How do you feed your horses that live out 24/7?

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chrisley

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We're moving to grass livery next month. Currently my hard-keeper TB stays in at night and gets three daily meals of hard feed plus ad lib hay. I'm now trying to figure out the logistics of feeding him once he's out all day and night. I'm happy to do a morning, afternoon and evening feed. But how much hay should I expect him to need, and how do I feed it to him? Putting it in the field isn't an option. Nor is standing around for an hour in the early morning and evening while he finishes a net.

How do you feed hay if your horse lives out but needs more than just grass? Any advice greatly appreciated!
 
If you cannot feed in the field and he needs hay because there is not enough grass to maintain his weight you will not find grass livery will work for you unless you have access to a stable so he can stay in during the day/ night, I have an ISH living out 24/7 but he has hay and no hard feed.
If you are lucky yours may be fine as the grass is improving but I think you will need to have something else planned before next winter if the no hay in the field rule still applies, something I find ridiculous for horses living out most will require some forage unless the grass is exceptional or they are very good doers.
 
Thanks for the reply. He'll be back in at night starting in the autumn, so it will be easier to feed then. I'm not sure whether the grass will be enough - it might be great but might not, I won't know till it starts growing in. I think I'll just keep up the hard feeds and give him a net midday when I'll be out for a couple hours and see how he maintains his weight.
 
chrisley said:
Thanks for the reply. He'll be back in at night starting in the autumn, so it will be easier to feed then. I'm not sure whether the grass will be enough - it might be great but might not, I won't know till it starts growing in. I think I'll just keep up the hard feeds and give him a net midday when I'll be out for a couple hours and see how he maintains his weight.
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I was going to say the same as be positive, but then I saw that he is only living out until autumn. Most horses will keep their weight well over summer on just grass, unless the land is overgrazed. The only question is when exactly you'll be moving him, as the grass in most places hasn't come through properly yet, so if by next month you mean 1st April, you may find you have a hungry horse initially. Obviously if the land he's moving onto has been well rested and currently has good grass cover, you will probably be fine.
 
He'll be moving mid month but will be in a smaller paddock in isolation for the first two weeks where I can give him plenty of hay so really he won't be out in the real field until 1st May. I may be over thinking things a bit - my last two were extremely good doers and would get fat on grass alone, so this is my first experience owning a hard keeper. He may well be fine on the grass as well as his usual feeds, I just don't know!
 
chrisley said:
He'll be moving mid month but will be in a smaller paddock in isolation for the first two weeks where I can give him plenty of hay so really he won't be out in the real field until 1st May. I may be over thinking things a bit - my last two were extremely good doers and would get fat on grass alone, so this is my first experience owning a hard keeper. He may well be fine on the grass as well as his usual feeds, I just don't know!
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The last tb I had here came out of racing looking a bit poor, didn't do well the first winter here, on box rest for most of the time, turned out in March with hay still looking a bit under, by June he was fat having nothing other than grass, he had to start work to get his weight under control, the rest of his time here he was generally on the big side when the grass was good so don't underestimate how well a tb can do if it is relaxed in a group and the grass is fairly good, he tended to stay out until Nov/ Dec as long as he was looking well, I find getting their brains really switched off so they relax the weight goes on and stays on.
 
I've had 3 TBs and all lived out year round. No additional forage in summer here although at the old place the soil was sandy and there were more horses per acre so we put hay out in summer as well. Here my TB was well covered but he had 3.5 acres in summer between 2, and 9 in winter.
 
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