Click to expand...
Maybe I can go with a combination of an electric fence pen for now, while I get the tie posts set up (don't want to tie to the fence as its wooden posts and electric tape) and teach every one to tie up nicely.
I don't mind the others sharing buckets at the moment as they all eat the same thing, but that may change as Little Madam comes back into work.
 
Lurfy said:
I think the 4 posts would be my preference and tie them all. I would worry that having a small yard for the old mare may end up with the other 3 circling around like sharks. A nosebag for old mare could be ok, but I've never done it as my boy's feed is mushy.
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Old Lady also has a very mushy feed to allow for her missing teeth, so nose bag probably isn't appropriate.

Yes, that would be the problem of a pen, but I can set it up in a corner so two sides will not have hangry horses lurking there and it would have to be big enough for Old Lady to be comfortable eating in it, despite the "sharks".
 
I separate when mine get different volumes of hard feed, so I'd say a pen is easier and quicker than catching and tying up 4 horses every time you want to feed. Coming into winter, will you be/are you feeding hay/lage? If so putting that out while the old girl finishes her feed might stop any circling of her pen.
 
I used to bulk out the feeds of the piggy with chaff. My oldie with no teeth had Veteran Vitality mash mixed with some Graze-on or grass pellets, depending on time of year (pellets in winter, as he got more in each mouthful!).

In your situation, I would do the tie posts, but have the rope and headcollars all ready on the posts (fastened up high off the ground, of course!), then put the buckets down in order of pig status, going back to put headcollars on once buckets are down. If chief pig is likely to just follow the buckets, maybe put their headcollar on first and then you can just clip on once the bucket is down.

Or...put all headcollars on and clip on as bucket goes down. That might be easier!!
 
Depends how much time you have.

If only one horse needing extra feed, I hold the bucket for 'big feed' horse and the others know to leave me alone. That works if you have already established that you are 'the big cheese' and that they should respect you. It does depend on you standing there for up to 30 min though so is a bit of a faff!

Electric fence pen would be my preference. You can get on with poo picking etc while the big eater happily eats. I always have a pen inside my field gate so there is never just one way out, you always have to go through double gates - so I would pop pony in there.

One tie up post per horse - in the wet they will pull the whole thing out of the ground, and a lead rope long enough that they can eat is also long enough to get a leg stuck in.
 
I have the same setup (but with multiple fields with from 1 to 3 horses in each). In some fields things work naturally as the dominant horse has the biggest/most attractive feed or they all have the same. In the only one that isn't like this I have to either guard them (they don't challenge me) or hold the one that would steal food. In your case I would think a single pen for the old horse would be a good idea if you have time to put her in and out, I can't think of a gate mechanism that would work to let her out without the others getting in. A large diagonal corner is probably the simplest way to do this.
 
Is there enough space to tie up the Old Lady outside the field and leave her to eat while you do other things -

That said big sloppy feeds can take an hour or so to eat so I wouldn't want to leave her tied and unsupervised for that long.

Can you bring 2 in - her and one other to eat and leave the other two in the field?
 
When my old Peggy sure got her big feed I tied a rope along the corner of the field to feed her in. It kept the rest out and she just wandered out under the rope when she was done. I don’t know if that would be enough to keep inquisitive youngsters at bay though.
 
I made a pen for my oldie. The others soon got the message.
Stress free eating for everyone.

Would separating her just for the day reduce her nanny duties that much?
My oldie was herd leader and I used to put him in his own field during the day.
He actually really liked it. He napped in the field shelter and was off duty as it were, so could really rest.
He went back in the evening and bossed everyone around.
 
SpeedyPony said:
I separate when mine get different volumes of hard feed, so I'd say a pen is easier and quicker than catching and tying up 4 horses every time you want to feed. Coming into winter, will you be/are you feeding hay/lage? If so putting that out while the old girl finishes her feed might stop any circling of her pen.
Click to expand...
That's a good idea regarding the hay. I'm not feeding any in the field yet, but will soon have to.
 
Fransurrey said:
I used to bulk out the feeds of the piggy with chaff. My oldie with no teeth had Veteran Vitality mash mixed with some Graze-on or grass pellets, depending on time of year (pellets in winter, as he got more in each mouthful!).

In your situation, I would do the tie posts, but have the rope and headcollars all ready on the posts (fastened up high off the ground, of course!), then put the buckets down in order of pig status, going back to put headcollars on once buckets are down. If chief pig is likely to just follow the buckets, maybe put their headcollar on first and then you can just clip on once the bucket is down.

Or...put all headcollars on and clip on as bucket goes down. That might be easier!!
Click to expand...
I might have to do some experimenting...
 
maya2008 said:
Depends how much time you have.

If only one horse needing extra feed, I hold the bucket for 'big feed' horse and the others know to leave me alone. That works if you have already established that you are 'the big cheese' and that they should respect you. It does depend on you standing there for up to 30 min though so is a bit of a faff!

Electric fence pen would be my preference. You can get on with poo picking etc while the big eater happily eats. I always have a pen inside my field gate so there is never just one way out, you always have to go through double gates - so I would pop pony in there.

