Help horse is eating me out of house and home

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andytiger

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Can anyone come up with any ideas on how to slow down a greedy horse I have just invested in a expensive trickle feed haynet but it's useless it takes him 3/4 hour to eat a 16 lb haynet he just seems to inhale it don't really want to give him much more as he is a fatty can you mix hay and straw together for feeding as straw has fewer nutrients ?
it makes me worry as it leaves him most of the night without hay but. It I left ad lib in his stable he would probably go through a bale a night and prob wouldn't be able to fit through the stable door in the morning thanks for reading
 
build or buy a box that just holds the amount of hay you want to give him, net the hay and the box so it is double netted and give him that to fight with to get this hay make sure the boox has no nails or sharp bits so he can hurt himself and that the holes in the net are small enough for feet or shoes not to catch in. Otherwise find a supplier of oat straw and feed that ad lib and only give a haynet when you are with him
 
I found when trying to restrict my fatty that the more restricted she was the more she would inhale everything as fast as possible. When I got fed up and decided to just give her adlib initially she gorged but once she realised she wasn't running out she slowed right down and they hay lasted much longer
 
ridefast said:
I found when trying to restrict my fatty that the more restricted she was the more she would inhale everything as fast as possible. When I got fed up and decided to just give her adlib initially she gorged but once she realised she wasn't running out she slowed right down and they hay lasted much longer
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This exactly..... Both of mine use to get limited amounts due to y/o not being able to afford enough forage for everyone (even though full livery)...... Moved yards and could give as much as wanted..... After a few weeks both realised that they got substantial meals (2/3 of it made from mollichaff) and would never run out of hay or haylage....... So don't eat so much now, nor eat it quickly, or get grumpy and protective over their food! They even stop and rest from eating!
 
Don't worry about the straw just try leaving a couple of slices under the hay net, they turn it over and pick out what they want, as it has a low DE unless they eat lots it not going to add many calories. I agree that the less you give them the more hungry they feel so will gobble what ever is in front of them. I have some brood mares in a barn they get their hay allowance and then what ever straw they think they need to eat, which is really not a lot although they have a fresh supply every day. They are never hungry but of course would rather eat hay.
 
You could try mixing hay & straw together & feeding from the floor. My boy will sift through to eat the hay first & then just eat the straw if he is actually hungry.
 
Horses are like people and some are greedy and some aren't. My girl is greedy so I double her nets, mix hay with straw and leave her an ad-lib fibre block in her stable. If she's hungry she eats the block. I have tried ad lib hay and believe me she just carries on eating and eating and eating which means more weight so the only way to stop her eating is to restrict her intake. I don't like to think of her going long periods without food hence the blocks.
 
Is it worth trying soaked hay? the 12 hour soaked kind that removes the sugars, then it matters less if they eat a lot. Also some horses prefer dry to soaked so may eat the soaked stuff more slowly?
 
I also have a fatty who just gorges anything and everything you put in front of him. Tiffany, I am very interested in the Ad lib blocks you mention. Where do you buy them from?
 
I had the same issue with my very over weight pony. After speaking with the vet I just have her the minimum ration she should have for her weight and left her with it overnight. Do I feel bad that she goes without food a few hours overnight, no. I am just pleased that she won't have to suffer with the crippling effects of obesity. Sometimes you just need to follow the vets advice for the sake of your horse.
 
Mine are all on diets for eternity due to being greedy, native (welsh) eating machines. They have a minimal amount of hay, 1 to 1 1/2 slices and a straw bed. No hay nets just shaken up on the ground.
They don't go hungry, they don't get fat, it doesn't cost a fortune and it saves a lot of time and stress.
 
I had this issue when my mum bought a greedy, good doer. He'd been on restricted hay with previous owner so literally inhaled every morsel.

We tried all the expensive nets and hay was soaked but I hate using nets as that eating position is so bad for their necks, backs and teeth wear.

