Help - starving horses (mine!!!)

Daffodils have been out here too - this was nearly two weeks ago (although they're a small crop, they were the first I saw from a pony this year).

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Mine are on a field which is in no way barren of grass, and aside from on the worst days, it's been growing pretty much all winter here. I still give them a fair amount of hay. When the weather's been really grim, they get a good amount of hay. When it's nice, I cut the hay with straw. Both ponies have small neck / chest clips and light rugging. They're not fat but could do with shedding a few pounds before spring.
 
Cinnamontoast said:
Lack of food going through can be a contributory factor as far as I’m aware. They produce acid continuously, unlike us.

Interesting link which says evidence is ‘nebulous’ for my (and their!) theory.
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For sure it can be, but is it always? I’ve found myself having to question this because I have had to ration my warmblood somewhat and it sits badly with me because I’ve been made to think she MUST be eating almost continually. But then I watched her in the field and she wasn’t eating continually. Often dozing, sometimes standing bum to the rain for hours on end and it made me wonder if it was the response to the lack of forage instead of/as well as lack of forage that causes the ulcer?
If I fed her a bale of hay she’d eat the whole bale. Insufferable piglet. So now she gets what she gets and I’m lucky to be able to replace the Haynet frequently throughout the day but there are odd hours where she’s got nowt.
 
Mines on a 60/40 hay/straw big and a big bed she can pick at, and she really wasn't losing weight. They've been in a lot so shes eating like its going out of fashion. I've now started soaking the hay and in 3 days she looks slightly slimmer. I hate soaking hay but its working so needs must.
 
Mine was fairly overweight coming into winter, he's had 5 sections of hay a day netted (3 during day, 2 over night), a handful of chaff and 1/4 scoop speedi beet and he's lost a LOT of weight and doesn't run out of hay. He was BCS 5/5 inSeptember and is now 3/5.
If they're still over weight I'd give barely straw like others have suggested.
 
I think It’s the mild weather I have never had to ration hunters like I am having too this year usually after Christmas they are hunting eating as much forage as they wish this year the two who are hunting are restricted and getting it in double small holed nets .
I was speaking to a vet yesterday they said everywhere they go they are seeing fat horses they are expecting a nightmare with laminitis as it warms up .
 
Leo Walker said:
Mines on a 60/40 hay/straw big and a big bed she can pick at, and she really wasn't losing weight. They've been in a lot so shes eating like its going out of fashion. I've now started soaking the hay and in 3 days she looks slightly slimmer. I hate soaking hay but its working so needs must.
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same I am also back to soaking hay. I stopped from Nov - Jan but started again two weeks ago as he had put a little weight back on.

I don’t want to be in the same position I was last year when the grass started shooting up.
 
There’s a difference between would like to eat hay which I just stand in front of and eat and starving .
we use the word starving when we mean very hungry or even wanting to eat .
 
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