How much hay? Need some advice

[live2ride]

How much hay at night would you give to a 15.3 450kg Connemara X Tb?

At the moment Im just filling the haynet, and yesterday bought a newton metre, which said when the haynet is completely full is about 12lbs.

Now I dont think this is enough, so just wondering how much you'd feed her?

A little bit more info is she's out from 7:30 to 4:30 and gets half a scoop og hi fi lite at night and just starting to be worked so only in light work.

Thanks for any answers

 

[mynutmeg]

If weight isn't an issue then I'd be feeding so that there was always a little left in the morning.
My mare is constantly on a diet as she's a definate fatty and she gets about 3.5-4kg of hay a night, she's about 500kg cob type.
I think the formula used to work out feed is 2.5% of the horse's body weight when aiming for weight lose, taking into account any hard feed etc given and feeding for maintenence is something like 3.5%

 

[AmyMay]

If weight isn't an issue then I'd be feeding so that there was always a little left in the morning.

I agree.

 

[L&M]

I was told that you want a horse to consume 2-2.5% of it's body weight in forage each day.

My cobs both weigh approx 500kg's so require approx 10-12 kgs' forage a day. In their current winter routine they get approx 6 kgs' haylage, 1 kgs' hard feed and imagine that being turned out 6 - 8hrs eat approx 3 kgs' grass.

As the grass goes, I will up their haylage to approx 8 kgs' a night. Both are good doer's but are in full work over the winter and both hunt at least one day a week.

So in conclusion, you need to take into account the horses condition, it's work load, and whether it holds condition easily, then use the 2-2.5kg equation to see if you are feeding enough!!!!

 

[TGM]

When you are deciding how much forage to feed there are two factors to consider:

1. How much forage is necessary to keep the horse in the correct condition

2. How much forage is necessary to keep the horse occupied and keep fibre going through the gut.

Sometimes the two aren't always easily compatible! Plus if the horse has access to grazing it is difficult to assess how much contribution the grass adds to the forage intake.

With a horse that lacks condition or never gets overweight, then it is best to feed as much as the horse can eat overnight. So as others have said, so a little is left in the morning.

However, fatties need to have their consumption limited in some way to ensure they don't get overweight, but we don't want them standing for hours without any fibre at all. Ways round the problem are:

1. Slowing rate of consumption by using tricklenets, doublenetting etc.

2. Spacing out the forage ration - eg putting in one small net when horse first comes in from field and another later at night.

3. Reducing the calorie content of the forage - swapping to a lower calorie forage, or soaking hay to remove some of the sugar content.

So whether your horse is getting enough depends on its condition and whether you think it is standing around for hours without fibre to eat!

 

[Cortez]

Good LORD, if you feed that much your horse will be Ginormous! For maintainance forage ration should be 1.5% of the target weight per day split into as many small feeds as possible. For a 450kg horse that equals 7.5kg of dry forage per day. VERY roughly, one good flake of hay = 2kgs, but PLEASE weigh your hay so that you know what that looks like/feels like.

 

[acw295]

I'm in the ad lib camp myself - but I also have a fatty.

I manage to make her ration last overnight by using a trickle net and soaking hay.

Total food intake should be 2-2.5% of body weight (if not on a diet - 1.5% for diets, 1% only if supervised by vet). But this includes grass and any feed as well as forage. So depending on grazing and other feed I generally think 1.5% works out well in hay. If you have a poor doer then you can feed as much forage as they'll eat though.

For my 472kg mare this equates to 6.5kg hay (3 large sections of our hay which are just over 2kg each) and 0.5kg feed (balancer) as she is muzzled in the field. It lasts her almost overnight (she runs out at the weekend when in a bit longer but not during the week).

So I'd feed yours between 6kg and 11kg hay overnight depending on the grass, feed and condition. I think 12lbs is 5.5kg? So I'd say probably not quite enough unless they are fat.

