Following on from what do you feed your natives...

Toffee44

Toffee44

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After Toffee and Samba polished off the just under 1/2bag of good doer they broke into I am refusing to go and get some more. They havent been ridden for 3 weeks, they are rugged, they are fat and they have good quality hay (they are welsh x nf and welsh x hackney).
Toffee will take her supplement in small handful of soaked speedibeet from a scoop. They have access to a lick at all times and for the first time ever really I queried why do I feed my horses?

Who doesnt hard feed (including Dengie etc) their natives/good doers?

If you feed your native/good doer and if they are not in medium + work why??

PS. This isnt me protesting that we shouldnt be feeding natives/good doers. I am just wondering if some, myself included, feed because we like to rather than they need it.
 
Well I would not call what I give my good doer...food as such. He has two handfuls of Dengi Healthy Hooves to put his all round vit/min supplement into and the rest is strip grazed grass and hay. I only feed this because I feel it important that he has something in the form of a supplement as he is on limited grass (particuarly from April through to October) and year old hay soaked...so there will not be much goodness in that otherwise.
He does fine on this and has done low level endurance on it too. I would never ever feed him any sort of mix or grain as he does not need it. He is un-rugged this year completely and is fine, warm and carrying a bit more weight than I would like...but that will come off when we up the ridden work in the spring.
 
My cob gets the same as my 2 TB X mares, a tiny handful of good doer and a mug of Bailey's Lo Cal once a day with yeast. They are grass kept and have hay ad lib. Not ridden during snow and ice, but coming back into work this week -walking out. Cob is fully clipped but coat grows thick and fast so in a L/W rug to keep some mud off. TB X's are unclipped and in M/W with no neck. Cob has become fat through being off work, the TB X 's are also carrying more weight than usual, though not too much. Too much hay, but can't control that as they live in a herd.
Currently on a mission to increase work load gradually over the next couple of weeks and watching the grass like a hawk, particularly when the herd ignores the hay and is stuffing into the grass.
Vet is off the opinion that the healthiest horses are the 'neglected ones'; out 24/7 with only supplementry feeding being hay and all unclipped horses (including TB's) left unrugged. (Should perhaps qualify that by saying old/sick horses or excessive rain and limited shelter might need more care...)
 
I don't feed any significant bucket feed to my good doer. She justs gets a tiny handful of unmolassed beet (or whatever else comes to hand) when my others are fed, just as something to put a supplement in, as well as ensure she is keen to come in!

I do think some people like to give a big bucket of 'something' because it fulfills an emotional need in them!
 
Mine gets nothing as he was very over weight when I got him 6 months ago. He is now stabled overnight and out during the day with good grass. He has 2 sections of hay at night but will happily munch through his straw bed aswell. When I got him I decided he would only get fed a token feed if he got stressed when the others are fed but as he dosent get stressed I have never fed him. He is now at a good weight and is clipped, rugged and in work 6 days a week. It works for him he is looking good on it and has plenty of energy.
 
I think that natives especially manage on very little nutrition wise, and I'm sure that in certain cases over supplementing with vits and mins can do more harm than good.

I do feed an 'additional' feed however, but as it is all fibre 'hay replacer' types of feed I wouldn't class it as hard feed as such, and as natives love their food it is nice to be able to give a bit of variety to the diet and also if hay is in short supply I can up the bucket feed without causing any ill effects as it is already in the diet and doesn't have to be introduced gradually. I also like the fact that fast fibre is fed soaked and has been useful for getting additional moistureinto them in the frozen weather.

I currently feed hay and fast fibre, the fast fibre already has vits and mins so no added supplement with that, sometimes I feed dengie hi fi lite and I add Benevit supplement at half measures when using this. I also add mag ox to feeds too.
 
Ours are on hay (good quality, soaked for my mare as she basically needs as little as poss!) with a token feed with supps. They are on this when off work and anything up to medium work (feed bag definitions!). Oh mare has a little more microionized linseed when competing alot through the winter if needed. I use unmollased chaff or speedibeet with yeasacc, brewers yeast and magnesium. If truth be told then I'm sure they could have less food with their supps (they have a full scoop of chaff or soaked beet each, I'm sure they could have less!) but I am a lame ass so for some stupid reason like them to have a little more in their bowls!
 
