There's a land called Overfeeding...

[Elno]

... And I'm their reigning Queen.

I have a rising 5 year old, good doer, "cobby" type of a horse, currently in very light, if any, work. Where we live (northern parts of Sweden) we don't have grass from mid september to mid May, so the horses are usually fed hay/haylage and maybe some straw/chaff, and we also have a plethora of hard feeds to choose from. In my yard, the horses are turned out in all weathers and come in during the night.

Now here's the problem. I'm constantly struggling to balance my "knowing better" (ie feeding limited amount of forage and vits/mins only) with "but my baby looks so huuuungry" (ie massive amounts of forage PLUS hard feeds) resulting in my youngster behaving like a fruit cake on speed, not to mention gaining weight, because there's no frikkin chance in hell I'm riding that wild beast.

I can't be the only one struggling with this, right? ?
How do people with good doers look beyond the horses hungry eyes and dissapointing looks when the other horse owners stuff their horses faces with food?

 

[HeyMich]

Can you soak the hay to reduce calorific value or feed oat straw? That way they will have something to nibble and keep their stomach full, but not gain weight.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I like horses to feel full but I am quite happy for them to feel full of straw/chaff rather than hay or haylage. Good doers in very light work do NOT need hard feed.

 

[ycbm]

How do I make myself give my mare straw when she wants haylage? Easy, I recognise the fact that if I overfeed her it's likely to kill her or cause her terrible pain in her feet.

 

[Elno]

Can you soak the hay to reduce calorific value or feed oat straw? That way they will have something to nibble and keep their stomach full, but not gain weight.

Unfortunatly no. Its not custom in Sweden to soak hay and at the yard we're boarding the yard owner prepares all the food. My horse eats 10 kgs of dry haylage in slow feeding nets,which is around 1.5 % of her bodyweight, so the amount is correct for her.

My issue is mostly the inner battle with myself. It was soooo much easier having a tb when it came to feeding...?

 

[Elno]

How do I make myself give my mare straw when she wants haylage? Easy, I recognise the fact that if I overfeed her it's likely to kill her or cause her terrible pain in her feet.

Yeah... I would hate myself if I fed her to founder or EMS or obesity.

We moved to a new yard recently (like two weeks ago), and the yard owner feeds her horses haylage plus hard feed morning and evening. Against my better judgement my horse also started to be given about 1 lite (0.7 kgs) of low suger/low starch pellets, with alfalfa as main ingredient... The result? Unridable, hyper, spooky mess of a horse...

 

[ycbm]

Yeah... I would hate myself if I fed her to founder or EMS or obesity.

We moved to a new yard recently (like two weeks ago), and the yard owner feeds her horses haylage plus hard feed morning and evening. Against my better judgement my horse also started to be given about 1 lite (0.7 kgs) of low suger/low starch pellets, with alfalfa as main ingredient... The result? Unridable, hyper, spooky mess of a horse...

She's probably reacting to the alfalfa, one of mine is a maniac when he gets even a small amount of alfalfa. His eyes go wild!

 

[JennBags]

Yes agree with the others. See if you can get her back onto soaked hay and no hard feed, few horses really need hard feed.

 

[hollyandivy123]

try to get her back on the hay if possible and for feed i use a chaff baileys light (mint flavoured) for the psychological bucket feed with a broad vitamin,
https://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/products/light-chaff

 

[Elno]

try to get her back on the hay if possible and for feed i use a chaff baileys light (mint flavoured) for the psychological bucket feed with a broad vitamin,
https://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/products/light-chaff

We live in Sweden, and we don't have Baileys ?. I also dont have the opportunity to feed her hay. The yard supplies good quality, dry haylage, and she gets 10 kgs of it plus a min/vit supplement mainly to add selenium because the soil is notoriously lacking of that here.

I think people misunderstand my thread honestly. I'm not looking for feed suggestions, I'm mostly ranting about the woes of having a good doer, but having a feeding mentality of someone better suited for a poor doer like a tb ??

Just wanted some moral support I guess ??‍?

 

[hollyandivy123]

We live in Sweden, and we don't have Baileys ?. I also dont have the opportunity to feed her hay. The yard supplies good quality, dry haylage, and she gets 10 kgs of it plus a min/vit supplement mainly to add selenium because the soil is notoriously lacking of that here.

I think people misunderstand my thread honestly. I'm not looking for feed suggestions, I'm mostly ranting about the woes of having a good doer, but having a feeding mentality of someone better suited for a poor doer like a tb ??

Just wanted some moral support I guess ??‍?

Swedish supplier, but it was more a suggestion of a possible alternative

Stonova AB
Address:
Solbacken 3, Kvicksund
Town:
Kvicksund
Country:
Sweden
Tel:
+46733400490

 

[Littlewills]

We live in Sweden, and we don't have Baileys ?. I also dont have the opportunity to feed her hay. The yard supplies good quality, dry haylage, and she gets 10 kgs of it plus a min/vit supplement mainly to add selenium because the soil is notoriously lacking of that here.

I think people misunderstand my thread honestly. I'm not looking for feed suggestions, I'm mostly ranting about the woes of having a good doer, but having a feeding mentality of someone better suited for a poor doer like a tb ??

