How much forage for 16.3h hunter type

[twilight01]

Hi trying to work out amount of forage to feed my 16.3 hunter type whose 4 years old in light work as lots of growing to do so taking it slowly. Currently out in day in at night though the field is good grass there isn't a lot of it and he's coming in hungry. there's a limit on what we can feed where I stable and I top up myself but trying to work out how much should top up by also how long will it take for them to self regulate and not stuff it in quickly thanks in advance

 

[Shilasdair]

Do you know his weight? At a guess I'd say 700kg.
And then start feeding 2% of bodyweight for maintenance - so about 14kg of total feed (dry matter) daily. Reduce it if he's fat, increase it if he's thin/working hard.
Decide how much of it you want to feed as hay - and how much as hard feed.

 

[mini-eventer]

I'd give adlib hay to a 4yr old still growing whilst he is in. Unless he is over weight.

 

[Nudibranch]

Enough that there's some left in the morning with a 4 year old. You need to look at his condition as well but with a still growing big horse ad lib is most likely the way forward. If he does get overweight you can add a big bucket of plain chaff instead of some of the hay.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

At his age, I would let him have as much as he wants.

 

[TGM]

At that age, ours had haylage available all the time when he was in the stable. I wouldn't restrict forage unless he was putting on too much weight.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Another who would give ad-lib hay/lage. I wouldn't give hard feed while he is in light work, unless you want to give a handful of dampened/wet grassnuts. He will use what you give him to grow and develop until he is mature. Just monitor his ocndition to make sure that he doesn't become overweight.

 

[Annagain]

My three are all roughly 17hh hunter types, two are retired. They weigh between 640kg and 690kg at fighting weight. I've never weighed my hay, just given them enough so they have about 5% of it left in the morning and adjust accordingly if they start eating more or less. None of them gorge, they eat what they want and leave the rest. I start with a bit too much usually when they first come in but it doesn't waste as I just top up while they're using the same bale and then clear out the hay bar when they start on a new bale (about every 4 days).

 

[Pearlsasinger]

My three are all roughly 17hh hunter types, two are retired. They weigh between 640kg and 690kg at fighting weight. I've never weighed my hay, just given them enough so they have about 5% of it left in the morning and adjust accordingly if they start eating more or less. None of them gorge, they eat what they want and leave the rest. I start with a bit too much usually when they first come in but it doesn't waste as I just top up while they're using the same bale and then clear out the hay bar when they start on a new bale (about every 4 days).

This way they don't learn to worry about running out of food and don't gorge.

 

[twilight01]

Do you know his weight? At a guess I'd say 700kg.
And then start feeding 2% of bodyweight for maintenance - so about 14kg of total feed (dry matter) daily. Reduce it if he's fat, increase it if he's thin/working hard.
Decide how much of it you want to feed as hay - and how much as hard feed.

Hi thanks for the reply - currently at 575kg i expect to be around the 700kg when fully mature, hes a lot of filling out to do and I would say is about right at the moment definitely not fat but not thin either. Also not on any hard feed just a small scoop of pony nuts when does well in a session

 

[Leandy]

Do you know his weight? At a guess I'd say 700kg.
And then start feeding 2% of bodyweight for maintenance - so about 14kg of total feed (dry matter) daily. Reduce it if he's fat, increase it if he's thin/working hard.
Decide how much of it you want to feed as hay - and how much as hard feed.

The OP also needs to take account of the grazing the horse is getting during the day though and reduce accordingly when calculating so it isn't an exact science. I agree though that I would basically feed hay ad lib unless the horse is actually too fat. Personally I would give a big haynet full of hay for overnight and see how it goes and adjust by eye depending on condition of the horse and whether he is finishing up etc. If he's putting on too weight feed less and if losing weight feed more. You will always have to do this because there are so many variables and, in particular, in the amount and quality of grazing over the seasons.

 

[Antw23uk]

Adlib hay all the way in this case. If you start restricting he will in turn start to gorge in anticipation of running out!

 

[QuantockHills]

as others have said, ad-lib hay all the way! Mine was 16.1 at 3 and is now 8 and 17hh. He always had ad-lib hay as that's what his very respected breeder told me.... and to keep away from too much hard feed!

 

[sherry90]

Ad lib hay is the ideal for any horse IMO if the hold weight well and don’t pile it on just looking at food.
I am generalising but IDs tend to be on the slow metabolism side and therefore usually quite good doers. My ID got too fat ad lib at 4yo when he was in not a lot of work and subsequently had a mild bout of lami. I am now back up to ad lib as a 7yo as he is able to be in a decent amount of work. If he ever needed box rest/limited work he would need his hay weighing and distributed across the day/night because he would otherwise just pile it on. My advice… ad lib but watch his weight like a hawk. If you need to soak to reduce calories but keep forage then do so. If still putting on weight you might then need to weigh and not ad lib.