Ok heres a question, cruel or kind?

D

Daisy2

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 March 2010
Messages
537
Visit site
My horses are both well covered going into winter, not in work because of the weather, unrugged and unclipped and both good doers, they have 13 acre field with good grazing and out 24/7, now we are about to have snow, I think this maybe the time they could lose some weight by having to work harder to reach the grass underneath etc.... would you leave them to it? of course within reason or feed them hay? I was thinking of just feeding them a little for roughage but for their own health I do want them to lose weight over winter and after reading many posts recently where by people are feeding hay due to the snow peeps have found their neds have gained weight which I want to avoid... so cruel or kind to leave them to it..they do have a bowl of unmollased sugarbeat with vits and salts everyday.
 
I think you probably have to go by subtle changes in their weight and whether or not there is grass in the field for them to eat. You can usually tell by their demeanour whether or not they are hungry and miserable so go by that too, if they are hungry they will be cold. BUT, definitely kinder to have out, un rugged and not overfed! If you find you need to feed hay then start off with a section or so each and monitor it from there.
 
Depending on snow coverage, a light dusting I would let them graze. I would certainly be putting hay out if you have a full covering of snow. It makes sense to have their guts full and keep their systems working. It is very cold at the moment and they need more than a few picks of frozen grass. Common sense really.
 
hch4971 said:
I think you probably have to go by subtle changes in their weight and whether or not there is grass in the field for them to eat. You can usually tell by their demeanour whether or not they are hungry and miserable so go by that too, if they are hungry they will be cold. BUT, definitely kinder to have out, un rugged and not overfed! If you find you need to feed hay then start off with a section or so each and monitor it from there.
Click to expand...

This :)
We all want a bit of weight on our horses over the winter since it's ment to be a harsh one. But lots of monitoring is a good start.
 
I think you have to be adaptable, and almost daily.

If there is snow on the ground and you can't see the grass, my lot get bales of haylage put out and have so for weeks now.
Once the thaw comes, they will get the odd bale, but the rest of the time they will have to make do with what the land provides them. They are all a good weight, and I will monitor carefully and if they appear to be dropping weight, then I would increase the haylage.

So basically assess the weather, keep close eye on your horses weight and feed hay as required, tis easy :)
I dont agree with giving them nothing if the ground is completely covered with snow, not even where fat ponies are concerned. I know winter is a great time to burn fat, but horses are like humans, starvations diets dont do no good! :D
 
Mine is out during the day and in at night. He's slightly overweight despite constant diets and minimum rugs. During the snow I didn't provide any hay in the field during the day. He was quite happy digging for his grass. He had a couple of slices of soaked hay and a scoop of chaff/vits&mins when he came in for the night. In the past 4 snowy weeks he has lost only a tiny bit of weight! Despite being clipped and wearing just a rain sheet during the blizzards!
 
Quote: (hch4971)
I think you probably have to go by subtle changes in their weight and whether or not there is grass in the field for them to eat. You can usually tell by their demeanour whether or not they are hungry and miserable so go by that too, if they are hungry they will be cold. BUT, definitely kinder to have out, un rugged and not overfed! If you find you need to feed hay then start off with a section or so each and monitor it from there.

agree with this ^^^
I would keep an eye on weight/behaviour and feed accordingly. Sounds like they should have lots of grass with 13 acres between the two of them :D
 
Last edited:
i would feed hay.
My 2 ponies were carrying more weight than i wanted them too, we have had snow on the ground for about 3 weeks now, it thawed a bit the other day and is now ice. Until the snow I rarely put hay out as we had plenty grass, now they cant get at it. I had a large bale of hay put in which they hav ebeen eating but not pigging out. They have both dropped a bit of weight and I have increased the yearlings feed a little. Just keep an eye on them to see whats happening, I feel the yearling is finding it harder than the 2yo.
By eating hay it help keeps them warm, you dont want them cold, hungry and miserable in this
 
As long as I can see that they are digging I don't put hay down. As soon as it looks too deep for them to be comfortable I start putting hay down. People talk about snow colic but I've never yet personally known anyone to have a horse with it...
 
I feed a bit of hay, but tbh having sat on watched Len dig the top of the snow off a patch, before breathing on it to defrost the grass, I think they are smart enough to get enough to eat. That said, he does come in at night with his haynet :)
 
There is no point putting hay or haylage out if they don't eat it. In conditions like this we put hay put in the morning when they are turned out. If it's still there in the evening when they come in I pick it up and put it in the mangers.

Obviously, if they eat it, we put more out through the day. Up to now eating grass which they scrape the snow off has been the the option of choice, but, this could change.

When leaving them out 24/7, which we have done in the past then, hay or haylage is always available.
 
I'd leave them to it and see how they get on. Is there still some grass in your field? I didn't hay my two in the last lot of snow, I thought about it, but when I saw them happily digging down to the grass and grazing, I didn't see the need to. Mine do come in overnight though (and get hay then). They really enjoyed being out, which was quite a surprise to me. Back in the last snow in January they were in a field that really did have no grass at all. They were being given adlib haylage at the time, and were bored rigid in the snow, so digging for grass was not worth bothering with as far as they were concerned, it was far more fun to try and rip each others rugs instead.

Whilst feeding them hay when it snows is probably desirable, I'm not sure it is absolutely necessary. The feral New Forest ponies have to make do with holly and gorse and whatever else they can find to eat in the snow... And think of thoses horses that are err, not as well cared for as we would treat our own. Somehow, they manage to keep going don't they?
 
well i for one have never experienced snow colic - for 11 years had 2 ponies on moors and boy did it snow and hay v grass = grass won every time - mine go out in morning no hay in field but each has extra slice at night. Horses are amazing animals and know just whats right to do and will dig snuffle for the grass. I sometimes wonder if more horses come down with colic due to sudden change to routine( being kept in if snowy or icey) sudden drastic changes in feed ( upping feed to quick) etc- mine keep same routine(out regardless of weather) and same feed ( if big lad drops weight the increase i feed is gradual) only my thoughts though :)
 
My two have had their morning and evening buckets. Once the evening feed is over with I have shaken out 3 slabs of hay between them into the shelter and they have eaten this as they have needed to. Some days I have gone up and there is some hay left and some days it is all gone. Horses are experts at knowing what they need to keep warm so I leave mine to it within reason as they seem to know how much they need to eat although I appreciate some horses may just be greedy and stuff themselves!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top