Haylage - how much to feed fatty?

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saddlesore

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As above really! I've always fed adlib until now but tbh he's pretty fat since its stayed so mild so far this year. As a rough guide how much would you give a 16hh m/w overnight? He's in light work 6 or 7 days a week and goes out during the day. Thanks :)
 
Yard doesn't sell hay and there isn't any storage :( Tbh he's a funny bugger with wet food so not convinced he'd eat it anyway although I agree about forage always being available. He already gets a small holed haynet, but maybe I could double it up and slow him down? Would that make any diference?
 
I have the same trouble, deliveries are difficult due to location so have to go with the flow.

Double hay nets will help, it could be a case of trial and error to see how little you can get away with. With my old lady I had two double haynets at opposite sides so she moved around all night too.
 
This is why I disagree with ad lib!

First off do you know his weight? If not borrow/invest in a weigh tape.

My two get 2.5% of their body weight in forage - that includes haylage/grazing/hard feed. Mine are similiar weights at 500kg, so this equates to 10kg forage per day. They are turned about for approx 6 -8hrs per day on reasonable grazing so 'guestimate' this contributes 2 kg grass, feed 1kg of hard feed split between 2 feeds, with 7kg haylage overnight.

However mine are not 'fatties' and are in full work, both hunting one day a week, so in your case I would reduce this to 2% or less, weigh your haylage, and double net it.

If you horse is at home I would then split the haylage into 2 and give the last net later in the evening to spread out the ration. If on livery, maybe speak to your YO to see if they could do this for you?

Good luck!
 
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No worries and hope I didn't offend you by referring to your horse as a 'fatty'!

I got a hanging spring scale off ebay (the type you weigh fish with?) and hang my nets off it, so easy to weigh.
 
I would either increase the horse's exercise so that he can be fed enough haylage to get him through the night or give him soaked hay or straw instead.

I understand that neither of those options are easily available for you in you livery stables, but they are the correct answer for your horse. Can you move yards or get someone to exercise him during the day?
 
Sidney said:
This is why I disagree with ad lib!
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Surely it's not the ad lib which is the issue? Isn't the issue that what is being fed is too high in calories and/or that the calorie intake is not being balanced with exercise? I would change one or the other or both before I would stop feeding a horse ad lib forage.
 
Sidney said:
No worries and hope I didn't offend you by referring to your horse as a 'fatty'!QUOTE]

Ha ha no its a fair cop!

cptrayes, once he has recovered from this odd lameness I will try to up his workload, he is ridden most days but guess I could/should do more interval type work with him. I'm a happy hacker at heart so he doesn't do anything too strenuous - he gets schooled about once a week lol :o
Click to expand...
 
Ah, didn't spot the lameness issue, sorry.

I think, when he is sound, that if you could just get his heart rate really racing in one or two 20 minute fast sessions a week, you would see a big difference in his metabolic rate. 5 minute warm up, 3 minute fast canter/gallop 1 minute breather, 3 minute canter, 1 minute breather, 3 minute canter, 5 minute cool down. OK 21 minutes! Works for mine, anyway :)
 
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In reply to cptryaes:

The thing that worries me about ad lib is that horses were designed to be fat in the summer and 'live' off this over the winter months. This in turn means they come into spring thinner, in readiness to bulk up again over the summer.

In an ideal world a trickle feed system would be the most natural option for all horses whenever stabled, and am grateful that I have the luxury of having my horses at home so can feed little and often.

However in a livery case, trickle feeding is not always possible, so ad-libing is the only solution to ensuring forage availability. However I do worry that with ad lib feeding some horses come out of winter carrying too much condition, and this coupled with spring grass, is contributing to the rise in equine obesity.

If I allowed my 2 ad lib haylage they would eat me out of house and home, and potentially end up like the op horse, making excercise harder, and putting more strain on their bodies.

Just my opinion for what it is worth!
 
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Livery conditions are a big issue, that's for sure. So is having to work and not being able to get the exercise into them that would allow more forage.

I am though, banjaxed by the number of people (NOT the OP) who feed their horses sugared mixes and then restrict their overnight forage to keep their weight off. I suspect you feel the same. I also suspect, like me, that you thank your lucky stars that you have your horses at home and can manage them exactly as you want to?

I currently have my Shetland muzzled in a barn overnight with my big boys, to get the weight off him by making him suck haylage up strand by strand. But he has either a shock or a treat coming, not sure which, as his little chariot which will allow me to exercise him is almost ready :)!
 
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IMO, the main cause of equine obesity is the unnecessary feeding of hard feed, or indeed anything in a bucket, of horses which are not in hard work.

I agree with cptrayes that the best way of feeding an overweight horse is to mix good quality straw with soaked hay in order to allow ad-lib feeding. I do realise though that this is not always possible, my own overweight mare (I bought her like that) cannot eat straw as it gives her colic but fortunately she is at home, so we can regulate her intake better than at a livery yard. I would never use a haynet, as I consider them to be very dangerous.
 
Cptrayes - Defo on the same wave length. Mine hunt of good quality forage, fast fibre and chaff.

I too have shetties so can also relate to their issues.....god love them!
 
i echo the straw comment, fresh water and constant flow of forage should stop risk of impaction. horses have evolved naturally eat a low calorie high fibre diet, straw will provide exactly this.
 
I'm not sure whether youngr readers know that there is straw and straw. My own understanding from the "old Days" is that horses are generally fed barley straw, not corn straw. It has a flat, ribbony stalk unlike thick leaved hay and most horses will eat it happily.

Is this what other people remember/do now?
 
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