how much feed/hay are you giving at the moment?

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katiehatie

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We have just moved daughters pony to a new yard and since all her feeding was done for us a previous yard i am hoping that we aren't over feeding her! she is having 2 small feeds per day of half a bowl scoop of hifi with apple about the same of soaked speedi-beet and a handful of pasture mix, she has a very small hay net to keep her amused when she is in during the day and is out from around 5.30 pm til 10am.

i roughly know what she was fed at old yard but she was turned out 24/7 in a dust paddock as they just didnt have much grazing. she was given lots of hay twice a day and a small feed twice a day. she is in a massive field now with actual grass in it and i think she can't believe her luck and has gorged herself a bit ( only moved her yesterday!) hoping its just novelty of it and she will level off!

she was a bit ribby so a few pounds gain would do her good but could someone offer some advice on whether what we are doing sounds about right or not? she is a very slight 14.2, ridden most days and is quite forward going but daughter likes her that way so not worried about her being sharp just don't want to turn her into a thelwell!
 
does she really need any hard feed at all at this time of the year? my wb gets literally a handful of hifi lite with a scoop of biotin and a scoop of garlic! once a day after she is worked, she is 16'1 and still growing as she is a baby, be careful not to overfeed x
 
My 15.1hh mare get 1/2 scoop alfa a oil and handful of pony nuts and her supplements once a day, she lives out 24/7 and has got grass so I dont give her hay.
 
we have a show fat 14.2hh cob, only because she is only getting ridden at weekends, she comes in at about 8.30am gets a handfull of hifi original and a sprinkling of course mix with vits, during the day while she is in stable has 1 to 2 slabs of soaked hay, and the same feed again before she is turned out at 7pm, this is just about keeping her at an acceptable level, all changes at the end of the week when she will get ridden every day.
 
tbh it depends hugely on how much grass she is getting, and what type it is. if there's lots of it, she really doesn't need much in addition - i'd prob just give her a balancer with her hi-fi (i really rate Baileys Stud Balancer, which is fine for mature horses, not just for stud horses). keep a good eye on her and see whether she gains, maintains or loses on that amount, i think.
 
mine are out 24/7 in strip grazed paddocks with not v much in at all (they find plenty though, but gorge with any more so I am a mean mummy for the time being!). They get a tiny bit of chaff once a day with their supplements but that is it. If they didn't have supplements then they would be getting nothing.
 
P.S. they are worked 6 times a week (from 1/2 lunge to 2 hr hack) and they are more then 'well' looking on this!!
 
my 15.3 show cob has grazing in the day and is stabled at night. She has a haynet overnight and no teatime feed but has a breakfast in the morning before she goes out, 1 round scoop of hifi good doer, 1/2 round scoop of sugar-beet and 1/2 round scoop of coolmix.(she is ridden 6 days a week)

My 14.2 pony who is retired has no tea time feed but does have a small handfull of hifi good doer for breakfast. He is in a starvation paddock in the day with a small haynet and in at night with another haynet.

if there is a ton of grass then a balancer is best, i like baileys lo-cal balancer and if the grass goes down and needs a bit more you could always add some feed to this.
 
Lord (17hh 5yo WB) is being worked about 5/6 days a week in med - light work, gets 1/4 scoop alfa oil and a hand full of conditioning cubes 2X a day.

Ban (16hh 12yo ISH) is being worked 6 days a week in med - hard work, gets a hand full of happy hoof 2x a day.


Both are on VERY good grass and B has the pot belly to prove it :eek: so he is in and gets a small haylage net overnight. Lord is in a paddock where the grass is upto his knees and he is out 24/7 on that.

Neither struggle with the workload and both look VERY well on the food they are getting :)
 
My 18hh ISH is not a good doer but is on good grass and looking very well. He is ridden 6 days a week and competed (dressage) twice a month. He gets a 5kg net of haylage when he comes in (in for 5 hours) and doesn’t normally eat it all. He is on no hard feed what so ever.

I always think that if they get good grass then you can use feed/hay to top up when/if needed, i like to let the grass do its job first.

That said we are lucky in that we have good grazing.
 
Toby (highland pony) ...about 12 hours grazing on short but 'green' grass- haynet at night - no hard feed but has a 'horselyx' in his stable for vits/mins.

Storm (Irish cob)..as Toby but gets a soaked haynet at night for 'waistline control') - no hard feed but also has a horselyx

Desi (arabxTB)...same grazing as the others, haynet at night plus slow-release cubes and conditioning fibre (veteran horse, still in full work but always prone to losing condition)...no horselyx cos he doesnt need it...plus he's grey:eek:
 
My wb literally inflates looking at food so a tiny feed in the morning with vits etc and in for a few hours to allow her to deflate. Other than that, nothing else, turned out on goodish grass. She's fat despite not getting huge amounts of anything and a godd hours exercise a day :P
 
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