Hay Overnight???

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WandaMare

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Hay feeding advice please.........my horse comes in overnight and has a medium sized haynet of soaked hay between 7-8pm. She finishes this by 9.30 pm ish and then has nothing until 7am next morning? Is this OK or should I give her more?

Shes a cob type so I'm reluctant to give her too much as she could easily get way too big
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Thanks for any help or advice
 
How much are you actually giving her. How big is she? Is she overweight, just right? How much work do you do with her? Do you feed in a haynet? Cant really answer this question till you give more details
 
it is not good for horse to have nothing moving throught the gut for long periods.

you could use a smaller holed haynet to slow him down or put some more in at 11pm?

if the horse does not really need the food value then i would soak the hay to get rid of the goodness.
 
Hi, shes 15.2hh and ridden 5 times a week for an hour. Shes slightly overweight at the moment but not huge. Shes 7 years old and a coloured Welsh cob/warmblood cross and a very good doer.

Shes out on grass from 7 am till 3pm, ridden early evening then I give her a small hole haynet (soaked for 12 hours) between 7 and 8.

She does grab at her hay and eat it very quickly, just a hungry type I guess......
 
I leave mine with a big pile of hay at 10pm and they don't get any more until about 9am. They must finish the hay by midnight at the latest and they manage pefectly well until morning.

From what I understand, the longer you soak the hay, the less calories it has so maybe if you soaked for 24 hours you could give her two small hole haynets to keep her occupied for longer if she doesn't need any more weight.
 
If you keep the horse at home, I'd give the hay at last check, so that the time spent without hay is split.

However, for those of us that struggle with our horses weight it can be a real problem. In an ideal world, yes they should have forrage in front of them all the time. But it simply is not practicable with some of the better doers that some of us have.

My horse comes in at around 7.0am and goes out at 7.00pm ish. He comes in to a small net that is probably gone within the hour. But it's tough I'm afraid. He's fat so can't stuff his face all day.

There are far worse implications for the overweight horse than those on a restricted diet. So personally, I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you.
 
Thanks v much for your ideas and suggestions, its been worrying me recently so good to know there are others with similar routines who get on OK ....
 
Just a thought - are you at the yard to know that she has finished her hay at 9.30pm? If so - why dont you give her her hay then - or split what you do give her into 2 nets. Alternatively, put 1 haynet inside another, making the holes smaller and that will then take her longer to eat it.
 
I dont like the idea of them stood there not eating even if they are over weight....could you sprinkle hay around her stable so she has to take her time and search for it? i know the vet did that for my horse after her op (she then had colic) so they had to restrict her food intake...

i just thought it was all a bit messy but its a thought!
 
Replying to GummyB, I put her hay in at 7.30 after I've ridden because she's been in since 3pm and she seems so hungry! She probably isn't starving but I feel mean riding her then putting her back in her stable with nothing.....

Its a good idea to wait till later though so I will split her portion and give her small bites after exercise and main portion before bedtime. I've never had a horse that is such a good doer. Its good on cost but quite difficult to get the routine right. Will also try sprinkling some round stable, at least that should keep her busy for awhile, thank you
 
Won't kill her though I prefer to have my two with hay at all times but they are not on a diet and I also buy cheap course hay which has less feed value rather than the nice rich soft stuff.

You could try mixing the hay 50 - 50 with some straw to bulk out and putting into two nets so even harder to eat it quickly.

As others have said, better to keep the weight off and go a few hours without feed but try to avoid more than 10 hours without nothing as the acid in the gut starts to really build up.
 
Is it easy to get old / course hay in your area? Its been difficult to get hay around us (outside Bristol) this year because of wet summer last year etc. The hay I have now is quite green and soft so I've been soaking the sugars out of it religiously, not ideal for foodies.... might need to consider going further afield for something more suitable.....thanks
 
Its difficult, but horses not having hay for long periods is unhealthy and can cause problems with their digestion
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Even fatties on our yard get hay that has been soaked for about 4hrs, but get a good 3-4kg a night. If they guzzle quickly, they get it in very small net haynets, which personally i dont like, BUT it is better than them standing hungry. Its a vicious circle, if you deprive them of food they will eat more when they are given it. If they have constant access to food they wont guzzle as much. Its just limiting the nutritional content of anything they are eating
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Mine have ad lib hay - one is a good doer, but is out 20 hrs a day on poor grazing at the moment the other is a poor doer so he gets more feed/hay.

