new pony - hay question

[Sarah04]

Hi ive just got a new pony a newforest 15 years old and im just wondering if im giving him enough hay. He's going to be a happy hacker but not doing alot at mo while settling in. His body weight looks fine but his routine with me is a full haynet full of hay first thing 7am ...turn out for an hour (he hasnt been turned out for a while so doing gradually) small cup of cool mix when I bring him in....about 4-5pm another big haynet. Should I be giving him another 9pm ish as the earlier one has almost gone? Thanks

 

[Rosiejazzandpia]

Offer a constant supply of hay. In this weather you can never be giving too much. If he has finished the hay in the evening give him more for the night hope this helps and have fun with your new pony

 

[Shay]

A constant supply works for some - but some ponies will just gorge on it and get fat! You should aim for 2.5% of the body weight per day in dry food; at least 2/3 of which should be forage - probably more in a good doing pony. (Don't forget to add in grass once turned out!)

In practical terms - I have a good doing cob pony 13.1hh weighing 250Kg who gets 4 - 5 Kgs hay, turnout and 0.5kg dry food - in his case competition mix because he is in very hard work - hunted twice a week.
And a moderate Mad Appie 14.1hh who weighs 310Kg; gets 6 Kgs hay, turnout and 1kg dry food. In his case a non heating mix because although in moderate / hard work he goes mad if you feed him sugar!

How much a hay net will weigh depends on your hay net! But a slice is 2.5 - 3Kg

Time for the weigh tape and the calculator!

 

[Sarah04]

Ive just checked the vet and previous owners estimate of his weight on his wormer box and its 450kg. Currently our routine is 7pm haynet full, turn out midmorning for a few hours, a handful of cool mix when he comes in and another haynet then 10pm another hay net. So how many kgs of hay do you think he should be having. Ill have to weigh on some scales . I dont want to over or under do him. He's not in work at mo but will just be doing 2 - 3 days of hacking . Thank you for your help!

 

[Buddy'sMum]

A horse weighing 450kg needs about 9kg fibre. Hay has a typical dry matter of 85-90% so 10Kg per day would be about right, as he's not having any hard feed and limited turnout at the moment.

ETA you don't want him standing in all night with nothing to munch so if he's woofing his hay, maybe double net or use a trickle net?

 

[Shay]

450Kgs is just a full dose or wormer. Assuming your lad actually is a pony and not a horse he will weigh nothing like that! You can get a weigh tape free from most feed companies. But if you give Spillers a call they will actually come out with a weighbridge and weigh them. Now - I don't feed Spillers - actually I never have had and I'm very happy with my feed suppliers. ( A&P and dengie if that matters) But the local Spiller rep will usually come out and weigh which is great if you're not used to weigh taping.

Weigh tapes are not accurate. But close enough to do feed estimates on. This isn't scales for your pony. But it will give you a gauge, and tell you if he is gaining or loosing. I've had horses most of my life and I do weigh hay (although I can pretty much guess!) and weigh tape every month or so. You know what it is like with your own weight - or your kids if you have them. You don't see the little bits because you see it every day. A tape gives you a reliable check. And if you do it yourself - even if you are doing it a bit wrong - it will show you month to month what is happening.

It is very rare for a lighter boned pony like a new forest to weight more than 350Kgs. I have a heavy cob pony who - for his height - is a heavy lad. At 250kgs. My ISH Appie is still a pony (and I have an LHC to prove it!) but he is close the weight of a sport horse with another hand on him - and still lean. At 310Kgs. New Forest's are light as a breed. If your lad is more than 300 Kgs I'd be very surprised - even if he is a full up not actually a pony but a short horse. Unless he has a heavy breed cross in him - he'll be less.

Unless or until you get him weighed or weigh tape him - look at what is actually happening. This is actually the best time of year to do it. Is he losing weight? Feed more. Is he gaining? Feed less. There are nuances in how you rug and how you work him - but you don't need that. Learn how to condition score and just look at him.

From a purely practical point of view - what you are feeding now reads almost a bit too much for a small native. 3 full nets, assuming a standard size haynet not stuffed quite tight is 9 - 12 Kgs of hay. Enough, without anything more, for a horse of 500 - 600 Kgs. That's a pretty big horse. But if you have a nervous lad who frets it off you'll need more. If you keep them un-rugged in the cold he'll need more. If he's rugged, warm and relaxed he'll need less. And that is without turnout and feed.

If he is happy and not gaining weight - leave him. He has more than enough. If he is gaining drop the 3rd net. Don't be influenced by people who have poor doing thoroughbred types.

