Hay... those with good doers living out.

metalmare

metalmare

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I'd just like to compare my feeding regime with others with similar ponies.

I have a 14hh welsh x, living out, with a chaser clip, in light work. He is a 3 on a condition score and has been weighing in consistently at around 390kg over the past few months. I've checked today and he hasn't lost anything over the past couple of weeks. He's in a warm heavy weight rug.

He currently gets about a third of a small square bale of hay within a 24 hour period (he is in his own paddock so it's not shared). I would say this equates to about 3 good sized hay nets, but as I'm feeding loose he tends to gobble it down somewhat.

He is on a field with little grass on, although if he works for it he will find some. I walked the field earlier and he has been snow ploughing through and creating patches to graze.

He also gets a few high fibre cubes each day.

There isn't hay down 24 hours a day as he eats up pretty quick, but then he grazes. I don't think more hay is appropriate as I want to maintain his current weight ready for spring and he seems to be doing well on what he's getting.
 
Mine get nearly ad lib hay scattered in piles on the two acre field
That equates to one big bale slice twice a day.
I want to keep everything moving to reduce colic risk.
Maybe to make the hay last longer, put a post in so you can put nets out, double nets out...?
 
Yeah, I wondered about that, if the YO will let me and if I can hammer it in.

As you say, the concern is not the actual quantity he's getting, so much as having something in his stomach, especially as he eats the grass off.
 
If he is looking good and has grass to pick at you should be fine, I have 2 fatties and a tb living out, ok the field is 7 acres but they have only had hay since yesterday because of the snow and have not really dropped any weight, even the tb looks porky:)
Keep an eye on his water intake and see how his droppings are, if they get firm you may want to give him a wet feed to keep things moving through.
 
I would say what you are doing is fine.

Are you putting hay out both ends of the day? If not, I would reccomend you do - half the ration each end of the day... That way he isn't going too long without a good chunk of fibre going through him.

Put it out in several piles, spread out - say half a section per pile so that he has to wander for it as he would for grass...

There is obviously grass to pick at through the snow which will do him fine for between times...

My 17hh boy is getting about 12kg over a 24 hour period at the moment... 8kg over night and 4 during the day... double netted to slow him down (he would gobble 2kg in an hour otherwise!! this way, it lasts him most of the night).... he gets a couple of kg before he goes out for 4 hours and then has the other two for when he comes in.. having to ration as he's not doing any work, plus he's lami prone so don't want him fat for spring.

I really do think we overfeed - especially at times like this. I think the risk of colic is only heightened when they get turned out onto snowy / frosty grass with an empty belly - having finished their night time hay ration by midnight!!! by simply giving them a section of hay before they go out, reduces the risk greatly.
 
I have two natives who are carrying some excess weight and I am resisting the temptation to be too generous with the hay as I want them to lose their winter fat stores. When it was frosty before the snow they got one to two slices of hay between them (small bale) morning and night and a small cup of Topspec balancer with a few pieces of carrot. Yesterday I have given three slices of hay between the two of them morning and evening. They are out 24/7 and there is still a bit of rough grass poking through the snow.
Forgot to say they are 14hh
 
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Thank you - I am an anxious sort who needs second opinions even when things seem fine. Conscientious, I guess :-)

I usually go down once a day as the yard owner also checks on him and checks his water is free of ice, but I'll ask if she would mind popping part of his ration out for me; I'm sure that would be okay. I've been down early today as we've more snow due and I thought it best not to gamble on getting down later so I was planning on asking her to pop some more out for overnight.

He's never going to have a completely empty belly like he would if stabled as there is the grass to get at, but he is having to work for it.

I'll start spreading the hay about a bit, too.

I fluff it up as much as possible to try and have a positive psychological effect on him
:-D
 
My haffy is 15hh ish and looking nice and slim now, she has about 6 slices from a small bale a day over 2-3 visits, but probably a bit less when snow is gone as we do actually have grass but she likes hay. She also has some hi fi light, linseed and mag ox twice a day but thinking of adding some fairly low cal cubes or something, fast fibre might be good actually.

She is not clipped, does wear a lw or mw at night at the mo and sometimes in the day if wet or extra cold.

I think mine is the same as yours in that she gobbles it up enthusiastically then has none! If she didn't have grass and hedges etc I would prob attach haynets to a tree somehow!
 
I have two fatties living out with an elderly TB so I have to put hay out 2-3 times a day. They get 2 sections of a small bale each twice a day on cold days and I've increased it to 3-4 times a day in the snow. I have the fatties out naked as I wanted them to burn off some fat keeping warm. They loat a bit of weight at the beginning of winter then nothing for a while. The ID has lost 40kg on the weigh tape in the last 3 weeks, the Highland has put on 5kg!! and the TB has maintained her weight. I feed the TB high calorie food and feed the other two Readigrass, speedibeet and molasses free hifi so they all eat the same volume but the TB gets enough high energy feed to maintain her weight.
I think not rugging has helped with the weight loss especially as this is the ID's first winter out. I've been surprised they haven't lost more weight, I was hoping they be skinny before the spring but they haven't been exercised enough. My arena was due to be started on Monday so it looks like I may have to wait a bit longer to increase their workload.
I don't feed adlib hay as it gets wasted but as they are at home it easy enough for me to top up their hay trugs several times a day.
 
