Those whose horses are out 24/7..........

Natalie_H

Natalie_H

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Are you supplementing with hay yet?

We have 4.5 acres for our 2 which is split into 3 fields that we rotate. Stopped feeding hay in April. However, now there is just no grass
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It has been very dry in our part of Kent, and the boys are now having some hay morning & evening which they are finishing. Last year they didn't go back on the hay until end of October. Anyone else the same?
 
Not yet, the horses I look after are in a small temporary paddock that doesn't have a huge amount of grass (they should be moving back to their normal fields on sat), they all have 1 feed a day but no hay, they are fine.
 
Up until a couple of days ago the 3 TB's were getting through quite a few haynets a day, we then decided that they were just being to Bl00dy lazy to go out in the field and graze (the hay nets were hung in a barn that they have free access to).

They have plenty of grass so no real need for hay yet, if we were short of grass we would definitely be feeding it.
 
QR - Thanks everyone. Beginning to think maybe they are being a bit lazy.....! They "seem" quite hungry, but I wonder if they can't be bothered to forage as the grazing has been so good over the last 18 months, and now it's not "on tap" as it were, they are looking for a quick solution.
 
yes, my grass isnt growing aswell as it was a few weeks ago, i rested one of my paddocks for four weeks so lots of grass and put him on it the day i went to london to visit family, YO looked after him, i was away for four nights and when i came back he had to be moved as he had eaten it down! it doesnt give the other paddock a chance to grow, so hes been having a small haynet of haylage but we havnt got any haylage left untill whats been cut is ready to use.
 
That's been our problem. We have had 2 consecutive successful rotations through the 3 paddocks since Spring, but there is now nothing decent in either the current paddock, or the other two which have been rested for over a month. During the last rotation, it took them half the time to graze the fields down
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We have loads of grass here. The horses have been on the same two paddocks for six weeks now and I will have to top the other two paddocks before I can put them back on (they get no hard feed).
 
We are the same, no rain in months really so no grass just yellow stuff!

But .. the horses are still looking ok with no hay, I do give them a feed in the morning and bring the ones that are being ridden in during the day and they have a hay net then back out at night.

The others hang around the gate looking hungry but I'm sure they are ok - they are fat!
 
My pony is a giant blimp on just the poorish grass in his regular field, so he's often in a starver with hay instead. We've had ludicrous amounts of rain, and the grass is long and lush...ARGH!
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QR - Typical - my horse doesn't ever seem to get fat, could really do with a bit more grazing - whereas those of you who need to restrict yours seem to have too much of the damn stuff! Isn't it always the way!
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Goodness no. I haven't used almost half my field in months. What was my starvation paddock greened up so much I had to move Be in with Star, and now both of them are on less than an acre. I have more grass than I know what to do with!!
 
My boy is like that - plenty of grass in his 4 acre field but he cant be bothered to move out of shade of shelter and looks downtrodden if I dont provide hay. I did for a couple of days and then thought "what the hell am I doing??!!!" so no hay for him unless it rains consistently or until the grass stops growing come October / Nov time. Lasy little b*gger!
 
I haven't STOPPED feeding hay all year, my paddocks are pretty bare, excellent for the fatties, but the mares and youngsters are on ad-lib hay.

If I grazed my big fields then I'd have to BUY hay, if I get 2 cuts of hay from them I don't.
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yes my 2 tb ares in there summer paddock and they have eaten all the grass, so they are getting 3 section of hay at night and a small feed. they will stop having the hay when they go back into there winte paddock for a few weeks because they won't eat it cos of the grass.
 
i am in shrop i have 7 acres with 3 horses and we have loads of lush grass still we usually dont give hay until around december time!
 
No I have 2 biggies and a littlie in a 3 1/2 acre field and we've had more grass this year than ever before, they can't get around it all.

Won't start feeding hay until prob October.
 
[ QUOTE ]
QR - Thanks everyone. Beginning to think maybe they are being a bit lazy.....! They "seem" quite hungry, but I wonder if they can't be bothered to forage as the grazing has been so good over the last 18 months, and now it's not "on tap" as it were, they are looking for a quick solution.

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Natalie - I had a similar problem with my Welsh Cob. She and my NF were in about 1/4 of a 6 acre field which has been grazed all summer so very little left. My Welsh Cob is normally full of energy but was slowing down when riding over the last couple of months and feeling less energetic. I put it down to the fact she had little to eat (although it's a contant battle to keep the weight down with my lot). Over the weekend I made a new paddock - couldn't tell you how big it is, but a bit bigger than a paddock you'd school in. Loads of grass in there so I'm cringing about the immediate weight gain, but also riding as much as poss.

Seems daft to fork out on feeding my lot when I have plenty of grass going spare.

My Welsh A and Shetland X are in the diet paddock adjoining this, Rose (the shetland) always seems to be eating - even though there's barely any grass in there. Penny (my 23 year old Welsh A) - on laminitis watch - spends less time grazing and more time sulking with a 'can't be bothered' look.
 
Our grass is quite short but there's plenty of it. We have a 2 acre field which we use most of the time; and then we have 2x 1 acre fields to use when we need to rest the 2 acres. I have 2 horses on the grass - the cob guzzles and the WB doesn't.

They haven't had hay since April and they won't be getting any until at least we are back from Cornwall at the end of September. Good job, too, as we have 10 of last year's bales left and ours hasn't been cut yet because of the darn weather.
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we have our 2 on 4.5 acres which we split into 4. They go on the summer approx 1.5ish in march and have stayed there it is still green and the grass is still growing and they look fine. They are hungry when they come in but they don't need it.

The other 3 acres we cut for hay 3rd week of june (205 small bales) and we are now swimming in grass. Its just about ok for jumping in atm but no chance of seeing a ground pole! its about 1.5ft high I should think so def not shortage. We will prob let this grow long and move them over stripwise once it stops growing as we then use this in winter. Having longer cover on it in winter stops it chopping up and we do it in 3 sections.
 
No...plenty of grass.

The natives are out with just grass but the old lad comes down every day for his Blue chip and alfa a oil...strangely he can lose condition when out 24/7 but if I bring him in on his own he gets so stressed he doesnt eat anything, weaves all night and is tucked up in the morning so I just let him stay out where he is happy and supplement his grazing, bless him.
 
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