How much hay for a chubber???!

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el_Snowflakes

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Hi all,

my Belgian warmblood mare is quite podgy around the middle-although im sure this will soon decrease as our scottish temperatures plummet over the next month or two! I am wondering how much hay i should be feeding her? I havent weighed her haynets but she does get 2 large haynets every evening (she is at grass, very good grass might i add!) from 8am- 4 pm everyday and she gets her haynets in the evening usually when i go up to much out etc. She is ridden most days for about 30-45 min, hacking jumping or schooling. After I ride she gets a wee handul of coolmix and a banana (her favourite!) or small apple.....any thoughts? iv been thinking about getting a munch station but they are quite pricey & i dont know how effective they are?!
 
I'd cut out all hard feed and reduce (to a polo-sized piece!) the sweet stuff before restricting fibre. Personally I don't like nets but if she is getting them anyway maybe try double-netting/get a smaller holed one and reduce the amount so that there is only a little bit left when she gets turned out. See how that goes for a while then worry about more expensive bits and bobs or greater restriction? You might find that with the weather change you're alright by then and if not, well, it is better to change things gradually anyway :-)
 
Ditto what tickles said. The hard feed you are giving is pointless really.
Are you sure its fat and not lack of muscle tone? a big belly may be from that. Also from worms, older age or a previous foal. Does she have fat deposits elsewhere?
 
At this stage I would be givning one haynet, not two!! The hard feed (if it REALLy is just a handful is neither here nor there so I don;t think it would make much difference whether she has it or not)

Once the weather changes, give her more hay if needed.

You could give her the haynet last thing before you leave to help it last!
 
To get a horse to loose weight safely you can reduce it's feed to one and a quarter percent of it's bodyweight, if that doesn't work after 3 months, one percent. I know it sounds cruel, but too fat is just as bad as too thin - as I know to my cost!
 
Agree with double netting, soaking the hay will also help, plus either a grazing muzzle or strip grazing. Perfect Paddocks is an excellent system for fatties if you can do it, if not restrict the intake of grass in other ways. Leave unrugged and let the body use the fat reserves to keep warm as nature intended.

Cut all hard feed, there is no reason if the grass is good they need any they will get all their vitamins and minerals. Certainly cut out the fruit that is for your benefit not hers.

Keep the fibre at trickle rate all the time, let her body keep her warm and work and the weight will come off naturally.

I totally agree over weight is far worse than slightly under, and have seen horses this year with owners that still insist on stuffing hard feed down their throats even though they are overweight with 3 with horses with changes to the pedal bone. Something is going very very wrong with our feeding regime when horses suffer like this.
 
We feed our good doers a mixture of good quality oat straw and hay. We adjust the proportions according to their weight and the time of year. This way we can be sure that they have an adequate amount to eat whilst not getting unnecessary calories. I can't bear the thought of horses standing in for hours with nothing to eat. That's cruel and unnatural IMO. We are frequently complimented on their excellent condition i.e. they look good but not too good!

ETA, Oh and we never use nets - nasty, dangerous things! We do use haybars.
 
Ditto cutting out the rugs. Worked a treat last winter for mine. Seems by far the best way to get weight off. Soak hay, double netting ( I put hay in a haylage net) and u can give a handful of token feed.
Mine is currently out and wearing a Greenguard during the day - the autumn grass is growing so u should get her grazing cut back now before she puts on any more weight.
 
teddyt said:
Ditto what tickles said. The hard feed you are giving is pointless really.
Are you sure its fat and not lack of muscle tone? a big belly may be from that. Also from worms, older age or a previous foal. Does she have fat deposits elsewhere?
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thanks for all your replies. No its just fat around her belly, she is definatly not lacking in muscle tone & she is fit & well muscled. Shes not old, nor has she got worms or had a foal! .......Not sure why giving fruit benefits me as one poster suggested? she is only given a small peice of fruit with a handful of coolmix as a token gesture & to mix her garlic poweder in to. I dont rug my mare heavily, she has a light rainsheet on so she does not get soaked to the skin in our scottish climate. May i also add, i did try giving her just one haynet but by evening it was finished & the yard owner gave her extra bcoz she was going hungry!

Oh, and i do already soak the hay. I have been thinking about purchASING A munch station but not sure if its a good idea because of the strange neck angle.....would love to get her a hay bar but the hay would be gone in seconds!
 
Sounds like you are doing what you can with regards to rugs and exercise. Maybe you could cut down her grass? Otherwise if you cut down the hay she may go long periods without food and this isnt very good for the digestive system nor obviously her mental health.
Can you make her field smaller or strip graze?
 
elsazzo said:
I havent weighed her haynets but she does get 2 large haynets every evening
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There's the problem - you need to weigh her hay every day so you know exactly how much she's getting, and then you can alter it as necessary.

You don't say how much she weighs so it's not easy to suggest how much to give her. As an example I'd give a 500kg horse between 10 and 15lbs at night depending on whether it needed to gain or lose weight.
 
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