Depending on your view of feeding straw you could consider putting straw out in the field, I'd start with just one small section as he may ignore it if there is more grass than you think. My big horse will happily eat straw in the field if the grass is very low (and I want to keep his gut moving but he doesn't need any more calories)
Or - probably not practical in this weather but you could consider soaking the hay before you put it out - then he could have more for no extra calories
 
You could rug him less and feed him more - or, if you are happy with the way he's looking, just keep doing what you are doing. :)
I wouldn't put hay nets out, though. I'd be much too worried about feet getting caught in them as it isn't possible to get them high enough. Much healthier feeding from the floor anyway.
 
Great advice everyone, thank you.

Polos Mum: I've never considered feeding straw. If he finds it less appetizing than hay it may slow him down as well as having few calories.

What do I need to know about feeding straw?
 
3 very good doers who need to lose some weight, i do have grass but it is frozen solid under 4 inches of snow so they are coming in just for day times at the moment. They are having between 1.5% & 2% of their body weight a day in forage.

Once the snow is gone they will be back out 24/7 and only have hay out there if it is frozen solid.

12.2 - 5.5kg of hay plus Baileys Lo-Cal and 1/2 kg of plain chaff
13.3 - 6.5kg of hay plus Lo-Cal
14.1 - 6.5kg of hay plus Lo-Cal & 1 kg chaff

I put the chaff in buckets inside their hay boxes and bury them so when the hay runs out they have a small surprise to nibble on.

I don't like risking colic and/or ulcers in this weather and would rather a little too much hay than not enough just whilst it's frozen.
 
There are quite a few threads on here on straw feeding. Mine have big wheat straw beds and tuck into a lot of that over night and have done for 10+ years.
Polo will tuck into fresh straw before his fresh hay!

Some people think straw carries a risk of colic as it takes longer to digest than hay, some people feed oat straw (softer and more easily digestable than wheat straw) but that can be hard to get hold of.

They will drink more eating straw but as long as he has good access to water this shouldn't be a problem.
 
I've just found an old thread - I hadn't realised how often people opt for straw. He has very good access to water so I think a little straw mixed in with his hay to stretch it further may well be worth a try.
 
My pony get 4 slices of hay, twice a day. This consists of 2 slices of this years hay, 2 of last years crappy hay and a slice of straw. He always eats the straw first!

This is just while we have snow on the ground. Otherwise he gets 2 slices twice a day with some straw. xx
 
I'm going straw shopping tomorrow. I think we've hit on the best solution for Kes.

Fibre, no calories.

It might be worth me considering in the summer instead of soaked hay when he is on his starvation paddock.

I'm so glad I asked... it would not have occurred to me.
 
Hi, i've got a 13.2hh welshie that could do with loosing a bit! with the frozen ground at the moment he's getting 1.5% of his ideal body weight, which works out as 1kg hay and 1kg straw in the morning and 1.5kg hay and 1.5kg straw in the evening, feeding straw last winter was the best thing i did, really helped weight loss (more so than soaking, and easier too!) but i would introduce it gradually and don't let it make up more than 50% of his ration!
When the grass reappears he will obviously get less to compensate for having more grass!
 
Mines in at night but he only gets good quality oat straw in the field. He has rationed hay and ad lib straw at all times. I do this every winter and he always comes out lovely and lean, so come spring I have a bit of a buffer. Speaking to the vet when she vaccinated him and she wished more pony owners fed less hay and more straw, she was very happy for him to be kept lean in the winter.
 
I think in some countries where hay isn't available lots of horses only eat straw. I certainly think mine got his liking for straw from being brought up in Ireland where I think it's more common.
 
I managed to pick up a couple of bales of straw earlier so I'm thinking of trying two thirds hay to a third straw for starters and seeing how that goes.

It's wheat straw, or, as they say in Lincolnshire, wee-yat straw! I let slip I was a foreigner by pronouncing it wrong :-)
 
No grass left really in my fields. 3 horses out, as much hay as they can eat in the slow feeders. That's about 2 - 3 bales a day! The Fat Pony is un-rugged and losing weight nicely. I feed her a small hard feed all year round, which is Fast Fibre, Pro-Hoof, little bit of linseed and some chaff for bulk (to stop her mugging her friends).
I tried some really nice straw last year, but most of it was left and they started getting aggressive with each other.
 
In your stable sounds spot on - in the field I'd just try one section to test whether he likes it and/or whether it's better (in his eyes) than digging round in the snow for whatever grass there is.
If it's gone in the morning you can alway up the proportions.
 
He's out 24/7 but in his own paddock and he's been clearing his hay overnight, so if everything is gone in the morning I'll know it's a success and if it's been left then perhaps he's not as hungry as I think he is?

I have to say, having had breakfast this morning he took to playing with his hay and tossing it around rather than eating it... so I don't think he's feeling too hard done by :-)
 
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