Just wanted some moral support I guess ??‍?

I feel your pain. I am a feeder and would love to stuff my natives full of feed and cant. I keep saying the next one will be a poor doer!

 

[JackFrost]

Moral support, Your Majesty? Happy to be your lady-in-waiting. Excellent references from a number of my tenants.

 

[Quigleyandme]

I can emphasise with you Elno as I also struggle with my inner feeder. It is very hard to ignore the urge to “make them happy”. Horses are great at looking listless and miserable so you give them some hay and they are instantly happy and engaged and make that lovely, rhythmic munching noise. All domestic animals have evolved ways to bend us to their will and even when we know we are being played and manipulated we still give in. I tell myself it is because I am programmed to nurture but really I’m just a pushover.

 

[Elno]

I can emphasise with you Elno as I also struggle with my inner feeder. It is very hard to ignore the urge to “make them happy”. Horses are great at looking listless and miserable so you give them some hay and they are instantly happy and engaged and make that lovely, rhythmic munching noise. All domestic animals have evolved ways to bend us to their will and even when we know we are being played and manipulated we still give in. I tell myself it is because I am programmed to nurture but really I’m just a pushover.

Could not have said it better myself ? She's behaving beautifully now that she has the appropriate amount of food and no hard feed, and it's actually good that we moved yards. At the one we were on before I had the task of filling her hay-rations and the poor hungry baby always managed to guilt me into accidently (ehum... ?) overfilling her nets, changing forage amount from day to day (okey... 10 kgs. 10 kgs is enough... Oooh but poor baby, lets make it 16...Noooooo! Getting fatter by the day.. okey, okey... Maybe 13 then? Noooo poor baby is hungry. And so it went on ?) and getting bucket feeds even though I knew I wasn't doing her or myself any favours in the long run. Where we are now the owner of the stable is doing such things, and it's harder to act like a silly undecisive pushover. If its said 10 kgs and a supplement, then that is exactly what's she's gonna get. Now it's just my poor hubby who has to listen to my laments when I fret over poor baby horsey ?

 

[Elno]

Moral support, Your Majesty? Happy to be your lady-in-waiting. Excellent references from a number of my tenants.

???

 

[Pinkvboots]

I would cut the hard feed and put her on the lunge for a few days to get rid of some excess energy then start riding again.

 

[emilylou]

Not moral support exactly. But the overweight good doer cob on our yard was fed to the point of laminitis by her loving owner despite many warnings. Has now been on box rest for 6 months, has cushings, lami, and a current hoof infection and is not comfortable without bute daily.
All done through misplaced affection. Realistically the horse will be PTS in the spring and owner will be devastated. But it was all caused by ‘loving’ her horse and feeding far too much

 

[windand rain]

My dad used to say people were digging their grave with a spoon because they ate to obesity maybe if horse owners realised they were digging their horse's grave with a bucket it might help. Fat horses are a nightmare and with my natives it is hard to keep an eye on things, I am mean although they are all fed

 

[PurBee]

Split up the feeds of hay she gets.

If i gave my good doer a 10kg hay net all at one she would consume it over 5-10 hours and would be staring hungrily at me for 14hrs with nothing to eat.

So they have 4 split hay feeds, and a 5th feed of balancer/beet over winter, when theres hardly any grass left to eat.

As youre on a yard and i guess visiting once or twice per day?....is it possible for you to pay a bit extra for her to be given timed hay net feeds staggered throughout 24hrs?

can she be turned out with some youngsters who’ll all excercise themselves with their loopiness over winter?

I’d love to feed mine more, as they always want more...afterall theyre horses, what they do best is eat constantly!... But i know for sure theyre getting everything they need nutritionally, look good on it, and the wild horses around here have nothing to eat in winter and somehow, miraculously survive.
I’ve developed healthy stoicism ?

 

[PapaverFollis]

I'm finding it much much easier to limit hay to appropriate amounts now I have them on straw beds. I'm not so worried about them standing with nothing. I think I'm gradually getting my head round the good doer thing. But I agree OP, I find it really hard too.

 

[Elno]

I would cut the hard feed and put her on the lunge for a few days to get rid of some excess energy then start riding again.

She doesn't have any hard feed anymore, it was only for a week maybe before I realised it was sending her totally bonkers.

 

[Elno]

Split up the feeds of hay she gets.

If i gave my good doer a 10kg hay net all at one she would consume it over 5-10 hours and would be staring hungrily at me for 14hrs with nothing to eat.

So they have 4 split hay feeds, and a 5th feed of balancer/beet over winter, when theres hardly any grass left to eat.

As youre on a yard and i guess visiting once or twice per day?....is it possible for you to pay a bit extra for her to be given timed hay net feeds staggered throughout 24hrs?

can she be turned out with some youngsters who’ll all excercise themselves with their loopiness over winter?

I’d love to feed mine more, as they always want more...afterall theyre horses, what they do best is eat constantly!... But i know for sure theyre getting everything they need nutritionally, look good on it, and the wild horses around here have nothing to eat in winter and somehow, miraculously survive.
I’ve developed healthy stoicism ?

