Hay quantities and youngster

[Nudibranch]

Just trying to assess how much to feed or increase feed for my youngster. I have always fed haylage in the past, and usually ad-lib through the winter. However I've moved my two nearer home and at the moment we have to use small bales of hay. The other slight issue is we share the field with a fatty and his owner wants to use the winter to reduce his weight. Fine for my retiree but I have a 7 month colt who will make 16.2 and he's already in 5'6 rugs!

He looks well, nicely covered but not fat, and there's still plenty of grass in the field but obviously now there won't be much nutrition in it. I don't want to have to start stabling him part of the time so the fatties can't get his hay, and it's tricky working out his requirements using the 2% rule when he's out 24/7 and getting plenty of grass, albeit winter grass. But ad-lib isn't an option while we are sharing with a seriously obese field mate. His hard feed consists of sugar beet and suregrow and as I say, he looks good but I don't want him to drop any weight.

So, to the point - what quantities of hay and hard feed would other people feed?

 

[FairyLights]

I feed hay ad-lib unless the horse needs to loose weight,if it does then I feed hay mixed with oat straw if I can get it or hay fed in a small holed net. I cant see how you can cope with a fatty in the field as well as a youngster who doesnt need weight dropping. Can the other person put the fatty in a different paddock?

 

[be positive]

I think you will have a conflict , your weanling needs to have access to adlib forage during the winter if he is going to cope with being left out 24/7. Can the good doer be moved, at least overnight, so that you can give plenty of hay then. I cannot see how you will make sure he gets enough as the fatty will probably take the biggest share.
Otherwise you are going to be feeding a lot of hard feed to yours which may not be ideal as can affect his growth and potentially damage him.

 

[beehorses]

I feed hay ad-lib unless the horse needs to loose weight,if it does then I feed hay mixed with oat straw if I can get it or hay fed in a small holed net. I cant see how you can cope with a fatty in the field as well as a youngster who doesnt need weight dropping. Can the other person put the fatty in a different paddock?

I would agree it is difficult if not impossible to manage in this situation I feed ad lib haylage to my youngster and good grass but the horse she is with is not a fatty.

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

your youngster needs ad - lib hay and a little bucket grub. the fatty probably requires very little if winter is the tme he reduces to normal healthy weight. the retiree is he an old one or a broken one? if he is old he also needs as much fibre as poss, if he is broken retired and a good doer then maybe he can cope with less ad lib. small bale hay is not the issue. the fatty versus youngster is!! can you section the field? can fatty go into a smaller different field? etc....... in real terms your youngster is going to be big, and needs to grow slow on fibre base, if you replace ad lib hay with bucket food then you will probably get joint problems. you need to keep similar dieted horses with others needing the same reqs.