New owner advice please!

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Frankie2018

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We have recently brought our 16.2hh 9yr old Hannovarian gelding to a new livery yard. He was previously out 24/7 during summer on good grazing land. Due to needing to be quarantined until the strangles results come back he has a small field to himself and his stable of course. Due to heat/flies etc we have had him out overnight 7pm-9pm and then during the day he has been in. When he comes in we have been giving him some mollichaff and pony nuts and of course lots of hay/water. My question is this: when would it be best to ride him? In the morning straight from the field before having any feed, or mid afternoon when he’s been in a bit? My gut tells me mid afternoon but mornings are so beautiful I want to be off into the countryside in the mornings!! Also, he has one scoop of mollichaff and a handful of pony nuts. Should we be adding any balancer etc? Sorry for the questions! We’ve loaned but never owned before 😊
 
just ride when he comes in early morning its cooler then so better for the both of you, I think it depends on how he looks on what his fed now you could just buy a multi vitamin supplement like equivite I tend to feed it through the winter and drop it in the summer.
 
Horses have survived very well for thousands of years without a balancer at £25 a pop.

If he has water, good quality hay, grass, and access to a decent salt lick (I use Himalayan) he should have everything he needs.

In terms of riding, in your set up you could ride in the morning or afternoon. Some horses can get sluggish if being ridden after being out at grass though.
 
I would ride him in the morning. He is likely to be more chilled then and I prefer my horses that way! Although he should be well-mannered any time you ride, he may be more anxious to go back to the grass, which means that neither of you will enjoy the ride as much as in the morning.
I would either let him eat hay as you get him ready to ride or offer him a small feed of chaff before grooming and tacking up but he will have been nibbling grass for most of the night.
I wouldn't feed Mollichaff, it contains molasses, as I guess do your pony nuts. Horses generally do best on a low starch/low sugar diet and unless in hard work, most don't need much extra in summer. We give a few Agrobs Wiesencobs in a bucket to make sure that our horses come to call.
 
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