irregular feeding ?

[NiceNeverNaughty]

Ive heard a few people recently saying they only feed their horses (good dooers) when they are ridden or that they are only fed every few days. What are people’s thoughts on this? Ive always worried that inconsistent feeding might risk colic but it would be really convenient to only feed my good dooer when ridden!

 

[ester]

I don't understand it, the horse either needs feeding or it doesn't!

 

[Equi]

Ill admit to being an irregular feeder. Mine are all good doers and teeny. They get a handfull of balancer every few days, mostly when they come in in bad weather for a dry off..its a token feed. It also gives them a wee bit extra in winter. They don't NEED it, but they enjoy it anyway. (does this even count as feed though?!) I've never had any runny bums, colic or adverse effects. Share horse gets a feed evry day of the same thing cause he is in work and needs it to keep weight on. It depends on their situations.

 

[VikingSong]

I must admit, I've thought the practice odd too. I was always taught that any changes to a horse's diet must be made gradually otherwise you risk colic.

I'd be very interested to read the opinions from those who do only feed their horses when they're worked.

 

[ester]

I'm not sure a handful of balancer counts as feeding

 

[AppyLover]

Mine gets 2 feeds a day during winter and then will go down to 1 very small feed over spring/summer to get his supplement and linseed for his coat into him but I bring it down quantity wise slowly over a couple weeks as he wont need it once the grass appears.

 

[Jo1987]

Through the summer I only feed mine when I ride. It's a token sprinkle of chaff because he thinks having a bucket is something special and it keeps him sweet!
Through the winter he gets fed every day wether I ride or not as he gets a 'proper' feed (more chaff and a bit of leisure mix)

Another livery on my yard only feeds hers every other day all year round, in fact she only comes down every other day! He has a big feed through the winter as well. She's had no colic/digestion problems but it's not the way I'd manage mine.

 

[Equi]

I'm not sure a handful of balancer counts as feeding

Yeah i didn't think so hahahah

 

[twiggy2]

I don't understand it, the horse either needs feeding or it doesn't!

this

 

[catroo]

I'm an irregular feeder at the moment, they are all on holiday living out. They get checked twice a day but not fed except maybe some carrots.

They come in once a week to dry off and will each have a feed then. Fibre based only so unmolassed chaff, speedibeet and maybe some fibre cubes.

It will be like this until their holiday ends in March.

I was always taught quantity can be changed quickly (relatively) but it's change in feed type that needed to be gradual.

 

[flirtygerty]

of my three at home, only the old tb needs a feed to keep weight on, but having an open barn scenario, I can't feed him and not the others, they get literally a handful of wet speedy beet while the old man gets his conditioning nuts, presently he gets a feed twice a week, if he drops condition he gets extra feeds daily until he comes good

 

[Pearlsasinger]

As with many other things this is indicative of some modern horse-owners not understanding horses. One of the main principles of feeding is consistency because of the gut flora which take time to adapt to new substances. Ahandful of straw/grass chaff occasionally won't hurt a grass/hay kept horse as the gut flora involved will be the same. Feeding anything else once a week/every other day/whenever you feel like it, risks upsetting the gut flora and thus the horse's digestive system. The fact that some people get away with it sometimes, doesn'tmake it right, or good horsemanship. Quite a lot of posters would benefit from the free Coursera training about equine nutrition

 

[NiceNeverNaughty]

a handful of balancer or chaff as a token when ridden i can understand but choosing to feed only twice a week is a new concept to me.

 

[Regandal]

My 2 get a feed every day, 365 days a year. The quantity varies. I upped it to twice a day a couple of weeks ago as I thought they were dropping slightly. Looking better now.

 

[benz]

As with many other things this is indicative of some modern horse-owners not understanding horses. One of the main principles of feeding is consistency because of the gut flora which take time to adapt to new substances. Ahandful of straw/grass chaff occasionally won't hurt a grass/hay kept horse as the gut flora involved will be the same. Feeding anything else once a week/every other day/whenever you feel like it, risks upsetting the gut flora and thus the horse's digestive system. The fact that some people get away with it sometimes, doesn'tmake it right, or good horsemanship. Quite a lot of posters would benefit from the free Coursera training about equine nutrition

This.

I was taught (many years ago!) that each type of feed is digested by one species (not sure if that's the word) of bacteria, these bacteria take about 7 days to grow and die within 24 hrs (more or less). So if you feed say once a week it will not do much good as horse will not digest most of it. Also if you suddenly decide to introduce a new feed it won't do much good for the first week or so thus a complete waste of time and money (aside from any potential health risks) to feed haphazardly

Recommendation is to feed 2x day and make any feed changes over the course of a week.

 

[ShadowHunter]

Im all for having a relaxed routine but this always puzzles me. Confusing/possibly frustrating for the horse and potentially risky for the gut. I'd rather give a small amount daily than a bigger feed twice a week, surely it would make more sense?

 

[Tnavas]

I must admit, I've thought the practice odd too. I was always taught that any changes to a horse's diet must be made gradually otherwise you risk colic.

I'd be very interested to read the opinions from those who do only feed their horses when they're worked.

The purpose of introducing changes slowly is to allow the gut microbes to build up to a level where they can assist in the digestion of foods. My school horses are only fed on the days they work, to replenish the energy spent in the lesson or as a thank you for coming when called. Many of them were in their 20's, had been in the school for decades and never suffered from colic.

The time to introduce slowly is, for example, when a horse has been turned out to grass for some months, eg hunters, with no hard feed.

Generally all processed feeds contain a majority of the same ingredients, just in varying quantities, here the only reason to introduce slowly is that the feed may smell different or texture may be different.