Not eating his feed

[sall]

I know most will be thinking FEED… SUMMER… But my lad has only been with me since Sunday & I don’t want to make any drastic changes in the first couple of weeks (slowly slowly I thought best).

I haven’t had a horse for many years so need a lot of help! I have him stabled at home so no yard with others to give advice. I have great contact with his old owner but would like other people’s options too.

He’s 16.2 warmblood who in my opinion is overweight! I tried a weight tape on him yesterday, but as I’m not sure how to read it yet (off to look soon) I don’t know how over weight (think it read 220?).

He’s out all day & come in around 7pm to 9pm (he dictates this & always has), at 8/9pm he has a scoop of hifi original, a sprinkle of bran & some chopped carrots/apples/swede. I have kept it all the same apart from I also add about a tablespoon of garlic flakes. He also has a large haynet.

His first night he scoffed his dinner like a pig & in the morning the haynet was empty, plus his lick treat had taken a serious bashing (nervous eating??).

Night 2 he didn’t eat all his food straight away so I left it with him for the night & in the morning there was still half left, plus some hay.

Night 3 I put less food out yet still the same as the night before & half the hay was also left in the morning.

My question is *after all that waffle* Am I doing it right? Should I just carry one cutting it down & then miss it out completely in another 2 or 3 days?

He seems happy enough & he bowel movements are fine.

 

[BigRed]

I guess the obvious thing could be that you have more grass than the previous person had and he is full of grass when he comes in. Personally I would throw the bran away, it is a complete waste of time and provides little or no nutritional benefit. A large haynet could mean anything really. If you want to make sure he is getting the same as the previous owner, you need to weigh your net and ask her how much weight of hay the previous owner gave him. Does he like your hay - hay quality can vary tremedously.

Re the weight tape, look at the tape carefully and make sure it it the right side onto your horse's tummy, you are looking for a measurement that estimates kilos in weight, he certainly won't be 220kg, you would expect him to be in the 600kg region if he is a 16.2 height horse. The tape won't tell you if he is over weight because his "type" will define that. If you feel he is fat, using the tape will simply give you a guideline to whether he is slowly losing or gaining weight.

 

[tallyho!]

He might not be very hungry.

 

[thatsmygirl]

I guess the obvious thing could be that you have more grass than the previous person had and he is full of grass when he comes in. Personally I would throw the bran away, it is a complete waste of time and provides little or no nutritional benefit. A large haynet could mean anything really. If you want to make sure he is getting the same as the previous owner, you need to weigh your net and ask her how much weight of hay the previous owner gave him. Does he like your hay - hay quality can vary tremedously.

Re the weight tape, look at the tape carefully and make sure it it the right side onto your horse's tummy, you are looking for a measurement that estimates kilos in weight, he certainly won't be 220kg, you would expect him to be in the 600kg region if he is a 16.2 height horse. The tape won't tell you if he is over weight because his "type" will define that. If you feel he is fat, using the tape will simply give you a guideline to whether he is slowly losing or gaining weight.

took the words out my mouth. Nothing to add really

 

[sall]

Yes our grass is better & the hay is the same weight as he had before. I'm not sure if the quality is the same/worse but I know the straw is better as he'd never eaten his bed before, but had a good munch on that his first night & although still has the odd bit, he prefers the hay.

Weight tape ty I will go do it correctly & yes I just want it so I can see any difference in size through the passing weeks.