just hay !!!

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debs_07

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hi peeps .. could do with some opinions please !!

My trainer came down today to do an hours training with my mare and told me to cut her feeds out completely for the time being ... instead ive to give unlimited hay . we have no winter turn out at all now , so the only exersice she is getting is when we go for a hack or when i lunge her .... she was full of beans today AGAIN !!!

so would like some opinions please .... is there anyone else out there who is just feeding hay at the moment because of lack of exersice or lack of turnout ?

debs xx
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I know a number of people who feed just hay all the time, in or out, summer or winter. They have horses that range from the odd hacker to competition animals.
 
great ... hay it is then ... they dont need the extra energy really do they .. not if there stuck in .. i will give her hay all week now and keep an eye on her weight .... she was on alfa A oil and calm and condition .
 
If your worried about her losing weight you could alway give her some readigrass long side the hay, as my TB is hot headed so i don't like to fed her too much hard feed, and last winter i was pumping her full of hard feed to try and keep the weight on, and she just became a nightmare. This winter i tried cutting out most of her hard feed and instead gave her a big bucket full of readigrass at night instead, and this seems to be really working, it's keeping her at a nice weight and not heating her up at all.
 
Just hay is fine - if you have a vit supps that you need to add or you need to give a feed as the rest of the yard yet fed so it would be unfair to leave her out you can give just a handfull of happy hoof (with may be a carrot!). Happy hoof is great as its just fibre with some herbs on so they think its a treat but it doesnt have the calories/energy. i used to compete aran off hay and happy hoof (with equivite and oil) and he did very well on it.
 
One of mine is off work and is stuck in the satable andshe has hay and 2 small feedsa day of hifi (1 bowl scoop in each feed)and 5 mugs of sugar beet and she still looks round!
 
My horse just lives off grass and hay all year round and I do low level endurance on him every week in the summer and autumn! I do give him an all round vit supplement in a handful of chaff every day though...so would recommend that if you are looking at feeding just hay for any length of time.
 
What a sensible trainer you have. If that doesn't help then back to the drawing board, but it certainly shouldn't harm her.

It's that old adage "Feed according to work done" isn't it? It's not a bad thing when you think about it, after all, if, say, fizzy drinks made your child hyperactive you'd stop giving it wouldn't you?
 
Just hay will be fine, mine just has a big handfull of happy hoof so she can have her vits and supplement with a few carrots thats all. She is fed a mixture of hay and haylage and always has plenty left in the morning.
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thanks for your advice ... i will feed her just hay for the next week or so .. and keep an eye on her weight ... if i feel her weight is going down .. i will give her a handful of alfa A oil morning and night ... see how that goes ..

Thanks all ov u

xx
 
I had to do this with Fleur when she was kept in. She also had a handful of hi-fi lite with a couple of carrots and her supplements.

She used to compete on hay with a little chaff and econ nuts - had plenty of built in stamina and energy.
 
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