Soaking hay and supplements

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vicksey

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Hi just wondering how long you are supposed to soak hay for (if soaking it for over weight horse) and if its best to feed a supplement too. Any reccommendations? Thanks!
 
We always soak it in water overnight, rinse it in fresh water in the morning then leave it to drain and feed that night. We feed Top Spec Anti Lam balancer to ensure that our good doers get all their vitamins and minerals.
 
Soaking hay basically removes the water soluble carbohydrates, so the horse doesnt get them and put on weight. It also leaches out the minerals, etc though so if you soak hay you need to provide vits/mins from another source, i.e a supplement. If you soak overnight some horses dont eat it but even soaking for an hour can get rid of around 50% of WSC, depending on the type of hay. Its probably best to soak for at least 3 hours but once soaked it must be fed straight away. If left damp hay can grow mouldy or ferment.
 
Agree as above, but add I soaking hay to stop my horse getting stable cough when on box rest. Soak overnight to get carbohydrate value as low as possible as he loves to eat and what else has he to do?
 
For COPD I was advised (by my vet) to only soak for 10 mins to get rid of dust and spores but not loose any vits and mins soaking after this time continues to loose vits and mins.
If your horse or pony is at risk of laminitus soak for up to 12 hours, but you should give a vit and min supliment or lick to make up for those lost.
I would ask your vet to get the best advice tailored to your horse xx
BTW if theres any hay left over that your horse has not eaten please throw it away as it goes rancid xx
 
Thanks everyone, OK, so Im doing the hay bit right, just need to sort the supplement side of things. I usually soak the hay over night or during the day and feed once its drained off. My horse never leaves any food hence the diet! He's is on speedy beet and a bit of chaff. Just thought a general supplement may help? Anyone tried pink powder?
 
Pink Powder is likely to help him keep condition better as it helps them to use the few nutrients they do get, better. Either try any GP supplement (Equivite is good) or you can go down the pelleted balancer route - Lo-Cal or TopSpec Lite would be particularly appropriate. Does he really need the speedibeet? A handful of chaff (enough to put a powdered GP supplement in) would do, or just a pelleted balancer without the chaff.
I fed my mare ad-lib hay soaked for 12 hours a day when she was on a serious diet. Starving her put on more weight (I did try it for a week and regretted it very much afterwards - it was pure desperation that drove me to it but she put on loads of weight as her body panicked and held on to every last nutrient it was given) so I then tried ad-lib hay and a very very bare patch of field. She lost 100kg in about nine months-ish. Slowly is better and she is now much healthier and happier!
 
Witholding food is very dangerous for several reasons - colic, ulcers, hyperlipaemia, etc. A horse should never be starved as it can cause serious problems. Soaking the hay is the best way to help lose weight, the gut still has something to do without the calories for weight gain. Sugar beet is quite high in energy, i would drop that and just feed a small amount of hfi light or safe and sound with a vit/min supplement.
 
The problem I have is that he needs a wet feed to encourage him to drink a he hardly drinks at all (Ive tried all sorts) and is prone to tummy upsets with too much hard feed. He is ridden everyday day and is quite lazy hence the speedibeat, hos weight is fantastic at the mo, but need to keep a careful eye on it. Feel Like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place?????
 
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