Our NF only ever lived on grass before we got him. However as our grazing is poor we do suppliment with hay, and he gets a smidge of chaff and sugar beet with pink powder in more as a distraction while the other (poor do-er) is fed
 
Ours aren't being fed at all at the moment other than hay and are all living out unrugged. We weigh the hay usually and will be starting that again today but throughout the snowy/freezing period they have had 24/7 access to big bale hay, they are all still too fat so are having to weigh it again to try and get something off the ones who really need to lose some. We have an in foal mare in with them and she will be coming in for a small feed each day just to make sure she is getting everything she needs.
 
M section A mare gets a scoop of hi-fi lite to put her supplements in and some hay at night. She is out in a winter pasture during the day and back in her sacrifice paddock for the night. She is out 24/7 and is unrugged- she was very overweight this summer so she needs to lose weight. She really doesn't need any hard feed- she has a very thick coat and has shown no signs of being even the slightest bit chilly, even in the deep snow.
 
The only one of my 4 who gets any bucket feed at the moment (and the only one who is NOT a good-doer) is my rising 30 year old mare, who's lost most of her top molar teeth, and has a sloppy mixture of speedibeet and hi-fibre cubes to help maintain her weight.

Apart from that my three boys (two Arabs and one TBX) are all out 24/7, even through all the recent snow, and all they are being fed is haylage (and I'm even having to limit that and not let them at it ad-lib as I'd prefer). I weigh taped them the other day, and they'd all put on weight (and you could see it by eye also). They're all 3 in light work over the winter, building up from now onwards to full fitness for the endurance season, and are all showing plenty of enthusiasm, stamina and willingness to go forward.

They are all rugged by the way - partly for warmth, but mainly for my benefit - i.e. keeping the mud off so that I can ride.

I honestly think it would be sheer cruelty if I were to give the boys hard feed as well - as they would likely balloon so much that it would likely bring down lami and all sorts of other problems on them. I already feel guilty about the amount of haylage I'm currently giving them which, I confess is still a little too much.

Of course, there is the obvious fact that it saves me a fortune in hard feed, which I can't deny is a big bonus! But I'd be the first to got out and buy hard feed if the boys needed it (I do buy feed for the elderly mare) - but they absolutely don't need it. So why spend much needed cash on increasing the gang's chances of potential illness?
 
I stopped feeding my two natives about two months ago, they are out 24/7 unrugged and have plenty of grass, they have both lost weight :D

If yours are overweight and aren't clipped then I don't see why they would need rugging?
 
Prancers_Rider said:
they are fat

If you feed your native/good doer and if they are not in medium + work why??
Click to expand...

Can I ask why yours are fat? Not the point of the post I know but a horse being fat even in winter isn't wise, especially natives as I'm sure you're aware.

With regard to the question itself - 2 of mine are natives, I feed them hard feed as they are both veterans and are on restricted grass (to keep their weight in check) so I feel they may lack necessary nutrients on an otherwise mainly hay-based diet.
 
Wasn't sure if you were looking for advice at all but I would definitely not be feeding your two personally, and would be dropping rug weight unless it is abysmal :)

This was Phil in October:
149955_464649377326_633522326_6277192_1112165_n.jpg


After having been muzzled near enough 24/7 until September and not being fed anything (was worked 6 days a week from July-September because I was back from uni).

I'd say he looks pretty healthy considering to most people I'd be called cruel for not supplying him with extra vits/mins because he was restricted. But natives have a way of getting the best from the land they are on. He is currently being fed a handful of chaff at breakfast/dinner, is clipped and in a m/w rug out during the day since he went on loan and has dropped 20kg :D
 
Two of my natives do not get a hard feed as one is a youngster and the other one is a shetland who need to loose weight.

My other native highland gets hifi apple to have her supplements and medicines in but thats all. All the native ones have no rugs on and mare being fed is in light work at the moment after 4 months field rest.
 
My 5 year old NF mare, gets a scoop of alfa a chaff, and half a scoop of grass nuts. Is in a MW rug with neck. Is currently being broken and worked regularly on the lunge.
 
Mine gets 1/3 scoop of pony nuts once a day soaked so that I can put his magnesium supplement in it.

