How Much To Feed Her?

Damnation

Damnation

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I have a 15.2 5 year old thoroughbred mare. My YO is driving me nuts telling me I am doing it wrong so here it goes. How much Hayledge should I be feeding her? Its not overly rich and was cut at the end of the summer. She has about 20pounds a night because she lost weight, and she eats it all. Is this too much? I have always been told that you feed more of Hayledge than of hay because of the fibre etc.
If anyone could give me clarifacation that would be great.
 
haha! I am just trying to get some info because my YO is a bit interfering and she keeps telling me I am feeding too much, but Poutu eats everything she is given so I don't see the point of lessening it especially since she isn't colicing from is, its not sent her loopy and she has already lost a bit of weight.
 
I feed as much as my horse will eat, and dont weigh hay- I monitor her weight .

What condition is your horse in and what do you do with it?
 
She is in good condition, I would like a bit more weight on her but that will come with the grass. She is well muscled and has a shine to her coat. Haven't worked her for a while due to a cut on her leg but is due to start lungework tomorrow with the view to go back to the riding 4 times a week (Schooling) and a hack that she used to be on. I have the same view as you Sophie but my YO keeps saying that you should feed less of hayledge then hay, but I thought it was the other way around due to the fact that hayledge has less fibre (I think its fibre or something) and a higher water content therefore needs to be fed in higher quantities so that the horse gets its intake. I just need clarifacation really
 
Is your YO paying for the hayledge by any chance?

I don't feed it so wouldn't claim to be an expert but if as you say she has lost weight and she always eats it all I wouldn't say that you are feeding too much. If in doubt ring the Dodson and Horrell feed helpline and they will talk you through a whole feeding programme for your horse, hayledge and hard feed together. They were really helpful in putting together a programme for me even though I don't feed their products and Daisy is fed mostly on hay
 
YO made hayledge but said YO has been picking on me a bit lately. I just need some amunition to throw back at her and say well actually I'm feeding her the right amount. I'm not overly experienced in the whole feeding and medical area so she basically picks at my weak points and uses them against me lol. How nice.
Should I just ignore YO? Or should I gather info and tell her to back off?
 
You are correct, due to the water content within haylege you need to feed 3 times more than you would hay in order to achieve the same level of fibre and nutrients that the horse would recieve from the hay.
 
i always weigh mine. my 14.2 TB ponies when stabled overnight would of had 12lbs. my 16.2 wb was having 16lbs. i would of fed more if it was hay. i feed the right balance of hard feed twice a day. and they would graze all day. i never left them before 7pm at night with there night net. i had my own yard last year and had hay/haylege inc in price. i found liveries would fill net right up and leave a big pile in the stable then leave them in for the night at about 5pm. all the horses did was trample it all into bedding. i will probably get shouted at but i prefer to feed the right food to keep the weight on. My tb would have calm & condition, alfa a sugar beet in winter and oil and never dropped of at all
 
Haylage has a higher sugar content, hence the sweet smell, but less fibre. The sugar can make horses fizzy, hence your YO may cut back on calories (e.g. amount fed) in order to reduce fizziness. Rather than feed more haylage, could you mix it with some straw or add more chaff to her short feed so you don't get up your YO's nose?

I hate yard politics...
 
People always get confused about feeding haylage versus hay because they don't always distinguish between WEIGHT and VOLUME. You nearly always need to feed more haylage by WEIGHT than hay, because there is more moisture in the haylage which obviously increases the weight without increasing the calorific value. In terms of VOLUME, however, you want to feed roughly the same amount of haylage as hay, if you want to obtain the same amount of fibre.

Haylage does normally contain more calories than a similar amount of hay, so often you can decrease or discontinue the hard feed.

Just to complicate things, the calorie value of both hay and haylage can vary greatly according to the types of grasses used and the time of cutting!

I would say, however, if your horse eats all her haylage and is not overweight, then you are not feeding too much! However, if the haylage is included in the livery price then the YO probably has a vested interest in getting you to feed less! She probably would prefer you to feed less haylage and more hard feed, which is not actually the best scenario for the horse!
 
My mare isn't fizzy, and other horses on the yard that are "well covered" get approx the same as her, it just looks less because the haynet is smaller but is absolutely stuffed to the point of draging it on the floor. I have never fed her alot of hard feed because she didn't need it but it has been increased recently with the recent weight loss, so she is geting more hard feed than normal. I leave her a night net with a small amount on the floor and she eats it all. I have always thought of it in the way that she does need a lil more weight, she isn't fizzy so why do I need to decrease it? I just need to be able to say to said annoying YO, I am feeding the correct amount because she isn't fat, because she needs more hayledge then hay and she is on more hard feed than usual for the weight loss, which I think I can safely do. I hate yard politics too, YO seems to think that I am incapable of making my own decisions about my horse! I'm 16, not stupid lol!
Thanks for the advice!
grin.gif
 
i had a very novicey livery she only gave her boy 6lbs a night. she did not want him having anymore he was only 4yo and got bored he would knock the water over and then one night he jumped the stable door. what i did with her was filled the hay net right up and weighed it . then next morning we weighed what was left over deducted that of the original weight and fed him that he was a much happier pony. perhaps you could approach yo and try this
 
my 16.2 TB has a 20 pound haylege net a night as well as some in his field as where we are has very little grass. unless you've got a greedy pony i'm of the opinion that you should feed as much as they want especially with TBs who can be difficult to keep weight on.
 
I feed my boy as much horsehage (haylage but monitered) as he will eat though he lives out and eats from the field. If they need more then that is what they should get. Personally I wouldn't feed from a haynet I would feed from loose on the floor as I've found that even with a haynet most ends up on the floor anyway and at least if you feed it from the floor then that is where they are looking for it so eat all of it, maybe mention this to YO if he/she is worried about waste.
 
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