horsegirl
Well-Known Member
I have read that short chopped forage takes longer to eat then hay so will last longer but what is short chopped forage? Alfa a or readi grass? Sorry for stupid question but can't help it!
Short chopped forage?
- Thread starter horsegirl
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AmyMay
Situation normal
Things like Hi Fi, Hi Fi lite etc could be considered short crop forrage. I fed my horse on this last year as well as haylage to reduce the overall amount of haylage I was giving her because she was overweight.
horsegirl
Well-Known Member
I already feed alfa a mixed with his feed so should I just mix more into his feeds or give him a separate bucket with some in? Also is readigrass a good alternative to hay?
AmyMay
Situation normal
I wouldn't overdo the Alfa - why do you want to feed a hay replacer. Is he on a diet??
horsegirl
Well-Known Member
No he is not on a diet but I read an article that says it is good to offer more than one forage type as this helps simulate their natural grazing habits.
TGM
Well-Known Member
Personally I think it is a ploy by the feed companies to get owners to spend lots of money on short chop forage, instead of feeding hay which is much, much cheaper
.
That's not to say that short chop forage doesn't have its uses, but do bear in mind that it is an expensive way of feeding. I wouldn't use Alfa A for this purpose as there have been reports of horses having problems when overfed alfafa. For a good-doer I would feed HiFi Lite and for something that needs more weight on, then a dried grass like Readigrass.
That's not to say that short chop forage doesn't have its uses, but do bear in mind that it is an expensive way of feeding. I wouldn't use Alfa A for this purpose as there have been reports of horses having problems when overfed alfafa. For a good-doer I would feed HiFi Lite and for something that needs more weight on, then a dried grass like Readigrass.
Magicmillbrook
Well-Known Member
Hi - if your horse is over weight you could try simple systems ruff stuff or alfa stalks - they are basicaly a chopped mature grass and stalk of the lucerne plant chopped up, high fibre, low feed value, no added mollasses or oil - its a complete change to hay etc.
I mix it in with mollasses free sugar beet, or for my TB x I also use lucerne pellets - the feed is much larger and takes longer to eat and is great for slow release energy.
I mix it in with mollasses free sugar beet, or for my TB x I also use lucerne pellets - the feed is much larger and takes longer to eat and is great for slow release energy.
horsegirl
Well-Known Member
He isn't over weight, he is a TB and was quite ribby when I got him 4 and a half months ago. With plenty of trial and error we managed to get a good balance between too much fizziness and gaining weight and he is about the correct weight now but we have moved yards so somewhere with loads of grass so we have had to start again to work out his feeds. In one of this months horsey mags it says that you should offer different types of forage in the stable and not just hay as horses would choose a variety themselves so I was just wondering what to offer as an alternative to maybe a section of hay. I have bought some readigrass at lunchtime today so I will try him on a bucket of that as well as his hay tonight and see how he gets on. I didn't want to give him too much alfa a oil as it can make him a bit nutty.
Fiona
Well-Known Member
I would suggest dampening the readigrass lightly before you feed, as that seems to make it more palatable. Our horses love it mixed with their concentrate feed, but the old horse we had wouldn't eat it seperately, and so we ended up giving him an extra bucket of Spillers Happyhoof each night and he enjoyed this.
Fiona
Fiona