Please help me!!!!! I need advice on how much to feed!!!!!

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Pinky2012

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Hi I have a Irish sports horse she is 16.2 I haven't had her very long, I want to know how much hay should I be feeding her I use round bales, so I have to weigh them out what should be the typical weight of a Haynet to give her during the night? And for feed she gets a full round scoop of Alfa a oil, half a big round scoop of fast fibre and a cup of basic pony nuts, is that enough for her? Please help me I don't want to be doing the wron thing!!! :confused:
 
Make sure she has enough hay so that she never fully runs out. So give her what you think would be enough to last until she will be next be fed, if she's eaten it all then you know to up it a little etc.. :) same with feed, just stick to what you're doing.. If she drops weight add a little more, if she becomes over weight reduce feed and so on :)
 
That is an impossible question to answer without seeing her current body condition! If she is overweight then you are over feeding her! If she is under weight then you are possibly not feeding enough!
 
I've got one who's 15.3, her only hard feed is a handful of pony nuts, since we've had the snow (she lives out 24/7 unrugged) I don't suppose in a full 24hrs she's been getting through more than 2-3 small holed haylage nets and some straw but I don't know the weight, sorry.
 
How much they can eat varies soooo much. Our ID gets through two full builders bags of haylege a night :eek: others can struggle to finish off one haynet.

Id feed adlib. Give her a generous sized portion and see uf she finishes it all. If she does, give her more until there's a little left the next morning.

She may not need the hard feed she's getting if she's on adlib hay but its a good, low sugar high fibre diet so will do her no harm. If she's on adlib hay and still not maintaining weight, try adding linseed or speedibeet. If she's gaining weight cut out the Alfa Oil.
 
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Golden rule for fibre quantities is between 1.5 and 3% of body weight depending on what you are trying to achieve - Weightloss / Maintenance / Weight Gain.

They need to be eating constantly so if you are at the lower end of the scale you may need to employ ways of slowing consumption so it lasts ie trickle feeders / small hole nets etc.

This is on a dry weight basis so you really need to know moisture contant of haylage / balage to provide sufficent fibre.
 
To maintain her current weight you need to feed 2% of her bodyweight, that includes hard feed (weigh feeds which need soaking before you soak). I assume you are feeding hay, but if you have to feed haylage, which has a greater moisture content, then you need to add another 25% to compensate.

The easiest way to increase weight is to feed more forage (up to 3% of bodyweight) until an ideal weight is achieved. Losing weight is harder though! Plenty of excercise and cut down hard feed rather than forage. NEVER feed less than 1.5% of the horse's bodyweight.
 
Not all horses can be fed ab-lib although I agree to do this if you have something not prone to being barrel shaped.

I weigh tape, then work out 2% body weight to maintain or 1.5% to help them lose.

I have a welshie and an ID, neither if which I can keep ad-lib as they are huge if they get free rein!!! I do split their ration into small portions though and put in different places round the stable to it lasts longer.

Also, ensure you take into account any hard feed into the 2% if you go done the measured route....
 
Thank you everyone for the very good advice!! She is At a good weight ATM, hasn't really done any work this winter, I'm going to give her ad lib hay and see how she goes with that I just don't want to be struggling with her when it comes to summer as the grass gets very rich where I am! Thank you so much everyone!! :D
 
Just a suggestion - if the grass is very rich in spring/summer, try not to let her get any fatter before then. It's really quite frightening how quickly they pile on the pounds once the grass starts growing.
 
I am in a v similar position to you re newish horse and how much to feed. When I spoke to one of the feed companies they recommended ad lib forage but as a guide for his weight about 10-11kg. I would like him to put on a touch more weight but I can just never give him enough hay for it to be ad lib!! I know he isn't getting any grass at mo due to snow but since the scales arrived I have worked out he has been having about 18kg per 24hrs!! I want him to have ad lib but I don't think he would ever stop eating it!!! Hope you are getting on we'll with your mare. I can say the feed companies I have spoken to have been really good with advice and info if you find you are struggling when spring arrives.
 
thehorsediva said:
I am in a v similar position to you re newish horse and how much to feed. When I spoke to one of the feed companies they recommended ad lib forage but as a guide for his weight about 10-11kg. I would like him to put on a touch more weight but I can just never give him enough hay for it to be ad lib!! I know he isn't getting any grass at mo due to snow but since the scales arrived I have worked out he has been having about 18kg per 24hrs!! I want him to have ad lib but I don't think he would ever stop eating it!!!
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Nothing wrong with that? He's meant to eat 24/7! Just let him eat as much as he wants. 18-20kg is about right if you want him to gain weight. And not very much if its wet haylege your feeding. It still works out cheaper than buying hard feed!
 
Okay thanks. No thats dry hay weight, he doesnt have any haylage. I would much rather he ate that much hay than putting him on hard feed. Have given him even more today to see if we can actually get to the ad lib stage. Sure it will all change again once the snow melts (it will melt won't it!!!)
 
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