How do you feed??

[buckybee]

My mum looks after my horse so I don't control his feeding.

She feeds her horses in comparison to the work they are doing, and so doesn't keep the feeds constant. My horse has had colic this winter although this is her first case in 25 yrs.

I know i lot of people feed the same amount of hard feed everyday, whether they worked or are stood in the stable.

Would you please advise me in why this is better/worse and how you feed?

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Feed mine the same, whatever she is doing. She gets fed next to nothing, just chaff and supplements with a carrot as she lives off thin air.

 

[mad_egg]

All the horses at my yard get the same feed even on their day off.

 

[Maesfen]

Your Mum sounds to have the right idea as long as she isn't changing the ingredients of the feeds, but reducing what she does feed on their day off if that makes sense. It's when you chop and change items that you would probably get trouble IMO. As this is your Mum's first colic after so long, I would be inclined to think there was another reason for it, not because she has reduced the feed.

If horses aren't working than they don't need excess feed especially if they're not turned out to play either and feed should also 'catch up' with the work given, not the other way around (don't increase feed before they're working enough to justify it.) It's not being tight, it's being sensible in not overloading the system before it needs it. You should always feed for the work being done; hope this helps.

 

[CJ1]

I feed according to work done so up/cut back on the nuts side, altho at the moment W is back out 24/7 and is needing to keep his bones covered so is on pretty full rations twice a day but have just gone onto a balancer so its not 1ton bucket fulls!

 

[JessPickle]

Our yard does the same for any horses that off they just cut slightly some parts of the feed down keeping the chaff constant. Never had a problem

 

[vicm2509]

I feed pretty much the same each day throughout the winter, may feed a little more if hes been out competing. He has a pretty standard feed of alfa oil, sugar beet and soaked oats with an all round supplement.

In the summer he gets a feed most days but on his day off I tend to leave him out and just check on him so he wont get any additional feed.

 

[Christmas_Kate]

I have always been taught to change the ratio, not WHAT is given. So on work days, a bit extra hard feed, with less of something else.

 

[RachelB]

I feed according to what my horse is doing. So she's on rest at the mo so has no nuts, but after a week of riding her she'll have a handful on one day, then 1/4 scoop next day, until she's up to the reccommended levels (or however much I feel she needs). If she goes lame again and stays like it for at least a few days, the second day I will halve her nuts ration. If she's lame a long time, I will halve it every few days until she's only on a handful or on nothing at all if it's a long-term lameness. That way she doesn't get so fat or fizzy! But if I give her a day off or two in the week, I will keep her on the same amount as I know I'll be riding her again very soon.