Pretty quickly decided just to feed ad lib soaked hay. Initially he just munched it up at the same rate but after about a week he realised he would always have hay and slowed himself right down. Now, 8mths later, he's almost normal about food and doesn't dive right in. He's happy to pick at it then go and have a snooze etc and he always has hay left in the morning.

My mum bought a couple of Hay Cubes. They are basically big plastic cubes on wheels with a drainage plug. They are ideal for soaking/ rinsing hay in and then make moving heavy, wet hay easy. They can hold around 6 big sections and fix to the stable wall at ground level. Much less mess than a hay bar. These have helped too.

I would not restrict hay unless you bed on straw so that the horse can graze on that. The horses digestive tract is such that it requires an almost constant trickle of forage. There is evidence that ulcers can start to form within one hour of no fibre and confirmed at 4hrs. If I was better on my phone I'd link to papers but I'm not. Dr Kerry Ridgeway has done a lot of work on this subject. The Forage Plus website has a lot of ulcer info on it.

Adding/ offering straw is a good idea as is soaking hay. Personally I wouldn't suspend a net in the middle of the stable due to the unnatural eating position and knock on effects.
 
TPO said:
I had this issue when my mum bought a greedy, good doer. He'd been on restricted hay with previous owner so literally inhaled every morsel.

We tried all the expensive nets and hay was soaked but I hate using nets as that eating position is so bad for their necks, backs and teeth wear.

Pretty quickly decided just to feed ad lib soaked hay. Initially he just munched it up at the same rate but after about a week he realised he would always have hay and slowed himself right down. Now, 8mths later, he's almost normal about food and doesn't dive right in. He's happy to pick at it then go and have a snooze etc and he always has hay left in the morning.

My mum bought a couple of Hay Cubes. They are basically big plastic cubes on wheels with a drainage plug. They are ideal for soaking/ rinsing hay in and then make moving heavy, wet hay easy. They can hold around 6 big sections and fix to the stable wall at ground level. Much less mess than a hay bar. These have helped too.

I would not restrict hay unless you bed on straw so that the horse can graze on that. The horses digestive tract is such that it requires an almost constant trickle of forage. There is evidence that ulcers can start to form within one hour of no fibre and confirmed at 4hrs. If I was better on my phone I'd link to papers but I'm not. Dr Kerry Ridgeway has done a lot of work on this subject. The Forage Plus website has a lot of ulcer info on it.

Adding/ offering straw is a good idea as is soaking hay. Personally I wouldn't suspend a net in the middle of the stable due to the unnatural eating position and knock on effects.
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Does the hay cube have wheels on the bottom, have looked on their site but can't see anything.

Thanks
 
Yes it does, it's sort of like a trolley. The wheels are at the back and you just pull it. It has a ledge on it that fastens it to the wall to stop it moving in the stable.

If you're interested in buying one I'd suggest phoning them and asking for their best price. My mum bought 2 at the same time; she called to order and got a discount as long as she would take black cubes.
 
TPO said:
Yes it does, it's sort of like a trolley. The wheels are at the back and you just pull it. It has a ledge on it that fastens it to the wall to stop it moving in the stable.

If you're interested in buying one I'd suggest phoning them and asking for their best price. My mum bought 2 at the same time; she called to order and got a discount as long as she would take black cubes.
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Lovely, thank you ever so much, would like a blue one but hay if the price is right I don't really care what colour they are.
 
The more you buy the cheaper they get so it might be worth seeing if anyone you know would be interested in buying one too ;)
 
Ravenous hunger in an overweight horse is a sign of insulin resistance. They are genuinely hungry. The long term answer is to get the weight off them. The short term answer is either to make low calorie food permanently available or to trickle feed every two hours.

I was given one with this condition a few years ago. It took 48 hours of feeding every two hours or so and suddenly he was not ravenous any more. The act of eating raises their insulin levels and actually makes them even more hungry. Constant availability of food levels out the insulin spikes and restores their hunger to normal.
 
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