One tie up post per horse - in the wet they will pull the whole thing out of the ground, and a lead rope long enough that they can eat is also long enough to get a leg stuck in.
Click to expand...
My arms would drop off if I held her bucket for her: it must be 6 or 7 kg! And she really pushes against it to eat. I also wouldn't be able to persuade her to stay if Little Madam gave her an angry look, she'd be out of there and I'd be vainly following her around with the bucket.
 
Cowpony said:
Could you take Old Lady out throught the gate and feed her there? This is what we do with ours when we need to feed at the field. Then put the buckets in for the others either while she's eating or after she's back in the field.
Click to expand...
I have tried this, but it is straight onto the lane and she is very messy. I'd rather she wasn't trying to sift though the gravel to get the rest of her dinner. Also getting to the time of year where we'd be stood in the lane in the dark while she's eating and I'm not keen on the idea.
 
Polos Mum said:
Is there enough space to tie up the Old Lady outside the field and leave her to eat while you do other things -

That said big sloppy feeds can take an hour or so to eat so I wouldn't want to leave her tied and unsupervised for that long.

Can you bring 2 in - her and one other to eat and leave the other two in the field?
Click to expand...
The field gives straight onto the lane, so can't tie her up outside. Even bringing just one lot in would be rather time consuming and would be in the dark on the roads soon. So I'd rather not do that.
 
Peglo said:
When my old Peggy sure got her big feed I tied a rope along the corner of the field to feed her in. It kept the rest out and she just wandered out under the rope when she was done. I don’t know if that would be enough to keep inquisitive youngsters at bay though.
Click to expand...
Sounds brilliant, but definitely not Pippin proof! Unfortunately, Old Lady is also my tallest by a small margin, so probably not the best set up for us. But I'll keep it in mind for if it ever fits one day.
 
Archangel said:
I made a pen for my oldie. The others soon got the message.
Stress free eating for everyone.

Would separating her just for the day reduce her nanny duties that much?
My oldie was herd leader and I used to put him in his own field during the day.
He actually really liked it. He napped in the field shelter and was off duty as it were, so could really rest.
He went back in the evening and bossed everyone around.
Click to expand...
At the minute, yes, Old Lady needs to be around most / all the time. I'm working on gradually weaning Pippin and that leaves her as only responsible adult the times I take Little Madam out. For that reason, I want her and the youngsters to be able to spend as much time together as they want. I also don't wont the youngsters learning to break through fencing to get to her if it gets in their heads.
 
I would do a coral with electric tape across a corner of your field and feed her in the corner. Chuck just enough hay on the ground to keep the others occupied for just the right amount of time, then let her back out from either end of the long side
 
I would do ( and have done ) as Archangel suggests, separate the oldie.. It's the safest, least stressful way to manage things, and I wholeheartedly second the idea that the older horses need a break from the youngsters. I just divided the field, so the old mare was next to, always visible and could communicate over the fence. I let her back in with the others in the evenings, (but she often elected to stay in her own field). It shouldn't be an issue when you take the bossy one out, there's still two together, and they can still see the old mare?










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Could you put her in a stable size pen - post and rail or electric. The entry with posts and slip rail which will push off one way only. Also drop hay around for the others. I did this and it kept the others out but the oldie didn’t get the idea of pushing her way out !
 
lily has to be tied to the gate because she’ll chase diva off, eat hers, and then go back for her own.

in your scenario i’d probably tie up 1, hold another, and leave the other 2 to it😂
 
I used pens for mine, it only took a couple of times then they started putting themselves in their respective pens when they saw me approach with their buckets!

Equally I've seen one way gates used on FB, couple of ideas here if you can do something a bit more permanent with posts

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chaps89 said:
I used pens for mine, it only took a couple of times then they started putting themselves in their respective pens when they saw me approach with their buckets!

Equally I've seen one way gates used on FB, couple of ideas here if you can do something a bit more permanent with posts

www.facebook.com

Horse Track System | Hi, just posting incase this is helpful for anyone else keeping horses with different needs on the same track | Facebook

Hi, just posting incase this is helpful for anyone else keeping horses with different needs on the same track. This is Puk, hes 40 and has always been a poor doer. He lives on my track with 4 good...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

www.facebook.com

Horse Track System | Hi, just posting incase this is helpful for anyone else keeping horses with different needs on the same track | Facebook

Hi, just posting incase this is helpful for anyone else keeping horses with different needs on the same track. This is Puk, hes 40 and has always been a poor doer. He lives on my track with 4 good...
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Click to expand...
Thank you for that. It was something like that one way gate that I had in mind. I'll have to see if I can make something like it. It would mean I could let Old Lady in, she could eat in peace and then leave to join the others when she wants.
 
Titchy Pony said:
Thank you for that. It was something like that one way gate that I had in mind. I'll have to see if I can make something like it. It would mean I could let Old Lady in, she could eat in peace and then leave to join the others when she wants.
Click to expand...
If you search one way gate in that group, there's a few posts with ideas. I did try linking to a couple of them but it seems like it's just pasted one link multiple times, sorry.
 
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