Soaked hay

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Nari

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Does anyone have any idea how much well soaked hay I can safely feed an overweight horse who is bordering on laminitus? Matters are complicated by the fact that he has a rather delicate digestion (query ulcers last year) so I really don't like leaving him with nothing if I can possibly help it.

Daytime hay is being soaked overnight,nighttime hay is soaked from mid-morning to early evening. The only turnout he's getting is in the daytime in a friend's wood surface indoor school, the rest of the time he's stabled.

Horse is a 16.2 ID.
 
By soaking the hay for this length of time, most of the nutrients would have leached out. It does depend on the quality of your hay, some areas last yr saw a poorer quality as it was left late until it was cut, but this is regional.

I would say that 10-12lbs should be fine. You could also try horse hage as they have some varieties that are suitable for laminitics. Also Dengie offer some chaffs that are suitable too, if you want to have consistent quality.
 
Thanks for that DollyDolls, I was hoping that I was soaking most of the nutrients out because that way I should be fairly safe feeding him a reasonable amount. Wouldn't 12lbs be about half a bale? Given that soaked hay isn't his favourite fod that should last him quite a long time.

He doesn't tend to eat bagged horse hages, plus he's used to getting some hay so I can increase the amount without upsetting his stomach. I already feed a small amount of soaked unmollassed alfalfa to carry supplements & I prefer to keep his diet as unchanged as possible for now apart from the removal of all grazing until his feet look safer.
 
If you soak hay for that long then make sure that you rinse it through well with clean water before feeding it as the water it quite toxic and if you have had digestive problems in the past then you will nedd to be extra careful. Also, be careful it does not heat up in the middle when being fed, especially in warm weather, wet hay will start to ferment quite quickly, when I had this exact same problem with my lami prone pony I used to soak it, rinse it and then feed it shaken out on the floor as it will not then heat up. He was on 3-4 slices twice a day but I always threw away any left overs.
 
Jane_lou thanks for the tip about rinsing it, I didn't know that.

I always feed a general vit & min supplement Thistle so I'm not too worried about him lacking nutrients. Although a balancer would be nicer as he'd think he was getting a bit of proper feed the ones I've tried in the past sent him loopy, good old Benevit doesn't so I know which I prefer!
 
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