Hay replacer for gummy bear

[Sussexbythesea]

My old boy of 26yrs is in fine fettle but it’s now come to the point he can’t seem to cope with hay. At the moment he’s out most of the time and seems to eat grass well but due to the weather he’s been in a couple of nights and it’s become clear he’s spitting out most hay. I’ve currently got some Simple systems haycare and Dengie grass nuts which I’ve been soaking. I also add a bit of his Saracen Releve and some pony nuts to entice him. Come winter it’s looking rather expensive so I’m looking to find some additional and hopefully cheaper ways to get fibre into him.

Suggestions welcome.

 

[rabatsa]

My toothless oldie lived on a soup of grass nuts, sugar beet, high fibre cubes and balancer. Grated carrots were added treats.

 

[Auslander]

i have one here with no top teeth, and his diet is mostly hay replacer. He has a haynet because he likes it, but can't eat enough to sustain himself
His hay replacer is 6 scoops of grass chaff, 4 scoops of soaked grassnuts, and chopped up carrots and apples. He also has a large soaked feed - copra, veteran vitality and linseed twice a day. Probably not very nutritionally balanced, but it keeps weight on him, and he loves it. At 30 years old, he can eat whatever he likes!

 

[ester]

Frank seemed to do better with haylage, or we have also had double baled hay which is super soft (our hay man rebales it from big ones to small ones and is well primed in Frank's particular requirements thankfully!)
He seems to struggle more with chaff than hay though so that's not really a solution for him currently. - Obv also out at grass for the moment but might have to decide what we do come next winter.

It is nice that he can now be out at grass without much restriction as a result though.

 

[mavandkaz]

My little oldie has no bottom teeth left, and very few top teeth. She copes well with short grass, and lives out 24/7 but gets topped up with hay replacer type feeds. She gets a mash of grass nuts/fast fibre/veteran vitality depending on the time of year. Have also used readigrass in the past as well. Now most of her teeth have gone she does seem to be able to have a go at the hay. She also gets plenty of bananas as treats.
She's pushing 40 now so gets whatever makes her happy

 

[lme]

Mine can't eat hay at all as it puts her at risk of impaction colic. She has chaff,(readigrass or timothy chop), haycare and veteran vitality. She goes through 4-6 sacks of chaff, 2 of haycare and 1-2 of veteran vitality every 4 weeks in winter.

 

[Annagain]

Slightly different issue but M can't have any short chop fibre as he has gappy teeth and it gets stuck. His feed used to be 95% chaff. He can't have grass nuts as he has a sugar intolerance and he gets bored of Fast Fibre and doesn't eat it after few days but soaked Spillers High Fibre cubes go down a treat. We mixed a small amount of the Fast Fibre in with them until we got rid of it and he was happy to eat it then. He also had soaked Re-leve mixed in with it. He didn't lose much weight last winter either, the first time in a few years.

 

[AandK]

Spillers do a mash (Super Mash and Super Senior Mash I think?) that smells lovely and soaks in 2min. I was feeding it as a hay replacer when my 8yo couldn't have hay due to a tail issue a couple of years ago.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

After spending a chunk of money on stocking up on Haycare today it reminded me I’d asked this question and looking back I didn’t respond or say thank you for the suggestions! So thank you!

I think this winter is going to be expensive but at least the grass growth has been good this year and hopefully I can keep out 24/7 until the end of October if it doesn’t get too wet.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I'm glad you've got something. Will look at Haycare myself. I tried some Silvermoor Veteran for my elderly loan pony and it went down a treat. It's very short chopped which seems to work for her at the moment. She still has teeth but does quid hay. I saw this thread and popped on to recommend as an option.

 

[Peglo]

My old girl is mostly on mashes now and it’s expensive. Lucky she’s never had laminitis so she gets a bucket of ready mash extra and 16+ cubes at night and grass nuts and Speedi beet as her main bucket. I think she is getting some grass in her but a bit worried as the dentist said hay could make her colic. I would like her to have something to nibble on, even if she quibs most of it, once she comes in at night but not sure if that would be safe or not?

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

The retired racehorse who used to share our barn had readigrass instead of hay. He had two large trugs of it when in overnight.

He would colic with hay or haylage because he couldn't chew it effectively.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My old boy of 26yrs is in fine fettle but it’s now come to the point he can’t seem to cope with hay. At the moment he’s out most of the time and seems to eat grass well but due to the weather he’s been in a couple of nights and it’s become clear he’s spitting out most hay. I’ve currently got some Simple systems haycare and Dengie grass nuts which I’ve been soaking. I also add a bit of his Saracen Releve and some pony nuts to entice him. Come winter it’s looking rather expensive so I’m looking to find some additional and hopefully cheaper ways to get fibre into him.

Suggestions welcome.

I bought this as it is Timothy, and my pony is only allowed Timothy. So had to find something to make her feed with and the looks she gives me when eating it, ears back head thrusts, foot stamps evil eyes. MUM get away you are not taking it back. She adores it. https://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/products/viewhorsefeed.asp?id=47&name=HayCare

 

[nutjob]

If you decide to go with grass pellets try https://emeraldgreenfeeds.co.uk/ if you order in bulk the price is much reduced but you don't see it until you view the basket. I used to mix these with budget brands of pony nuts which kept mine going for a few years reasonably economically when he couldn't eat hay.

