Grazing over hard feed?

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jelibean

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My horses graze for 9 hours every day on a very good quality 10 acre field (i am very lucky,i know). How important is it that my yearling eats his morning feed as hes usually too busy trying to get out. He gets a cup of stud balancer and a handful of super molichaff with a splash of soya oil morning and night with adlib hay over night and 9 hrs grazing. He is very well on himself and holding his weight perfectly well. At the moment he is wasting his morning feed, would you worry?
 
Why not cut it back and increase his tea so he's still getting his daily ration; no need to waste feed if he doesn't want it? Or you could just give him the stud balancer at breakfast and nothing else, he might eat just that. I wouldn't worry if you are happy with his weight generally; quite a few youngsters can't wait to get out and play especially if he has had a bellyful of hay through the night too.
 
If he won't eat his feed, there is no point giving it to him! I would maybe think about increasing his evening feed as you aren't giving him a huge amount in one feed at the moment but if he is looking well then I shouldn't be too worried. Can you try giving him his morning feed in the field? I had one that was too excited about going out in the mornings to eat his brekkie so I would pop him in the field on his own with the feed while the others ate theirs in their stables.
 
Personally I would do as everyone else has suggested, esp. as he is aon such small amounts. If the feeds were larger, then I would feed my horse when he came in and again later in the evening.
 
He'd jump the gate in the field on his own even with a feed already tried that. I had resigned myself to just the one feed a day but i was a little worried it may be frowned upon. Do you think it sounds as though im under feeding him, im working on baileys advice with his current feed as he was on youngstock mix up until this winter, id heard so many people rave about balancer that i thought id give it a try and am working on there calculations, it is only a small feed but he does get over average grazing and im really worried about overfeeding so didnt really question it.
He currently stands at 15.1hh TBxHan rugged in and out and holding weight well.
comments welcome.
 
That's the idea with balancers though, to make the feed rations smaller. He sounds nice. How old is he? My yearling only gets one feed a day, because atm I can only get there once a day, but my YO checks and hays them in the am and atm is breaking the ice on the water too! He is out 24/7 though. H is on 1/2 alfalfa, 1/2 Sure Grow and 1/2 SB, plus plenty of hay and carrots. The grazing is not the greatest though.
 
Your best judge on whether or not you are feeding enough is how your horse looks! Remember it is a far bigger crime to over feed a young horse as this makes them grow too fast & puts the youngster at risk of DOD's (development orthopeadic diseases). If you just up his evening feed a bit, give him adlib hay/haylage and maybe a general supplement if you are still worried then he should be fine.
 
Thanks snowynight hes 16months now and his character is growing almost as fast as he is, what is the suregrow that your feeding your yearling?
I have been adding his evening meal onto his morning feed so it doesnt go to waste, so he is still getting his full quota of feed and i am happy with how he looks.
I suppose i have nothing to worry about really!
Thanks guys.
 
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