My eating machine/horse

[tangoharvey]

I know she's a growing girl who hasn't had the best start in life but my shire TBX eats like nothing on earth!!! She has two feeds a day of chaff and calm n condition and I give her two stuffed haynets in the morning, usually another at lunchtime and two stuffed again for night, plus grazing. In the morning she has always hoovered up every last bit of hay, surely she can't need more????

 

[Greylegs]

If her weight is ok then I wouldn't worry. That's not a particularly hi calorie diet and she's got "big" genes in her, so I'd just keep feeding her if I were you.

 

[twiggy2]

if she has hoovered up every last little bit then I would say she needs more yes, if she is on the tubby side then I would soak it-unless I am trying to get them to loose weight then I like to feed ad lib hay especially to youngsters

 

[tangoharvey]

She's not tubby she was a little underweight when I got her it just her mouth never stops moving! She doesn't even draw breath when going from feed to hay lol

 

[soulfull]

How long have you has her?
Sometimes if they have been starved or seriously restricted then they eat non stop for a few months until they realise that food will always be there
I too would make sure she never ever runs out that will possibly speed up how soon she realises she won't go hungry again

 

[tangoharvey]

Only had her three weeks my previous horse was a Clydesdale so I'm used to big eaters but this one is definitely a pig in disguise!!!

 

[NellRosk]

I would also agree with giving her a bit more until she is leaving a bit. I wonder if the haynets are making her speed up eating, could you try a haybar/ feeding it on the floor adlib then she might self regulate a bit? My 5yo ID is an eating machine and eats 2 wheelbarrows (properly full, heaped wheelbarrows) of haylage a night.

 

[Wagtail]

Big horse = big appetite. I had a 17.2hh ID that ate an unbelievable amount and also got through twice as much bedding as normal horse. Yes, if your horse has eaten up by morning then she probably needs a bit more, so long as her weight is okay.

 

[soulfull]

Only had her three weeks my previous horse was a Clydesdale so I'm used to big eaters but this one is definitely a pig in disguise!!!

In that case she will more than likely slow down!
I've had 2 one had been restricted with hay the other hadn't. Both are like an elephant for a couple of months and then slowed down dramatically. I sometimes wonder if it's a bit of nerves/comfort eating when they move home as well as worry whether there will be enough

 

[honetpot]

When you say a stuffed haynet, how much weight. I would expect a young large horse to eat 2/3 to a bale a day, my two year old 14.2 pony can eat half a bale and he looks quite lean.