Horse living out 24/7 - feed?

milesjess

milesjess

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Just wondering what do you feed your horses living out 24/7?

Mines just finished his course of bute so I have the option now to stop his hard feed. He literally has a handful of chaff AM/PM.

Weight wise he is looking good and well for the up and coming winter but I don't want more on him.

I'm worried that the grass alone won't provide the nutrition he needs. He's not in ridden work at the moment due to an ongoing lameness which is being treated by the vets.
 
I like the Baileys high fibre complete nuggets. Slow burn warming fibre with added vitamins/minerals. Can feed them on the floor as a partial hay replacer, or if ground firm can put in a rock'n'roll ball to help keep them amused as well. Will get some nutrients in without too many calories.
 
My mum's TB type pony is on ad-lib hay, a handful of chaff and a bit of sugar beet. She's about perfect, if a little lacking cover - she's a stress head at the moment as she's been without company for a while. We won't feed much more than that, really. She always looks fine!
 
my boy has half a scoop of alfa a original and half a scoop of conditioning mix, pink powder & an apple in each feed - he has 2 feeds a day atm, and he also has 1 sec of hay a day, he's out 24/7 - however he is a tb who was a bit underweight when i got him, and want to get the weight on before winter, he is also in work, schooling 4 times a week. :)
 
Mine get ad lib hay and I will be adding straw for the latter part of the winter.
They tend to start eating the fence and trees after Christmas,so this year I am going to gather sticks and branches for them to chew on/play with,in the hope they will leave the fence alone!
They also get Pure Feeds Balancer to make sure they are getting all their vits and mins.
 
If he has access to salt and minerals there should be enough in the grass at the moment to keep him in good shape. As winter progresses feed good quality hay (or haylage if he needs a higher protein content). If he is keeping his condition then there really is no need to feed anything else.
 
My two live out. Plenty of grass, only hay if it snows, but get one feed per day of two scoops of Top Chop Lite chaff, NAF general purpose supplement and Brewers Yeast.

They are weigh taped once a week, and add a mug of linseed meal for weight gain if neccesary, otherwise just the feed above.

ETA: above is their winter feed between oct and march, summer a little different.
 
At our yard of 10 horses, 5 oldies (15 - 20 yrs) one very oldie (34yrs) 3 youngsters and a 5 yr old, only the real oldie gets any hard feed, all the others get ad-lib haylage and access to a Himalayan (sp??) salt lick. All in little or no work. All came through last winter a little too well-covered..... :o
If your horse is a good do-er and not in work, I wouldn't have thought any additional feed was necessary.
 
My cob is a good doer so hopefully ad lib haylage will be enough, if not he will get speedibeet and alpha a oil. Ny TB will stay in her current hard feed of a a oil, speedibeet, grass nuts and suregrow.
Neither of mine will be in work over the winter.
 
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