How much hay

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The Jakenator

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I've let my boy get to fat so have had him on a diet, 1.5% of his body weight, he does go out with a muzzle on for about 4 hrs but I don't really count that in his ration as the grass is nearly gone, he is loosing weight on this routine. However, I would like to put him out overnight, I'm struggling with how much hay to give him during the day to keep him loosing the weight? Bearing in mind the grass is very low but in my opinion still enough to eat without haying them. Any suggestions on how to work this out would be great. Current hay ration 16 pounds.
 
And what does the horse weigh?

Bit difficult to offer a view without knowing if this is a 30cm miniature or an 18.1 draft!
 
Mine is a fatty sadly, but I also want him to have adlib forage. Hes out on a bare lot so constantly moving about looking for grass. He gets 3kgs of high fibre laminitic suitable haylage once a day. I give him that as opposed to hay as its guaranteed low sugar as opposed to hay which can vary and I cant physically manage soaking hay. That lasts him a couple of hours so I feed him lots of chopped straw.

He gets a couple of kgs of Top Chop Zero as he likes that. Then he gets 2 tub trugs of plain and spiky chopped oat straw. He doesnt like that at all! But he does eat it when hes hungry. He also gets a small feed of Agrobs and Progresive Earth Platinum Pro Plus, a big handful of linseed, salt and a handful of BOSS. He has lost 60kgs and more importantly is happy and content. If hes hungry he is a monster!
 
16 lbs of hay (7.2 kg) is enough fibre on the minimum 1,5% of body weight ,for a 430kg (ideal weight)pony WITHOUT any other fibre source eg grass. I recommend that people fill their ponies up with adlib poor quality (but not dusty) hay overnight /day ,so that when they are turned out ,they don't gorge themselves on the grass.
 
Mike007 said:
16 lbs of hay (7.2 kg) is enough fibre on the minimum 1,5% of body weight ,for a 430kg (ideal weight)pony WITHOUT any other fibre source eg grass. I recommend that people fill their ponies up with adlib poor quality (but not dusty) hay overnight /day ,so that when they are turned out ,they don't gorge themselves on the grass.
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He doesn't have an off switch so cannot have adlib, he does always have straw chaff available though, he does have EMS, all hay is well soaked. He comes up 500kg on the weight tape, I know theses aren't reliable but give an idea, I've worked out 1.5% of 500kg to be 16lbs?
 
You have to allow for the grass as well though - and the chaff! And as another poster has said the calorie ratio for hay is unpredictable. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule in this case - you already know the weigh tape isn't accurate. And the food value of your hay isn't known. So we're already guessing. As long as he continues to loose weight slowly and steadily then you're doing the right thing.
 
Shay said:
You have to allow for the grass as well though - and the chaff! And as another poster has said the calorie ratio for hay is unpredictable. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule in this case - you already know the weigh tape isn't accurate. And the food value of your hay isn't known. So we're already guessing. As long as he continues to loose weight slowly and steadily then you're doing the right thing.
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Thankyou, I know, I'm just worried about giving to little, but to much will really do him no good! My vet who has looked after him for 4 years has left she normally helps me out with this. He doesn't eat his chaff so I guess he's not starving. Exercise is limited due bone spavin, this is part of the reason I'd like him out overnight, I just can't figure out his day hay ration.
 
It depends a bit on how long the day is, if he comes in at 6am and goes out at 6pm he will be in for much the same as he would if you kept him in overnight, I find that mine snooze a fair bit during the day so eat less, I would probably give him 1/2 what you do now and see how much he eats for the first few days, if he leaves some then cut it down so he does run out, if he has chaff and doesn't eat it then he cannot be hungry so I would cut the hay back until he starts taking an interest in the chaff and then remain at that level, it won't hurt him to spend a short time with nothing left in the net as he does have another option.
 
The Jakenator said:
He doesn't have an off switch so cannot have adlib, he does always have straw chaff available though, he does have EMS, all hay is well soaked. He comes up 500kg on the weight tape, I know theses aren't reliable but give an idea, I've worked out 1.5% of 500kg to be 16lbs?
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You need to remember that hay has a water content of about 12% which is why I calculated it as 430 kg
 
My 16.2 warmblood got overweight on his holiday and came in one morning with laminitis. Vet's recommendation was a max of 14kg of hay per 24 hours when he was on box rest. He is now out at night 9:00 pm - 7:30 am in a bare paddock and gets a very small handful of hay at 10:30 and at 5:00 (to keep him settled when the others go out). At lunchtime he gets about 6kg of hay.
 
Mike007 said:
You need to remember that hay has a water content of about 12% which is why I calculated it as 430 kg
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Thankyou, if I can remember correctly I think he should weigh 480kg at the moment he is around 500kg, would you be able to calculate that for me? He is a 15hh cob, I've messed up by letting him get overweight again, its my guilty conscience that he eats his hay ration so quickly, I really must be stricter! Thankyou for help
 
The Jakenator said:
I've let my boy get to fat so have had him on a diet, 1.5% of his body weight, he does go out with a muzzle on for about 4 hrs but I don't really count that in his ration as the grass is nearly gone, he is loosing weight on this routine. However, I would like to put him out overnight, I'm struggling with how much hay to give him during the day to keep him loosing the weight? Bearing in mind the grass is very low but in my opinion still enough to eat without haying them. Any suggestions on how to work this out would be great. Current hay ration 16 pounds.
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My horse is on 2.40 mins turnout split in two and he has lost loads of weight and the lami has receded. No muzzle but on short grass and he gets 9lbs hay soaked 24 hrs
in total and 7lbs of that is mainly kept for over night

I would suggest no turnout over night as you cannot restrict him as well as day time
 
The Jakenator said:
Thankyou, if I can remember correctly I think he should weigh 480kg at the moment he is around 500kg, would you be able to calculate that for me? He is a 15hh cob, I've messed up by letting him get overweight again, its my guilty conscience that he eats his hay ration so quickly, I really must be stricter! Thankyou for help
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Assuming he gets no other forage 18 lbs of hay would give 1.5% of his ideal body weight.
 
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