I feed by weight, not size of net. Keep the hay in sections as it takes longer for them to eat it, and feed half in a net and half on the floor.

Are you feeding any hard feed at the moment? Is it possible to restrict the grazing to a barer field etc? Standing for long periods without something to eat (they are meant to be grazers not guzzlers) can lead to digestive problems.
 
Hi, she gets small portion of Happy Hoof twice a day (about 1/3 of standard scoop) just to keep her happy while others are fed and her paddock is quite small, usually limited grazing although all the rain has meant its stayed slightly greener this year.

Shes turned out with others so I'm limited to how small I can make her turnout area, hence bringing her in mid-afternoon.
 
WB - I'd put her soaked hay into a small holed haynet as you do now, then put that entire haynet INSIDE another small holed hay net. She'll have to work her butt off to get her hay but at the same time, she is trickle feeding. Over 9 hours without anything in her belly isn't good for her x
 
Horses are grazing animals that would in the wild graze for 16 - 20 hrs a day. You should try to mimic this at all times. I read an article the other day that said research has shown that any horse that regulary goes more than 4 hours per day without food would be prone to gastric ulcers. You must do what you think is the best thing for your horse.
 
Thats really worrying, I don't want her getting gastric ulcers
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but its difficult to keep them eating for up to 20 hours when they are prone to obesity.

What happens where people keep horses in yards away from their homes, it must be too much to travel late at night to top up hay?Thought it was hard work for me having a good doer but at least mine are just next door
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Will follow tips given on this thread, v useful thanks everyone. Finding some lower nutritional hay will hopefully make a big difference as I can hopefully give her have bigger rations, its just finding some now........
 
In that case, I would feed about 2-3 sections per night, feed in haylage nets (very small holes) or in a doubled up haynet and perhaps use 1 net per section so she has to move about to eat, and not just stand in one spot gorging on the net and/or time the nets so she has one when she comes in, one after riding and then another later on (if you live on site).

Also ensure that the hay is well soaked.

If the grazing isnt fantastic and she is on a restricted diet, you might want to look at a balancer to make sure she has the required minerals and vitamins etc. perhaps something suitable for laminitics.
 
All the fatties on my yard have there hay in small hole nets, that are double netted, this helps to slow them down quite a bit. Another method some people also use is to attached some string up high across the centre of the stable and tie the haynet on this, as the haynet has nothing to rest it makes it harder for them to get the hay out, so take them longer again to eat it.
 
hence why i use paddock pillows as ive never used haynets for the reasons you have given Spaniel...
I made paddock pillows ( as i will not use haynets ) and fill them with soaked hay for overnight in the stable, it slows down the spead that she shovels it in .and out all day with her greengaurd grazing muzzle on . google ( Paddock Pillows) if you dont know what they are. ive been using them for a long time now. also good for using in the field

 
Paddock Pillows are such a great idea.
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I'm glad that somebody else has mentioned that horses that stand for too long without feed frequently/regularly do tend to get ulcers.
 
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hence why i use paddock pillows as ive never used haynets for the reasons you have given Spaniel...
I made paddock pillows ( as i will not use haynets ) and fill them with soaked hay for overnight in the stable, it slows down the spead that she shovels it in .and out all day with her greengaurd grazing muzzle on . google ( Paddock Pillows) if you dont know what they are. ive been using them for a long time now. also good for using in the field



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Can I ask how you make the paddock pillows?
 
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hence why i use paddock pillows as ive never used haynets for the reasons you have given Spaniel...
I made paddock pillows ( as i will not use haynets ) and fill them with soaked hay for overnight in the stable, it slows down the spead that she shovels it in .and out all day with her greengaurd grazing muzzle on . google ( Paddock Pillows) if you dont know what they are. ive been using them for a long time now. also good for using in the field



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Can I ask how you make the paddock pillows?

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http://www.naturalhorseworld.com/Article-Feeding.htm

Am defo going to make myself some of these..
 
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Cribbing/windsucking, being grumpy, touchy to girth up are just a few signs...
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/5125/122932.html

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But you may also not really get any signs - my horse had grade 4 ulcers, bleeding, and the only sign was a marked reluctance to SJ, which started with him chipping in strides in combination fences and progressed (through two vet visits where I was told he was fine) to him not SJing at all. All through this his temperament barely changed and he jumped clear round Novice BE XC tracks. You need to know your horse and what is normal for your horse - I knew mine wasn't right, just took a while to convince the vets!
 
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