How much hay?

Gorgeous George

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 April 2007
Messages
6,268
Location
Essex
Visit site
I have a new 16.3 middleweight gelding who I'm told holds his condition pretty well, he will soon be getting 4 scoops of hi-fi lite and 3 mugs of baileys lo-cal a day, he is also out on lush grass for about 6 hrs a day. The question is how much hay should he have a day? I have just been plonking it in the rack without much thought
blush.gif


Also do you think horses mind if their feed is mostly made up of something like hi-fi or do they find it boring
confused.gif
I suspect this is just me thinking it looks dull!! Just want to make sure I'm doing the best for my boy.
 

Toby_Zaphod

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 August 2005
Messages
9,294
Location
Midlands
Visit site
I have a 16.2 med/light Hann/TB, jhe's out at grass for a similar time, but in a grazing muzzle. He's fed a scoopp of HiFi Lite & some blue chip + couple of carrots twuice a day. He has around 12lb soaked hay each night in hius stable & he's doing fine.(He's worked 6 times a week goes show Jumping once a week).

As for horses finding 'chaff' boring...no they don't...they constantly eat hay/grass & don't find that boring. It's the owners who 'eat with their eyes'.
smile.gif
 

Gorgeous George

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 April 2007
Messages
6,268
Location
Essex
Visit site
Thanks for that I was giving George 2-3 sections of hay a night which having just weighed it comes out between 9-12lbs so is probably about right.

What do other peeps do, do you weigh your hay or just put in a full haynet / rack each night?

Thanks
 

bex1984

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 February 2007
Messages
5,745
Location
Leicestershire
Visit site
I know he's quite a big boy (I don't mean fat!!) but 4 scoops hifi and 3 mugs of the other stuff, plus 6 hours on lush grazing and some hay sounds like quite a lot? Or maybe I'm just too used to having horses which are on a permanent diet...
 

Nari

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 September 2005
Messages
2,901
Visit site
My ID gets through an amazing amount of hay, about 5 sections from a big square bale a night (nearly a small bale)! He gets very little hard feed though, is out 5-6 hours a day on poor grazing & does about 45min schooling a day (gradually increasing after a few months off). To be fair he does have a bit of a hay belly but it doesn't interfere with his work & at least with ad-lib hay he doesn't crib. If I try to put it in small mesh nets to slow him down he decides it's too much effort & starts cribbing. YO is constantly moaning about the amount he gets even though it's not included in the keep.
 

Shipley

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 April 2007
Messages
2,078
Location
Essex
Visit site
I weigh my haynets to see how much he is eating they are small holed and its ad lib really I just keep an eye on the amount.
 

MagicMelon

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 November 2004
Messages
16,337
Location
North East Scotland
Visit site
I personally always give enough that they have some left in the morning too. I hate to think of a stabled horse hungry. My 16hh lightweight horse who is always slim but stays that way all year round, gets about 1/2 a bale overnight which he never eats all of. It depends on the horse and how greedy they are I guess!!

I think some horses do get bored of the Hi-Fi Lite, one of mine did anyway! Is there a reason it'll be on the Lite version rather than just the Original kind?
 

MagicMelon

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 November 2004
Messages
16,337
Location
North East Scotland
Visit site
I personally always give enough that they have some left in the morning too. I hate to think of a stabled horse hungry. My 16hh lightweight horse who is always slim but stays that way all year round, gets about 1/2 a bale overnight which he never eats all of. It depends on the horse and how greedy they are I guess!!

I think some horses do get bored of the Hi-Fi Lite, one of mine did anyway! Is there a reason it'll be on the Lite version rather than just the Original kind? Id only really feed the Lite for horses which are prone to being overweight / already are!
 

Gorgeous George

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 April 2007
Messages
6,268
Location
Essex
Visit site
I chose the lite simply because it has less the sugar and I wondered if all the sugar in the grass and feed was hotting him up? The energy levels of lite and original are the same.
 
Top