 

[Cortez]

It's all quite simple, really. If the horse is fat, feed it less; if thin feed it more, non?

 

[acw295]

It's all quite simple, really. If the horse is fat, feed it less; if thin feed it more, non?

Yes and no, sometimes eating more of the right things (and less of others) actually leads to weight loss (in people and horses).

Mine has lost more on greater quantity of soaked hay and less grass. I could have just fed her less but long time without eating (she was on box rest) isn't good either

 

[Tarbs]

My Cob has had laminitis so until recently was on box rest. The vet advised me to feed 9kg of hay a day which I did but now he's going out for a few hours a day (on restricted grazing) I have reduced him to 6kg a day (he also has hard feed-but just enough to give him his bute). He has lost weight and looks much better and the laminitis is slowly improving.
I have to be really controlled and I weigh his haynets. Also invested in a trickle net and eliminets so he's cost me a small fortune but he's worth it!

 

[smellsofhorse]

i give hay in a hay bar previously on the floor.
i always give loads so there is some left over.

 

[Kat]

Cortez my horse hasn't received your memo. Please tell her she should be ginormous on 12lbs of hay a day.

OP, it depends what your horse's condition is. If it could do with more condition then keep increasing the hay weight until the horse has some left over. If it is overweight then you will obviously need to restrict intake.

My mare got through 40lbs in 24hrs last winter plus hard feed. She was 15.3hh and a lightweight wbx and we struggled to keep weight on her.

 

[HammieHamlet]

I just feed ab lib hay, as advised by the feed company in conjunction with the hard feed (competition mix and alfa a oil).

For my bigger eventer, he needs a good 25-30lbs of hay each night for there to be some left in the morning.

For my 15.1hh dressage horse, he has about 18lbs.

They are both out 6.30am til 3.30pm, but there isn't much grass at the moment.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Good LORD, if you feed that much your horse will be Ginormous! For maintainance forage ration should be 1.5% of the target weight per day split into as many small feeds as possible. For a 450kg horse that equals 7.5kg of dry forage per day. VERY roughly, one good flake of hay = 2kgs, but PLEASE weigh your hay so that you know what that looks like/feels like.

But 1kg is approx 2.5lbs, so 7.5 kg is far more than 12lbs.

OP, now that you know how much a full haynet weighs, you need to invest in a weight-tape to monitor the weight of the horse weekly. My mare is on a diet, she has haylage because we cannot get good quality hay, split into 2 or 3 feeds depending on when they come in. She also has large amounts of oat straw chaff to keep her eating all night without adding calories.
Incidentally I never feed from a net, as it develops all the wrong neck muscles and is downright dangerous IMHO.

 

[dalidaydream]

imagine that being turned out 6 - 8hrs eat approx 3 kgs' grass.

I'm interested in this. I've always been told to assume 2kg of dry matter per 1 hour at grass (I've just checked this in the Horse Nutrition Bible). My pony is muzzled so I reckon that should halve what he eats, so taking that as 1kg of dry matter per hour this works out correct for him.

 

[acw295]

I'm interested in this. I've always been told to assume 2kg of dry matter per 1 hour at grass (I've just checked this in the Horse Nutrition Bible). My pony is muzzled so I reckon that should halve what he eats, so taking that as 1kg of dry matter per hour this works out correct for him.

At a RVC lecture I went to it said muzzling can reduce grass intake by up to 80%, but I think for guesstimate purposes 50% reduction is a good guide. It rather depends on the type of muzzle, length of grass and technique of pony (mine is adept!)

 

[dalidaydream]

At a RVC lecture I went to it said muzzling can reduce grass intake by up to 80%, but I think for guesstimate purposes 50% reduction is a good guide. It rather depends on the type of muzzle, length of grass and technique of pony (mine is adept!)

Yeah, mine too. It was more the guesstimate of how much grass eaten in an hour that puzzled me, surely most horses would eat more than 3kg in 6-8 hours?