They are out 12 hours and in 12 hours. The yard owner who also has a full time job splits the haylage in two nets and feeds morning and evening. I usually visit once a day and she usually has some haylage left in the net from morning, even in the evening hours, so she is not without forage for long. At the place we boarded before - which was a small riding school with staff they were fed four times a day. We moved because my horse was unhappy and didn't settle at that yard. It was too much happening and too many people and horses stressing her out. She's much more settled and happy at the new place ?

I need to develop healthy stoicism too ?Right now I'm sitting on my hands so I don't cave in and call the yard owner and ask her to up the forage amount. According to two of the feeding calculating apps I use even 10 kgs are too much of the haylage we feed (it's analysed) for her ???

 

[PurBee]

They are out 12 hours and in 12 hours. The yard owner who also has a full time job splits the haylage in two nets and feeds morning and evening. I usually visit once a day and she usually has some haylage left in the net from morning, even in the evening hours, so she is not without forage for long. At the place we boarded before - which was a small riding school with staff they were fed four times a day. We moved because my horse was unhappy and didn't settle at that yard. It was too much happening and too many people and horses stressing her out. She's much more settled and happy at the new place ?

That sounds a perfect routine for her in winter. You have to focus on how well she is doing and ignore the need to give more. Its a bit like kids with sweets - theyll eat the jar full ...but being adult and knowing better, we have to ration the hungry beasties! ?

Some horses if given a full round bale to pick at will ration themselves, but some dont. I tried with mine, hoping theyd eat when hungry and ration themselves Eventually. Nope! 1 round bale between 2 horses demolished very quickly....they were walking hippo’s....i started to worry about colic etc, so hauled the rest out and went back to rations. I was also hauling out 2 barrows of poop per day...its insane how much some eat if given full unrestricted access to hay forage.

When out grazing theyre unmuzzled because 80% of grass is water, so they cant fill themselves insanely on it, even if eating constantly. Yet hay is 80% feed, so unrestricted hay = loads more calories than fresh grass per mouthful.

 

[Elno]

Not moral support exactly. But the overweight good doer cob on our yard was fed to the point of laminitis by her loving owner despite many warnings. Has now been on box rest for 6 months, has cushings, lami, and a current hoof infection and is not comfortable without bute daily.
All done through misplaced affection. Realistically the horse will be PTS in the spring and owner will be devastated. But it was all caused by ‘loving’ her horse and feeding far too much

That is so sad ?

 

[Elno]

That sounds a perfect routine for her in winter. You have to focus on how well she is doing and ignore the need to give more. Its a bit like kids with sweets - theyll eat the jar full ...but being adult and knowing better, we have to ration the hungry beasties! ?

Some horses if given a full round bale to pick at will ration themselves, but some dont. I tried with mine, hoping theyd eat when hungry and ration themselves Eventually. Nope! 1 round bale between 2 horses demolished very quickly....they were walking hippo’s....i started to worry about colic etc, so hauled the rest out and went back to rations. I was also hauling out 2 barrows of poop per day...its insane how much some eat if given full unrestricted access to hay forage.

When out grazing theyre unmuzzled because 80% of grass is water, so they cant fill themselves insanely on it, even if eating constantly. Yet hay is 80% feed, so unrestricted hay = loads more calories than fresh grass per mouthful.

When I had a TB last year the owner of his pasture buddy and me placed a bale of haylage in their pasture thinking they would self limit themselves and be happier and more settled. My TB got fat (the other who already was fat became borderline obese), and oh my god the amount of poop to muck out, don't get me started! ?

 

[honetpot]

Straw. I have one who if he could, would eat a whole round bale of straw, I once gave him black on the outside cattle hay to pick over, and he ate the lot, and only left the bits that were soggy black. The rest will just pick at the straw, they get a portion of hay twice a day. My experience is having free access stops bullying and food aggression, without the worry of getting them over weight. They are not fussed what straw, and in twenty years I have never had a case of colic, which includes natives to TB's.

 

[Quigleyandme]

I bed my two on milled straw over rubber mats. A bale costs €7.40 and they will eat the lot if I don’t mix and mix and mix it in with the older stuff I am replenishing and refreshing. It may not make them fat but it makes me want to weep.

 

[windand rain]

used to bed mine on Wheat straw they would pick through it for grassy weedy bits but largely didnt eat much of it. now they're out all the time they get oat straw or grass chaff depending on weight

 

[Elno]

Swedish supplier, but it was more a suggestion of a possible alternative

Stonova AB
Address:
Solbacken 3, Kvicksund
Town:
Kvicksund
Country:
Sweden
Tel:
+46733400490

Aah, interesting! Didn't actually know we had a supplier in Sweden ? Unfortunatly a bit too far (7.5 hours by car according to Google) to travel just to pick up some chaff. Also looked at the ingredients and found them very similiar to a chaff (and with even less energy!) made by a different company, which I can pick up at my local horse feed supplier ? Just a bit wary of the alfalfa in it, in case that was what was driving her crazy a couple of days back.

... Will maybe pick up a bag and try if my feeding itch get's too unbearable ??