Is it essential to feed hay over winter

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charmaine

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As in title really ............ both my horses are cobs and good doers. They have access to acres and acres of grass all winter and live out. I always give them hard feed during the coldest months but am having difficulty in my area getting any hay for the winter that isn't horrendously expensive. What would happen if they didn't have any? The wild ponies on the mountain behind where I live never get any and they seem to survive okay. Would mine be okay without???
 
Aslong as they have something to eat, I dont see there would be a problem. It depends on the amount of grazing they have though
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It's more natural and better for the gut for horses to eat small amounts throughout the day instead of just 1 or 2 meals that take only 30 mins to eat so yes, it would be better to feed hay throughout the winter and IMO is essential if the grass is not very good.
 
As already said it depends on your grazing - horses really do need to have something to nibble on to keep their gut moving. Personally I would rather mine had hay than any hard feed especially as they are cobs as it will keep their gut moving more efficently and more importantly it is also how they keep warm.
 
When you say acres and acres, how much is that and is it of a decent quality?

I would say that if their grazing is of good quality and plentiful and they appear happy and healthy then supplementing with hay is unecessary.

Grazing should be just that, an ability to graze at will throughout the day. To go through the majority of the day not being able to graze could induce all sorts of digestive problems.

We all need good food maintenance to stay happy and healthy so it may mean you supplementing with more good quality hard feed to keep their calorie intake to the levels required in order to stay in good health. This may prove as expensive or even more as getting hay in. You know your horses so if they start showing signs of discomfort in any way or are starting to look poor then you need to up their forage.

If I were you I would get some in as a precautionary measure, however hard this may be for you rather than to leave it and hope they will get by.
 
If you can't get hold of hay, it might be worth seeing if you can rent extra grazing (ask the local farmers) and rotate your grazing.

Also, feed something like Hi Fi or similar, along with their feeds to ensure they're getting the goodness of hay/ grass.

Mine *should* be going most of the winter minus hay (that's the plan! He'll be sharing with another very good do-er).
 
Bear in mind if there is a lot of snow they won't have easy access to the grass. I would definitely have some hay in stock, and probably better to buy it now than in the depths of winter when prices will rocket. There is also the possibility (fingers crossed it doesn't arise) that you have to stable them due to injury or illness so would need to feed hay then.
 
I wintered 4 small ponies out one year on a friends fields that hadn't been grazed for about a year. They had a small feed every day (mostly fibre) to give them a vit/min supplement. They did really well and only had hay when the ground was frozen solid or covered in snow. I think as long as they have access to enough fibre you should be ok.
 
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I am not short of grass here, there is masses of good grass all winter so something would always be going through the gut.

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It's not how fast they eat it, it's how fast they trample it. A wet winter might mean you only get half the use out of it. For example, in the past mine's had a whole field of super grazing to himself (he;s 10hh at a push!) but I've still had to rest it by bringing him in at night and in particularly wet weather else he'd just ruin it.

I'd perhaps get in a little hay (as much as is feaseable). Lots of farmers managed two cuts this year, or failing that ask farmers about 'pony' hay which may be up to two years old but will provide fibre.
 
if you have loads of grass and they are on hard feed i would not bother with hay un less the grass is frozen or has a lot of snow on the ground!
 
I have two 15hh horses with access to 33 acres of good grazing which drains very well all winter so consequently never gets trashed. Do you think this is adequate without hay all winter except obviously if it snowed I would need to feed it then.
 
I have a 16.2 IDx on good grazing. He comes in overnight in the winter as it's the yard rules and has a hay bar full of lovely haylage, but he leaves most of it as he's full from the grass in the field! So as long as there's enough grass (and it sounds like there is) they should be fine. Good grass is the best thing for them! If they start to lose a bit if weight you can always supplement with hay then.

It will be more expensive to buy in the winter though, so it's a bit of a gamble that they don't need it. I'd buy a small stash now (10-15ish bales?) so you have some if it snows or to start feeding them if they do lose a bit of weight. That way you have time to get some more and they're not suffering.
 
I would just get a few bales for snowy times. When I first came across my old shettie, the then owner (a vet) said he never gave him hay in the winter unless it snowed. You may find that you need to feed much more in Jan-March (Hi-Fi Lite), though, as the grass really does have zilch in it after a prolonged permafrost, like we had earlier this year.
 
I had my new forest on grass livery at my old yard-they do not allow hay in the fields-even during the winter!!!!!!!!! So he didnt have any hay all winter-he looked bloody awful by the end and had to sort a stable/hay out to get some weight onto him. He is normally fat all year regardless. So I guess im saying that be careful, even good doers need hay!
 
It depends on your grazing really - my pony lives out 24/7 and had hay only when the snow was so bad that it was difficult for him to get to the grass and even then he only had one section.

He did not loose any weight and also only had a tiny bit of hard food - some of those in his group had no hard feed and they still remained in good condition - but we do have rotated grazing and the winter fields are rested for 8 months a year and so by the time they go on to them the field look like living hay.

But we have two big fields of winter grazing that looks like this!

homeyfieldwinter001.jpg


This is how fat he was in January - I know he is eating hay in this picture but it was a rare occassion! I do keep some hay as he needs it is we are travelling to a show.

homeystable002.jpg
 
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I have two 15hh horses with access to 33 acres of good grazing which drains very well all winter so consequently never gets trashed. Do you think this is adequate without hay all winter except obviously if it snowed I would need to feed it then.

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33 acres for two horses is more than adequate, especially if it is good quality and quite long, they would only need hay if it was snowing.
 
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It depends on your grazing really - my pony lives out 24/7 and had hay only when the snow was so bad that it was difficult for him to get to the grass and even then he only had one section.

He did not loose any weight and also only had a tiny bit of hard food - some of those in his group had no hard feed and they still remained in good condition - but we do have rotated grazing and the winter fields are rested for 8 months a year and so by the time they go on to them the field look like living hay.

But we have two big fields of winter grazing that looks like this!

homeyfieldwinter001.jpg


This is how fat he was in January - I know he is eating hay in this picture but it was a rare occassion! I do keep some hay as he needs it is we are travelling to a show.

homeystable002.jpg


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Your winter grazing looks fabulous lovely old meadow fields, you don't see a lot like that these days, lucky you.
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