 

[sandi_84]

Be aware also that as horses are graze feeding animals their stomachs produce stomach acid even when they aren't eating so you don't want him going on too long without some forage i.e hay to digest or you run the risk of ulcers.
Weighing your hay out and splitting his daily allowance into nets for throughout the day is a good way of managing his intake but remember to weigh tape regularly to monitor any changes so you can increase or decrease his hay if needed

My boy will quite happily munch his way through a hay net during the day and 2 overnight - last haynets in about half 8 - 9pm (not small ones but not the massive ones you get, just an average large haynet, that I stuffed so full you almost couldn't pull it closed) and he had some left over in the mornings. As has been said though checking if there's any left in the morning to judge how much to give them doesn't work on all horses as some will stuff themselves silly

 

[Sarah04]

Thanks for your help it said to give a 450kg dose of wormer so was guessing that was his weight. Ive just been outside and weighed his net and im quite suprised how much it didnt have in it!!! I made it up to about 2.5kg. We've gone through 1 small hay bale since sunday is that normal? Want to post a piccy of him but not sure how!

 

[Sarah04]

So what do you do if they eat it all very quickly say finished by midnight do you use a haynet with smaller holes? I actually put some of his meals on floor as I think its more natural for them x

 

[Sarah04]

I will definately get the weight tape!

 

[sandi_84]

Thanks for your help it said to give a 450kg dose of wormer so was guessing that was his weight. Ive just been outside and weighed his net and im quite suprised how much it didnt have in it!!! I made it up to about 2.5kg. We've gone through 1 small hay bale since sunday is that normal? Want to post a piccy of him but not sure how!

It would have been a dose of wormer for up to 450kg weight pony/horse (assuming pony?) but it won't necessarily be his actual weight. Weigh tapes are not hugely accurate - I think it can be out by around 100kgs - but it does give a good idea of how your horses weight is i.e is it staying constant or is the horse loosing or gaining weight.

What type of hay bale are you using? A small square bale or a small round bale?
Sorry I use big round bales and we go through 1 a week for three horses living out - our grass is pretty rubbish just now! So I'm not too sure how long a small bale would last.

So what do you do if they eat it all very quickly say finished by midnight do you use a haynet with smaller holes? I actually put some of his meals on floor as I think its more natural for them x

You can either excercise more and up the amount of hay you are giving or you could use small holed haynets/ double up haynets to make it harder to scoff all in one go or "trickle net" haynets which are made with the idea that they help slow down a horse eating so they still get the amount that they need but don't eat it in a short period.
I also prefer to feed from the ground - my boy is a hoover in horse form! - but again if your horse is gaining weight really quickly or eating his hay really quickly you may be better off with haynets

I will definately get the weight tape!

They really are very handy, if you don't know how to use one ask someone to show you but it's not rocket science so you'll pick it up really quickly!

 

[Sarah04]

Ive only had him since last friday but just wanted to make sure I was giving him the correct amount of hay. I have no idea of his weight then ! Im using the small square bales at the mo but at this rate think im gunna buy huge bales. My friends coming this morn ill see if she has a weight tape. Does anyone know how to upload a piccy on here?

 

[Micky]

I would also ditch the hard feed and just give him a balancer

 

[Casey76]

450Kgs is just a full dose or wormer. Assuming your lad actually is a pony and not a horse he will weigh nothing like that!

Actually a pony can quite easily weigh that.

My mare, who is 13.3 tapes at 420kg, and whilst not enormously fit, her ribs are easily felt. She has slimmed down from 450kg when I bought her last year.

 

[sandi_84]

Ive only had him since last friday but just wanted to make sure I was giving him the correct amount of hay. I have no idea of his weight then ! Im using the small square bales at the mo but at this rate think im gunna buy huge bales. My friends coming this morn ill see if she has a weight tape. Does anyone know how to upload a piccy on here?

A photobucket account is your friend here if you want to post pictures, if you search photobucket on here there will be a guide one of the HHO-ers has written out

 

[Angus' yard]

Hello, this comparison may help - my welsh cross connie gelding is 13.3. He weigh tapes at 420 and is a bit on the porky side, although is un rugged and out on poor grazing for 8 hours a day with no hay in the field. He is fed a token feed of a handful of hi fi light and a balancer split into two feeds. He has hay on the floor in his stable and has a third of a small bale each night. He's on a straw bed so snacks on the straw too. He very often leaves some hay, but if its a cold night he will eat it all. He has no stable rug either.

 

[Micky]

In february, you should be able to feel the ribs EASILY, ready for the spring grass/summer flush, eradicating (hopefully) a laminitis situation...That is if we have a summer (praying)

 

[shergar]

If you can go on youtube and type in HOW TO WEIGHT SCORE A PONY,lots of useful info to watch.

 

[Sarah04]

Thank you I watched the clip on you tube last night and measured him today , it says hes 405kg. He now gets breakfast 7:30 hay (enough to keep him going till turn out) 8:30 turn out till 4:30 then a slice or 2 of hay then at bedtime 8-9pm 3 slices of hay. He's also getting ridden 2-3 times a week now too