 

[Polos Mum]

I bought emerald green grass nuts by the pallet for my oldie - wasn't that much more than hay bought in bulk

I also tried chopping my own hay chaff with a DIY branch chopper - worked OK while he had a few teeth and short hay was OK.

I variously tried barley rings, oats, 150 different veteran mixes and all sorts but the only thing that worked for him was ad lib constant access to soaked grass nuts - I has a lot of huge tubs !!

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I bought emerald green grass nuts by the pallet for my oldie - wasn't that much more than hay bought in bulk

I also tried chopping my own hay chaff with a DIY branch chopper - worked OK while he had a few teeth and short hay was OK.

I variously tried barley rings, oats, 150 different veteran mixes and all sorts but the only thing that worked for him was ad lib constant access to soaked grass nuts - I has a lot of huge tubs !!

Are Emerald Green grass nuts much different from Dengie grass nuts? I’ve found neither of mine really like the Dengie nuts especially when soaked.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I bought this as it is Timothy, and my pony is only allowed Timothy. So had to find something to make her feed with and the looks she gives me when eating it, ears back head thrusts, foot stamps evil eyes. MUM get away you are not taking it back. She adores it. https://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/products/viewhorsefeed.asp?id=47&name=HayCare

That’s what I’ve been using over summer fir short periods he’s in and I’ve just ordered 10 bags but at £15 a bag it could get quite expensive. In the depths of winter he gets about 6kg hay at night so the equivalent in nuts would last about 3 days.

 

[nutjob]

Are Emerald Green grass nuts much different from Dengie grass nuts? I’ve found neither of mine really like the Dengie nuts especially when soaked.

When I was using them, emerald green were the people supplying simple systems but their own brand was a lot cheaper. Don't know if this has changed now. My horse was fine with them but he was a cob who ate anything. He was unable to eat hay at all for the last couple of years of his life but was a healthy weight when he was PTS. I did mix them with pony nuts just because they were a bit cheaper but he was fine eating them on their own. Also I managed the grass to try to provide at least some grazing throughout the winter.

 

[Polos Mum]

Are Emerald Green grass nuts much different from Dengie grass nuts? I’ve found neither of mine really like the Dengie nuts especially when soaked.

As I understand it the EG ones are literally just dried spring grass. I use them as a treat to catch a difficult one as all mine love them. A couple of handfuls will get 2 out of 4 to eat wormers !!

As I used them in big quantities I didn't want them to woof them in one go so not as appetising as a bucket feed was good. I wanted him to be eating it 18 hours a day and I used to put buckets in 3 x a day so wanted them to last 6-7 hours.

The tricky bit was how to keep him with company and give him enough to eat. Big buckets were too tempting for the others and he got pushed out.

I got to the point when in winter he was on his own almost all the time - that's when I made the decision on quality of life. Staying in all the time just to be able to eat enough to say alive a little longer didn't seem worth it to me.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

As I understand it the EG ones are literally just dried spring grass. I use them as a treat to catch a difficult one as all mine love them. A couple of handfuls will get 2 out of 4 to eat wormers !!

As I used them in big quantities I didn't want them to woof them in one go so not as appetising as a bucket feed was good. I wanted him to be eating it 18 hours a day and I used to put buckets in 3 x a day so wanted them to last 6-7 hours.

The tricky bit was how to keep him with company and give him enough to eat. Big buckets were too tempting for the others and he got pushed out.

I got to the point when in winter he was on his own almost all the time - that's when I made the decision on quality of life. Staying in all the time just to be able to eat enough to say alive a little longer didn't seem worth it to me.

Thank you. At the moment he’s ridden 3-4 times a week and is in show condition just has little grinding surface left. Over winter he’ll hopefully make up the calories at night when he’s in. But I agree quality of life is key rather than length.

Last week.

 

[Polos Mum]

He looks wonderful and a way off mine.

Mine had teeth out and couldn't eat any hay at all (and really only picked at grass) - he managed 2 winters on soaked grass nuts before the balance of quality vs. quantity dipped the wrong way.

I agree overnight in he could get in all the calories he needs if there is a bit to pick at in the field.

 

[julie.rockley]

The retired racehorse who used to share our barn had readigrass instead of hay. He had two large trugs of it when in overnight.

He would colic with hay or haylage because he couldn't chew it effectively.

Did they dampen the readi grass? X

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Did they dampen the readi grass? X

No, they didn't but I guess you could.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Reached his 27th year! Luckily the good autumn weather meant he was out 24/7 most of the time until the 6th December. THe grass is still pretty good even now.

At the moment as hay replacer I’m feeding a scoop of dry Haycare a scoop of dry spillers or Saracen fibre nuts and half a scoop of Baileys nuggets with a scoop of Honeychop Senior Chaff / Dengie Meadow Grass. He was leaving a lot of soaked feed and I had to chuck it away. He also has a haynet to pick at which mostly ends up on the floor.

His current main feeds consist of Saracen Releve, conditioning cubes, Equijewel and micronised linseed.

Photos taken in last couple of weeks.

He’s the bouncy one on the right...

 

[Polos Mum]

A credit to you ! Looks half his age

 

[PapaverFollis]

He looks fab. ❤

 

[MuddyMonster]

He looks so, so well Sussexbythesea. What a credit to you ?

 

[[153312]]

wow! He glows!