He is connie x welsh and out on plenty of grass, no hay (apart from snow and heavy frost), trace clipped with an old (10 years!) Rhino Wug (no fill) and not in work due to my various viruses since November! He is looking very well indeed:(

Prior to this, he was in work each day, 2 hrs plus and sometimes 4 hrs, and I would feed him according to the work. Sometimes he would get a full scoop of nuts twice a day.

I would add that these are not Racehorse Cubes or anything, but 'budget' ones from various local feedstores.
 
Even when my guys are in what I would class as medium-hard work during the summer I don't feed them what I consider hard feed. Just a balancer for vits and mins and a bit of chaff to stop them bolting it.

That being said, Baby was so lazy last summer I think I might give him so oats this year for a little bit more oomph!
 
AngieandBen said:
I stopped feeding my two natives about two months ago, they are out 24/7 unrugged and have plenty of grass, they have both lost weight :D

If yours are overweight and aren't clipped then I don't see why they would need rugging?
Click to expand...


Toffee has arthritus and therefore keep her rugged looking at the picture of the lovely black boy she is actually no chunkier, Samba was being regulary worked until the snow so therefore rugged for my convenience, however I wont take a horses rug off now as she has spent most of the winter rugged shes in lw-mw.

They strip graze during the summer but in my field as im on clay and its windy its near impossible to keep the paddocks small without fences down. This time of year every year it all goes to pot up my field its gets muddy, the fencing keeps getting knocked down, I dont ride I HATE WINTER. They are moving in 5 weeks to a nice drained field where the hay can be kept out of sight out of mind. I'm feeling a bit better about stopping feeds though, I felt so mean this evening but they really dont need it and I suppose because im the only person up my yard/ field that now doesnt feed I feel even more guilty! !
 
I know how you feel, mine are on clay :( Been very lucky this year though with the cold weather its stayed pretty dry.

Don't feel quilty not feeding them, just think of the money saved and the weight they will lose!
 
I have got 4 sec A's, 1 sec D mare and my 15.2hh cob on 10 acres of not a lot of grass. They are going through a big bale of haylage every 2 weeks! I haven't fed any hard feed this winter and wont be!
Only my old sec A and ridden cob are rugged (MW)
 
2x 14.2hh native x's get daily handful each of Dengie HiFi and D&H High Fibre nuts to put their SeleneviteE supp powder in, also pint of water to increase moisture intake and bit of salt to encourage them to drink, otherwise I wouldn't bother as they don't need hard feed - both unclipped, unrugged and out of work over the winter, living out 24/7 in all conditions (have natural shelter in field from trees etc). 10-12kg of hay each daily spread over 3 meals (rationing as ran out last winter).
The keys to whether any horse/pony needs more feed is do they need more condition, are they losing condition, or lacking in energy? If not, they are OK.
Remember you can check if they are warm enough by feeling the base of the ears or getting your hand close to the skin under their coat (allow time for their body heat to penetrate as the surface will likely be cold initially).
An over-rugged horse can be very uncomfortable, and a rug can actually act against the naturally insulating hair by preventing it from fluffing up to trap warmth.
If more feed is deemed necessary, often increasing the fibre (hay, haylage or a suitable replacer) is better for them (esp to keep them occupied and warm in winter conditions) than concentrates.
As with so much we do for our horses - is it really for their benefit, or ours? ;)
 
Mine are rough grazed, and not rugged. They are onley fed hay/ hard food when it snowed. A little girl rides one and they give her a handfull of pony nuts when they ride as a treat. Non of them are under weight!! Two have to come in in spring because of lami, they get hay then, with a bit of chaff to carry supplements.
 
Fii said:
Mine are rough grazed, and not rugged. They are onley fed hay/ hard food when it snowed. A little girl rides one and they give her a handfull of pony nuts when they ride as a treat. Non of them are under weight!! Two have to come in in spring because of lami, they get hay then, with a bit of chaff to carry supplements.
Click to expand...

Sorry ment to say, they are NF:rolleyes:
 
Up until last year when my old pony's age finally caught up with her, she wasnt fed at all from March - Sept and was out 24/7 on excellent grazing. From Oct - Feb she was fed a scoop of Hi Fi Senior or Fibergy and 1/4 scoop of Leisure mix with a vit/min supp and looked superb!

My bank balance was also a lot healthier then too! :D
 
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