How long would you leave your horse WITHOUT food?

Jackson

Jackson

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Say, in a stable with no hay, or on a scarily long hack?

Was just wondering. If my horse is in for whatever reason at night, he has 1 haynet packed full and a bit of tea if it is in the winter. If he is given any more hay than that, he generally tends to leave it (which is strange, because he is a greedy pig.) I just assumed that he must use his stable time for sleeping..

But I think that he would finish the said food pretty quickly and that leaves a lot of night time for him to be there with no food. (obviously, this isn't a problem for him, because he doesn't eat any more than what he has, but it made me think of the question, heh.)

So, how long?
 
I like horses stabled overnight to have ad-lib hay, so I know they've always got access to forage. For fatties I soak hay and would use small holed nets or double nets to slow them down but I'd still want them eating most of the time. I think 3-4 hours is about the max I'd want to leave them without hay. It's so important for good digestion (inc. preventing ulcers) and I think it's better for their mental health as well. I don't tend to hack for more than a couple of hours but if I did go on longer rides I'd let the horses stop for a quick graze somewhere on the way. :)
 
we give 3 sections hay at night in winter

summer they out all night and in in the day they don't have anything in stable during the the day in the summer .

i give my haylage to mine late evening round 9pm i dont give adlib i like to give it later as they been out all day so full then they come in have dinner and they wait around 3 hours before haylage
 
Ideally, in the stable, never. If you have a fatty then mix hay with straw and double or even triple net it so they have small amounts to eat all the time
 
mine are out but my Newfie was in one bad night in winter (can't rug her currently).
I was wary of leaving a haynet so she got loads of hay and still had plenty left in the morning. They get ad-lib in field too.
I wouldn't have her without any.

Hacking - I can be out for up to 5 hours and they don't get anything other than a few snatches of grass here and there.
 
In the stable as much as they need so that there is some left over- they are grazers, so meant to graze all the time.... never considered that side of things when out on mega 4hr + hacks.... something to think about
 
Flo_Bell said:
I would rather give my horses enough hay so they have a little left over, then I know that if they've stood there not eating then that's there choice, not mine :)
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This, totally. I used to be quite paranoid about this and make up huge big haynets for mine, but there was always quite a bit left when they got their morning haynets. Much happier with that than wondering how long the nets had been empty for.

I was told a long time ago by a (very knowledgeable, to give her credit) YO than 10 hours is the absolute max they should be without food - by this point all the food will have passed through and their empty gut could collapse in on itself, leading to very nasty colic. 10 hours is a long time though! Wouldn't want to leave it that long, really. That's what made me start making huge haynets for overnight, as realistically it's a good 12 hours between feeding times. As I say though, they always leave a bit so at least I know the food is there if they want it.

When I was in America we used to hack out for 7-8 hours a day in the desert - horses got a small haynet and some treats about halfway through.
 
When in the stable she has ad lib hay so doesn't go without food. The only time she goes without food is when being ridden which can be up to 2 1/2 - 3hours if going on a long hack/endurance ride.

At competitions she tends to nibble on her haynet between classes and stuffs her face when travelling.
 
If I gave Phil adlib I genuinely believe he would eat 3/4 of a bale a night. He's on a straw bed though so always has that to munch if he's starving. One of the horses at the yard is a 'fatty' so goes out unmuzzled, doesn't have his hay soaked but only gets 1-2 sections at night between 5pm and 9am :eek:

Phil probably does 10 hours at the most, but as I say, has straw to nibble if he's really hungry.
 
Mine get ad-lib. I wouldn't feel comfortable keeping a horse in a stable with nothing to eat, horses are trickle feeders, having nothing to eat for any length of time isn't healthy.
 
Gets about 3-4 bits of hay (depending on size) when in at night during the winter for about a 12 hour stint in the stable. But he is stabled on straw so can always nibble on that (and if its oat straw with lively consequences for me!), and there's always a little hay left. None of ours (fingers crossed) have ever had colic or any other problems by being stabled like this. :)
 
Enough hay to leave some, double netted if neccessary to slow her down.

On long hacks we have a short grazing break inbetween, for my a long hack is over 2 hours.
 
During the summer mine come in at 8.30 and have their breakfast. Most get turned back out at 1 but those that stay in have a small amount of hay at this time and then have their tea at 6 before being turned out.

If one of the horses is being ridden before lunchtime I will give them a largish handful of hay so that they have something in their stomach to act as a buffer to the stomach acid.

In the winter they come in before it gets dark and have their tea at about 6. They then get their hay at 10. Breakfast is at 8 and then they ar turned out.

They will regularly have about 4 hours with no food provided but have come to no harm. Our grazing is very good and we are constantly striving to keep their weight on.
 
celia said:
I like horses stabled overnight to have ad-lib hay, so I know they've always got access to forage. For fatties I soak hay and would use small holed nets or double nets to slow them down but I'd still want them eating most of the time. I think 3-4 hours is about the max I'd want to leave them without hay. It's so important for good digestion (inc. preventing ulcers) and I think it's better for their mental health as well. I don't tend to hack for more than a couple of hours but if I did go on longer rides I'd let the horses stop for a quick graze somewhere on the way. :)
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Until your vet insists that they are starved for 12hours so they can do blood work!!!
That never goes down well having the haynet taken away at 9pm, followed by the vet sticking a bloody great needle in her!!!
 
