Horses at Grass/Feeding once a day?

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canteron

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Have turned everything away for a couple of months. Normally I feed hay twice a day ..... but my friend tells me I am just making a rod for my own back? (No hard feed).

The horses get checked every evening by another neighbour whose house overlooks their field.

Thoughts please?
 
If they don't need two feeds and you are happy your neighbour will check them over then I wouldn't see a problem with only one feed.

Come the Spring I'm very much looking forward to only going to the yard once a day to feed mine, but at the moment one needs two a day so early mornings it is.
 
How are you feeding the hay- in the field I assume, on the ground? Feeder? Net?

If the ground is soaking and you're feeding on the ground, might have to put it out twice a day (or if its raining etc) because some horses won't eat soggy hay, otherwise I'd feed hay once a day as long as there was enough left the next day to prove they haven't been going hungry all night iykwim
 
Good thoughts, I tend to put some on the ground and then a couple of haynets.

They are quite greedy horses and do rush through their hay (even if I but a whole big bale out I think they would just eat until it was finished) but they all have a bit of a belly so know they are doing OK.

Just wanted to know whether anyone else gets by feeding hay once a day - I have always fed twice a day, but the joy if I only had to wheel my barrow down there once a day!!
 
canteron said:
They are quite greedy horses and do rush through their hay (even if I but a whole big bale out I think they would just eat until it was finished) but they all have a bit of a belly so know they are doing OK.
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I thought mine would do this as this is the first time they went out with ad-lib hay (they are greedy bums!) and they didn't, after an initial glut they went back to grazing they seem to top up on hay as and when they want and graze the rest of the time.

Have you any access to a cattle feeder or something similar to help reduce wastage?
 
When mine were at grass they used to get hay twice a day and a feed in the evening, I would personally stick to hay twice a day as there are not many frost free mornings etc but it depends on your grazing hope this helps.
 
More important than haying out twice a day is to check water supply twice a day in the weather we are having at present.

jane
 
mine get hay and hard feed once daily normally. in the snow we have doubled that and obviously also making sure they have water. if there's a hrd frost they also get some hay in the morning. adlib hay not happening - couple of them are complete pigs, one is a fit hunter who doesn't need a hay belly and the other is out of work and at a lovely weight. they have grass to nibble at - dont believe they need adlib hay.
 
mine only gets fed once a day and that's only to get her vits and mins in her. She has no hay as they don't need it, our grazing is amazing and she is fat!! I see no reason if they are being checked and feed isn't massive why you can't feed once a day.
 
my good doer had 4 handfuls of pasture mix in the morning all summer and that was it. just so i new she was getting vits and minerals but if i new the grass was the right mix i wouldnt have bothered
 
My pony is not getting any hay at the moment as there is plenty of grass and he is slightly on the fat side and needs to slim down as are his field mates.

Once there is no grass or deep snow they will get hayed once a day, if they had ad lib hay they would eat several bales each a day and end up obese.

My pony has a small tea once a day but he is a good doer.

How much hay you need to supply will depend on how fat your horses are and how much grass there is.
 
1 bale of hay a day between 6 horses, some in a manger and the rest on piles on the ground. Been down to feed tonight hay untouched and horses grazing a good distance from the hay. Charlie gets fed twice a day.
 
Yep, one feed a day all year round and plenty of forage. Which means a lot of hay in the snow, but they need plenty of hay to keep warm. My yard is a bit far from home for me to go twice a day, but the YO keeps an eye on things so I don't need to worry too much.
 
We feed hay at least twice a day but the horses are at home. If something is wrong with the hay or it gets trodden in it makes a very long period till next feed time if your're only doing it once a day. Personally, I'd stick with two, as presumably you check them twice a day anyway?
 
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