PopStrop
Well-Known Member
minime, do you know how to condition score a horse? If not, google it, have a read of a few pages, print a chart off so you have it to hand when you're with him, and I'd suggest doing an objective condition score on him - remembering you're looking at/feeling for fat coverage not muscle. This will tell you whether he needs to lose more weight or not and then you can tailor his feed and exercise accordingly.
Horses are designed to eat little and often so he needs enough hay that he's not standing for hours on end with nothing to eat. My two eat probably 3/4 slice of hay each (from a small rectangular bale, will try to remember to weigh it to give you an idea) overnight, fed at 7pm, and in the morning there's usually a handful of scraps left on the floor. If every last scrap is gone then they get a couple more handfuls of hay that night because I personally don't like them standing for more than an hour or so with no access to fibre. I feed it from a mini size haybag (I don't like haynets) which means they eat it slower than when it's loose on the floor, and because it's soaked for 12 hours I don't have to worry too much about the calories they're consuming. If/when they're in during the day then they get enough soaked hay to last until it's topped up again.
Feed-wise, my two currently get a TINY amount twice a day, mostly so they don't feel left out when the rest of the yard gets fed! My mare has allergies and the only thing I can feed her is grass nuts, so she has 1/2 a handful of those at night to soak up an echinacea supplement, in the mornings she gets literally about 6 nuts! My yearling gelding gets maybe a quarter of a handful -literally a sprinkle - of a fibre based feed twice a day just so he has something to keep him quiet when the others are fed. They don't need any more than grass and hay, for the most part these minis can live off next to nothing!
If I was showing my mare then she'd be doing longer walks with much more trotting involved, hillwork, some light lunging, some polework (only ground/trotting poles as still young), likewise if I was showing my gelding he'd be out walking several times a week to keep him trim, and I'd be playing with different feeds. Maybe next year I'll actually get out
that'll be the third year of trying!
Yours may not need his hay soaking, or his feed increasing. It all depends on his current weight. If he needs to lose weight then you can increase the exercise but not the calorie intake, if he needs to lose lots of weight then increase exercise and reduce calorie intake, if he's spot on but just needs muscle then increase exercise and feed, if he's underweight then increase feed and don't over do the exercise, in simple terms. 'Tis all a balancing act!
Ditto about spotty foal - gorgeous! And the bay & white in that pic is VERY similarly marked to my gelding
Horses are designed to eat little and often so he needs enough hay that he's not standing for hours on end with nothing to eat. My two eat probably 3/4 slice of hay each (from a small rectangular bale, will try to remember to weigh it to give you an idea) overnight, fed at 7pm, and in the morning there's usually a handful of scraps left on the floor. If every last scrap is gone then they get a couple more handfuls of hay that night because I personally don't like them standing for more than an hour or so with no access to fibre. I feed it from a mini size haybag (I don't like haynets) which means they eat it slower than when it's loose on the floor, and because it's soaked for 12 hours I don't have to worry too much about the calories they're consuming. If/when they're in during the day then they get enough soaked hay to last until it's topped up again.
Feed-wise, my two currently get a TINY amount twice a day, mostly so they don't feel left out when the rest of the yard gets fed! My mare has allergies and the only thing I can feed her is grass nuts, so she has 1/2 a handful of those at night to soak up an echinacea supplement, in the mornings she gets literally about 6 nuts! My yearling gelding gets maybe a quarter of a handful -literally a sprinkle - of a fibre based feed twice a day just so he has something to keep him quiet when the others are fed. They don't need any more than grass and hay, for the most part these minis can live off next to nothing!
If I was showing my mare then she'd be doing longer walks with much more trotting involved, hillwork, some light lunging, some polework (only ground/trotting poles as still young), likewise if I was showing my gelding he'd be out walking several times a week to keep him trim, and I'd be playing with different feeds. Maybe next year I'll actually get out
that'll be the third year of trying!Yours may not need his hay soaking, or his feed increasing. It all depends on his current weight. If he needs to lose weight then you can increase the exercise but not the calorie intake, if he needs to lose lots of weight then increase exercise and reduce calorie intake, if he's spot on but just needs muscle then increase exercise and feed, if he's underweight then increase feed and don't over do the exercise, in simple terms. 'Tis all a balancing act!
Ditto about spotty foal - gorgeous! And the bay & white in that pic is VERY similarly marked to my gelding
Does anyone know what this means? Even my vet was confused, he said he will research and let me know tomorrow.
