How much hay do you feed ?

[fizz-tally]

both get adlib,jay gets 4 large nets put in stuffed full but only eats about 2,the other 2 are backups incase something happens & i cant get up 1st thing,fizz gets 2 haylage nets stuffed[shes only 11.1hh] with hay but eats just under 1.

both have ad lib hay in the fields as we have 2 big rounds out for 7 horses & 1 pony

 

[riotgirl]

My Welshie has a large haynet full a night as her rations. If I gave her ad-lib I seriously think she's be able to munch her way through a couple of bales and still have room for her breakfast in the morning!

 

[Brenter_Star]

Ad lib, always! I used to be convinced my RID mare would pop ad lib, but now she knows she's got constant access to it she NEVER over-eats - I'm sure she eats less than she did when restricted in a small-holed haynet.

I *might* still restrict SOME horses / ponies though - always feel the horse in front of you, not the horse in the text book!

 

[Breezesbenefactor]

I agree too, this hard feed business is nonsense, if your horse is only hacked a few times a week grass and hay should be sufficient. All the goodness the horse needs is in this, too many of us over feed our horses and many of then are obese, try looking at the ILPH flocks full of fat horses with laminitis. I understood that a horse needs 2.5% of its body weight after than watch and see how they fair. If they live out and are on grass then depending on the quality will determine the actual quantity you just need to regulate the feed in relation to the horses weight and time of year -

 

[Tia]

Hard feed isn't nonsense if all you can buy is substandard hay. I would advise people to have their hay analysed then they know exactly what it's nutritional content is. THEN decide whether or not you need to supplement this with hard feed.

 

[Enfys]

4 horses living out, 2 to a paddock, no grass in paddocks to speak of. I put a bale in each paddock in the morning and a bale in the evening, they always have a little left in the mornings so they aren't starving. The bales I have are somewhat smaller than the large UK bales I am used to. Next year, when I have a say in the matter I'm having the hay baled in rounds! All this fussing about with small bales is a pain and OH is muttering darkly about me wearing out the quad making it work for its' keep

I have a photo of what he thinks quads are for but this isn't the thread for that!

 

[jemmeg]

Well thanks for all your replies, had a quick chat with my other liveries and apart from one they all monitor the hay. I dont know if this is correct, would it be true to say that a horse can only digest so much and then the rest just goes through the system. Only ask as the livery that feeds adlib hay, her horse seems to have more droppings in the stable in the morning than every one else.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont know if this is correct, would it be true to say that a horse can only digest so much and then the rest just goes through the system. Only ask as the livery that feeds adlib hay, her horse seems to have more droppings in the stable in the morning than every one else.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's only true with hard feed. Horses are designed to have something running through their system continuosly. And obviously the more you eat the more you poo - doesn;t mean that the gut is not utilising it properly.

 

[Sooty]

Beano has ad-lib hay as he is still growing, Toffee can become obese on thin air so she has a weighed amount in a net, with a net of straw to nibble when the hay runs out.