Should I feed?

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Emmy

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Hi, I am new to the site and a new horse owner. I have ridden for years, and kept horses at home, but I have now purchased a horse of my own and I am doing DIY livery.

My horse is a 16 2" Irish Sports Horse. He will only be doing lightwork throughout the winter, and is currently living out with a rug on. At the moment he is fairly well covered, some people have said that he is on the fat side.

I'm not sure if I should be feeding him or not. There is plenty of grass, but I have been reading various websites and I am concerned that he may not be getting the correct vitamins, to keep him in condition.

Any help or suggestions on what and when I should feed would be really welcome.
 
If you are worried you could just give him a handful of chaff with a balancer in it?

It really depends how varied your grazing is.....is there anyone experienced on your yard you could ask?
 
Thanks. Maybe worth a try to start him on some chaff.

Will ask around at the yard to see what everyone else feeds - Good idea.

Thanks
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Emmy, as the nutritional value of the grass drops with winter round the corner, he might very well need a supplementary feed and you couldn't do better than to try to keep it fibre/chaff based since this is much better for his gut and his mental well being (ie chewing for longer periods). You may also find he needs a vits and mins supplement just to make sure he's getting all the trace elements he needs. You don't need to spend a fortune on this and every owner will have their own preferences but D&H do a Daily Vits and Mins and I find all their produce is good quality. The best thing you can do is regularly condition score him (I think BHS do a clear advice sheet) and weigh tape him too. Weigh tapes won't give an accurate reading but they will give an indication if he is losing/gaining weight and you can adjust accordingly. Keep an eye out for a glossy coat, clear eyes and nose, happy demeanour and normal levels of energy. Good idea to ask around at your yard but trust me if there are 20 other liveries, you will get 20 different sets of advice! 100 liveries = 100 bits of advice lol!!! Enjoy your ned and welcome to the Forum xxx
 
Sounds like he doesn't need any proper hard feed as yet. As others have suggested, you could just give a broad spectrum vit/min supplement or a balancer if you are worried about his supply of vitamins and minerals.
 
My boy is a very good doer and I have him on Dengie Healthy Hooves. It is a complete feet but suitable for laminitics/good doers (looks like chaff with pony nuts through it).
Something like this may suit you.
 
if he his on the porky side just pop him on a chaff product and a multi vitamin supplement if you think he his losig weight with his chaff give him some grass nuts and a little oil!
 
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