Out hunting I always seemed to be the only person to let my horse have a mouthful of grass now & then. Other horses went the entire day with nothing at all. I think they all thought I was potty, probably am !
 
My fatty goes out muzzled, when she comes in, I do not give her a haynet.
She is not hungry when she comes in though and tends to sleep all day with no qualms about not having hay.

In the winter, she has max of 12lb (we have a weight limit on our hay) at night which does not last her long however she eats A LOT of her straw bedding. At my previous yard, having been out all day, she came in and ate her shavings bed until we intervened. I am sure if she was hungry enough and there was no food about, she'd have no problems eating nearby humans or other animals! She'd never allow herself starve! Food/eating is her main love and priority in the world! :)
Not to mention, she gets extremely angry/grumpy when she is genuinely hungry so it is very obvious when she NEEDS food.
 
In a 24 hour period I believe horse doze/sleep for around 4-6 hours, play for 2-4 hours, travel for 6-8 hours and graze in between everything else!

Once stabled you remove the movement and play leaving just 4-6 hours for sleeping - that is the maximum time they should be without forage... but, given that most horses also choose to doze whilst out too, I would say 2-3 hours is the longest they should be without forage (and this should ideally be in the middle of the time they are in!)

Now being practical I prefer my boy to have enough forage to last all night if needed, 1.5% of his bodyweight in soaked hay does just that in the winter if in small holed nets :D
 
Ideally, I think horses should always have access to forage, so would feed ad-lib. However, we use haylage rather than hay and the horses just gobble as much as you can give them. One year I was feeding ad-lib haylage and had to stop because they all looked pregnant! Since then, they get a ration according to their condition and whether they are good or poor doers. I split the ration up into five or six small amounts which I feed at regular times throughout the day and evening. The last portion is slightly larger to see them through most of the night. I feed an average of 16 kilos per day per horse which is more than the 10 - 12 kilos recommended by haylage suppliers. I find that this maintains their condition throughout the winter. I feed very little hard feed.

The longest I have left a horse without food is 12 hours and that was for veterinary purposes. I would not like a horse to go for more than four hours other than that, for any reason.
 
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Nocturnal said:
Your horses stand in a stable all day with nothing at all to eat? I knew you were a crackpot, but jeeez.
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Actually this was standard practice on a yard I worked on years ago. Over twenty horses and ponies and very rarely any cases of colic or laminitis and no ulcers. They were all turned out, some on minimal grazing, at about 5pm, brought in at 7.30 and all were healthy and well covered. Not something I'd be happy doing personally, but if the horses are happy and healthy that's what matters.
 
touchstone said:
Actually this was standard practice on a yard I worked on years ago. Over twenty horses and ponies and very rarely any cases of colic or laminitis and no ulcers. They were all turned out, some on minimal grazing, at about 5pm, brought in at 7.30 and all were healthy and well covered. Not something I'd be happy doing personally, but if the horses are happy and healthy that's what matters.
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Perhaps, but I know that if I did that to my horse he'd be beyond miserable. Same goes for every other horse I've had.
 
Obviously it REALLY depends on the horse. My TB - ideally, would never be without food.

My little fat native, well, she is in a fat pony paddock which she spends all night in, and has spent every night in since april. It is small. She goes in there at night and gets a tiny feed and thats it, I know she is still on grass but obv not much, and she is still fat. When she were stabled she would have one section of hay overnight in the summer, and a small feed. I know she would have spent quite a while overnight without food. She also spent a lrge portion of her life before I had her with Laminitis.
 
Depends on how much the horse needs to be honest.

My last horse, whenever he was in the stable, had access to adlib haylage.

Current horse is slightly more rationed as a naturally good doer. He is currently stabled during the day (8am-7pm ish) and gets trickle fed - small hard feed at 8am & 4pm, plus a small amount of hay at 8am, lunchtime and 4pm. I then ride at 6 ish before turning out on limited grazing.

For any horse I'd aim to have something in them no longer than 5 hours apart really.
 
Nocturnal said:
Perhaps, but I know that if I did that to my horse he'd be beyond miserable. Same goes for every other horse I've had.
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I agree that mine would be too; being a naturally food orientated live off fresh air type doesn't help. Interestingly though these horses weren't miserable, always came in quite happily and never made a fuss about not having food. Most of them spent their entire lives with this routine, so whether it was the fact that it was 'routine' and they accepted as such made a difference I don't know.
 
touchstone said:
Actually this was standard practice on a yard I worked on years ago. Over twenty horses and ponies and very rarely any cases of colic or laminitis and no ulcers. They were all turned out, some on minimal grazing, at about 5pm, brought in at 7.30 and all were healthy and well covered. Not something I'd be happy doing personally, but if the horses are happy and healthy that's what matters.
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I also know this used to be standard practice on some yards, we are continously learning as a species and knowledge is adapting to create the best enviroment for all including our horses.
I had never heard of ulcers when younger, it doesn't mean they were not there, if we are going to do what is best for our own horses we need to look at what they actually need not want we think they would like!

Maybe we should all ask ourselves the following questions?

Do they need a hard feed?
Would my native be better off on scrubland rather than the current pastures?
Do I feed according to the exercise my horse does or because they expect a feed?
Would I like to go without food if there is no entertainment and I cannot do any exercise for more than a few hours when wide awake?
Sure there are loads more questions that I should be asking myself too ;)
 
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