How much hay do you give your horses overnight?

Mine have haybars and I leave these full when I leave the yard (usually between 5 and 6 pm) and then they get topped up by the person who lives onsite at the yard when they have a last check around at about 8 pm. They are both good doers and one them in particular would eat it all however much you gave him so it probably doesn't last him all night, but he is getting plenty and it won't hurt him to go without for a few hours.
 
doris2008 said:
Mine has 2 enormous nets - enough to last all night and have a bit left in the morning. He isn't ever left without.
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Mine too! I always make sure he has adlib hay. Mine is an exracer and can crib if at all stressy so mak sure he has plenty of hay to kep him occupied. I'm sure he has never had so much roughage in his life but he looks very well on it!
 
6kg in a net to last them over night. 14hh approx NF ponies. Its usually all gone by morning, bar a few bits on the floor. They are out during the day on good grass. So, they are getting about 1.5% of their bodyweight in hay there. I am sure they take in more than 2kg of grass during the time they're out too... And a fairly token feed when they come in.

Last year they were on ad lib dry haylage, and the bedtime haynets were huge and stuffed as full as I could. About 11kg in each net. Those did defeat them, there was a reasonable amount left. Not this year though - where I kept them this time last year there was basically no grass in the field, so they needed this adlib feeding system. It certainly kept them lean, I now know for certain its the grass that makes them fat. Also I can't get it this year, my lovely farmer was not able to make enough to feed his own cows, let alone sell any off to silly women who waste it on their horses (!). And the ponies don't need it this year seeing as how they do have grass to eat now.
 
My chap is quite hard to keep weight on and ad lib haylage is the best way to keep weight on him (and the cheapest!).

He is out all day with big hay bale, they just get another when it runs out. The two massive nets of haylage at night. I have to pay more at my livery yard for this, but its worth it.
 
Mine gets no more than two slices of hay - around 3 kg, he will not eat any more than this and always has some left in the morning. He's a good doer, really easy to keep weight on but just does not seem to eat much hay, it will increase as the grass get poorer and I always make sure that he has more than enough. I must be lucky - I really could not afford to feed half a bale a day!
 
My boy gets two large haynets full of haylage at night at around 6pm when i leave, which usually a little is left over the next day. I tend not to weigh it tbh.

Much better that my previous yard where the whole yard get given only 1/2 - 3/4 of a net each at 5pm to last the entire night! (he is a very slightly built TB!).
 
Alexart said:
Thanks Rosiefronfelen!! Yes they are my own doodles - they are my christmas cards and are on my website if you click on my name, and look on my info bit it will give you the web address - can't post it as it's seen as advertising!!:D - or just look in todays H&H - my mugs are in the gift ideas section!!!:D:D
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Hmm reading that just cost me £30 quid!!! PMSL oh well just ordered my christmas cards and some mugs for presents!! :)
 
To all the people who feed ad-lib and have loads left over in the morning what do you do with it then?
Surely you can't throw it away every time?

I worked at a yard where the hay was restricted and one cob mare got a 6 lb haynet overnight. She ate that in about an hour and was then left with nothing to eat all night. She was in good condition and not at all underweight either.
 
About 3-4 slices of hay - depending on how big they are and how long he's going to be in for. We don't have military rigid feed times as its our own yard. At weekends they get done later, during the week, we're down there at 6am.

Thats enough to last them 12 hours (on a short night) He always has a bit left over, so must be enough. That just gets left in and mixed in with the next evenings hay - I might have a clear out evry week or so - and I'll jjst dump it in the field with the hay they get fed there.

He is on straw though, so don't worry about him running out as he could always pick at that if need be, although I don't think he does :)
 
My lad has a third of a bale of small hay split into two small holed nets. Weight wise he has more than enough but I know it does not last him all night as he is greedy and stands eating until it is gone. It is not ideal and I hate thinking that he may have to stand with nothing for some time but he puts weight on very easiliy and by limiting his hay it keeps his weight down.
I used to feed adlib...perhaps half a bale at night and he was overweight and ended up getting laminitis...this is a compromise unfortunately...less food all round and careful management. He does not have a bad routine all round as he is out in his paddock on strip grazed grass from 5.30am through to 7pm all year, every single day...which is more than most horses get.
 
My horse very rarely eats all his hay, basically if it's fallen on the floor then it's deemed not good enough to eat!
I normally stuff it back in his haynet and give it back to him, and he normally eats it then. if not I'll give it to one of the other less fussy horses on the yard.

The yard manager gets really annoyed if people give their horses loads of hay/haylage that the horse doesn't eat then they throw it away (it's included in our livery so a lot of people really take the mick) One horse gets 4 haynets a night and leaves most of it which they then throw onto the muck heap :(
 
My filly eats more than the adults at our yard! Most of them just have a haynet, she has a haynet stuffed (and then tipped on the floor as I dont like babies and haynets) then about half a haynet more put in if she looks like she is eating it hungrily, she always has some left in the morning but I cant stand the idea of a baby being hungry and she doesnt really get fed anything else only mineral balancer and a handful of homeopathic, cereal free mix. The only problem is she is really fussy and if she doesnt eat it in her stable she wont touch it in the field either it has to be thrown away! She gets turned out everyday even in bad weather and given 3 more big piles of hay and again I have to throw away whatever she leaves!

Its a nightmare but I never thought a baby would be cheap! Still looking just a bit ribby though! x
 
I give ad lib haylage to my welshx warmblood. She always has some left over in the morning, though she also chooses to eat her oat straw as i can see wholes where she has been nuzzling (sp) around in the bed!

Having looked after a horse at a yard who got a pathetic amount of hay and had been stood in his stable for god knows how long without food it certainly makes you think about everything when you shut the stable door at night and wonder off home to do whatever you like! That's also why turnout is very imortant to me.
 
Wings gets adlib when he lives in at night (will be in the next week or 2 I would imagine). This is because he doesn't hold weight spectacularly well, but also because he's a windsucker and would hate for him to be standing around for hours without a constant trickle of haylage. Some of the horses at my yard that are on part livery (so haylage provided by YO) have to get a set amount so it doesn't cost the YO loads. (think 12hh pony getting the same as a 16hh horse when children fill haynets and have no idea of how much they should get fed). Because I buy my own haylage though, Wings gets as much as he can eat in the night/morning before he gets turned out.
 
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