Hay replacer advice please

BlackRider

BlackRider

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My 31yo can no longer manage to chew hay, any recommendations for (cheap!) hay replacers?

She is on prascend, and has never (touch wood!) had lami, but does need to gain weight.

I've read there are issues with high volumes of fast fibre.

I have bought some hifi senior, which I'm slowly introducing, she seemed to like to bucket last night that had sugar beet mixed in, but wasn't keen on this "neat". I don't want to mix the sugar beet in and leave it overnight, with it being so cold, in case it freezes.

Advice and recommendations welcomed :-)
 
The veteran horse society had a recipe for a hay replacer here:-




HAY REPLACER

It is extremely easy to feed with dental problems. With little chew ability hay may not be an option so you will need a ‘hay-replacer’. This is very simple to make and can make a huge difference to horses and ponies with limited chewing ability.

½ a large bucket of Fibregy by Dodson & Horrell. (www.dodsonandhorrell.com)
1lb of high fibre cubes
veteran horse dental care 4lb wet sugar beet, for those who do find weight hard to keep on.
½ bucket of water.
Let this stand for 2 hours or make in the morning for the evening.

Always use a cube or nut as coarse mix is impossible for some veterans to chew, soaking it to a paté type consistency before feeding. Add 1 pint of water to every 2lb (1 scoop) of cube feed e.g. 16+ Cube for high protein intake, and High Fibre Cubes for low protein intake
 
I have a 33 year old Cushingoid arab mare who can't swallow hay, and hasn't been able to for a few years now. She has as much grass as I can find for her, plus two flexi tubs 2/3 full per day of soaked Speedybeet (or other unmollassed beet pulp), grass nuts and alfalfa pellets, plus micronised linseed and her supplements, which include Top Spec. She isn't that well covered but I make sure she doesn't lose any body heat by keeping her rugged in colder weather and she has plenty of energy so can't be doing too badly.
She likes to chew haylage and spit it out, I don't know whether she gets any nutrition from it in her saliva but she gets through a small net a night
It isn't cheap but it isn't as expensive as proprietory brands of food and it contains all she needs - fibre, protein, vitamins and minerals
 
my horse doesnt eat much haylage so i give him a huge tubtrug of alpha beet soaked with warm water everynight and he loves it! its put weight on him and he stuffs his nose right into it :)
 
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