Hay help?!

[Ridingondreams]

I am soon going to be taking a horse on full loan. The horse in question is a 14.3/ 15hh Connemara X mare, 19 years old but not showing her age at all! Although I've known her for 2 years, I'm starting to worry about how much hay she needs - at the moment I would say she looks a good weight, I don't have a weigh tape but her ribs are faintly discernible when she moves and easily felt, but she is not underweight. Once I have her on loan I expect to ride about 5 times per week, very low intensity, novicey dressage type stuff.

Now I've given some background, I wanted to ask your opinion on how much hay she should be fed. She normally has turn out for about 4/ 5 hours per day, and the horses have just been switched onto the summer paddock, which has been saved all winter and will be pretty lush once spring starts properly, I expect. My plan was to give her one decent sized hay net in the morning, and another in the afternoon with some hay on the floor to last her the night. I know that one cannot skimp on hay, but I'm keen to cut any waste and to be as efficient as possible, as I am still in school and can only work so many hours while still making my grades.

Sorry for being so long-winded, any opinions gratefully received!

 

[Micky]

That sounds about right and her weight sounds ideal for coming out of winter, feel the ribs is fine. She is all set up for the grass coming through. Just keep an eye on her going onto lush grass, check her feet arent warm and she walks out correctly, not pottrery, you dont want her getting laminitis!
My 15.1 cob x has one net hanging up and one on the floor at night, hes in at about 5.30pm for the night and in orning, he has a haynet before he goes out ( hes on a bare paddock!).
Hope this helps.

 

[Dry Rot]

Feed according to the horse's condition rather than feeding a specific weight or volume of hay per day would be sound advice. For one thing, the quality and feeding value of hay varies, as does the metabolism of horses.

As M says, get into the habit of feeling your horse's ribs occasionally. How prominent are they? Do the edges feel sharp? Can you feel them at all? Also be aware that a ribby horse can store fat in other areas and not all ribby horses will be thin!

As a very rough guide, my Highlands eat half a small bale of hay a day. But that is a very rough guide and they will also graze.

 

[Polos Mum]

A lot depends on the quality of grazing and the weather we have over the spring/ summer (as to how much the grass keeps growing)
The best way to save on hay would be to find a way of getting her turned out more, especially over the summer.

Is she on a straw bed? that will make a difference as she'll nibble on that if she runs out of hay.

It's very difficult to judge a 'net' I know people who put one section/ slice in a net and others who have super nets that fit a whole bale so how many 'nets' is really difficult to compare.
Personally I feed enough so there is just a little left in the morning, if I find loads left in the morning I feed a bit less the next night, and vice verca, I'm therefore constantly changing how much they have dependent on what they are getting from the grass. My big horse will eat a whole bale overnight in winter and only 2 sections in spring!

 

[Ridingondreams]

Thanks everyone for your advice! Yes, I would say I'm quite happy with her weight going into spring, she does tend to get a big belly rather than becoming 'fat' when the grass comes through!

Unfortunately because the yard I'm on is in a suburban area there is very careful management of the grazing and the horses are rotated, so some day she gets pretty much the whole day, others only about 4-5 hours, although she seems very happy and settled on this routine

Polo's Mum - yes, she is kept on straw, although I'm sure she does have the odd nibble she's never been a bed eater as she's prone to weeing on most of it!

I think it's just going to be a case of trial and error, but it is very true that it depends on the quality of the grazing/ hay

**My only other query was about hay nets - I really can't decide whether the risk/ unnatural feeding problem is worth it - she doesn't drag all the hay into her bed at all, but it is inevitably more wasteful in my experience - anyone got any tips/ ideas? Thanks

 

[Polos Mum]

Build yourself a home made hay bar, natural feeding position and less waste - perfect all round - do a search on here and you'll see lots of different suggestions for how to do it from, corner wooden things to tubs to wheely bins !

 

[Micky]

Or you could pile the hay up in one corner, we used to do that and every scrap was gone by the morning, incl a bit of their straw bed...No haynets or haybars to faff with
You could weigh her and calculate the amount of hay she needs with a hangy weight hook, weigh each hay net before putting on floor..dont know where you find the amount on internet, been a while since i looked.