Those with horses out 24/7 - a question re feeding

Supertrooper

Supertrooper

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 March 2010
Messages
14,095
Visit site
Are your horses still wanting extra feed? Ours went out last wednesday on reasonable grazing, spring grass coming through but twice a day they are demanding food. They have been fed twice a day all winter so is it that they are expecting something or are they hungry.

Saying this I'm kidding berg as only giving him a handful of pony nuts in his treat ball and a carrot and he's happy to settle once he's had this xx
 
Our boys have been out 24/7 all winter and we are still doing two feeds a day but we are reducing then as the grass is definitely coming up ( greenish poohs ) also they are still having some hay out as i think it's good to keep up the dry forage..and they still look for it, habit i suppose.
 
I think some of it is habit - I have recently stopped feeding hay in the field as they don't need it but it took a few days of ignoring the calling for the hay to arrive before they got the idea that hay is off the menu now. It is heads down munching now without looking for more food to arrive! They still get mini teas for their supps and that will continue no matter what the grass is like.
 
Mine have been out 24/7 all winter and they are still getting two feeds a day, well I say feeds but it is a handful of high fibre and the seaweed, with sugarbeet water in it.
TB has this and some baileys outshine, so they aren't getting much, but it gets the seaweed in them and they stand still long enough for me to pick out feet, rugs and check over, they'd wander off otherwise, so is more for me then them, once hard feed is cut out they'll haev carrots and apples in thier buckets instead.
 
I have stopped feeding hay now but they get a couple handfuls of Fast Fibre to mix their vitamins with in the morning so I can check them over. They are probably get less feed from me (hard and hay) than at any other time of year!

My field has very little grass at the moment but I know its growing and their heads are down grazing most of the time so they are getting a trickle of fibre all the time. The horses are obviously scraping around for what grass there is because if I put hay out they will eat that instead and they do have that pathetic please feed us look everytime I go out.

However both are well covered and could do with losing a little if I am honest and I know that in a few weeks that grass will be growing faster than they can eat it so if that means them grazing it short as possible now so they dont have masses of grass when it really gets growing, and also having them moving around a lot to find what little there is at moment and loosing a bit of flab then all good. Plus it also means no electric fencing up and lots more room for them to move around.

I am keeping a very close eye on their weight, their pulses, their glands and their poos to make sure that laminitis isnt creeping up on them though (neither have had before but I am always cautious!)
 
Ours are fed Top Spec Anti Lam balancer year round with Top Chop Lite chaff. We are no longer giving them hay in the field and are cutting back on the chaff as well as they are good doers and are just about spot on at the moment. Hoping to keep it that way, although when they move to their summer grazing it's always a worry.
 
Che has been out 24/7 for the last week, he is still having 2 feeds a day, both slightly smaller and is eating them up. I have been putting hay out for him but tbh this is being ignored. I put the weigh tape round him last night and he has gained a tiny bit in the last week, he goes a bit ribby in Feb but is looking better already.
 
Still getting haylage twice a day as not enough grass yet, but about half the amount they were getting in the bad weather.
 
Both my boys are out 24/7 and have been all winter, still in the same field. The grass is starting to come through, as they have their heads down most of the time when i go down, so being cruel mummy, have stopped all hay out in the field. They get a very small feed, i.e. few nuts & a bit of chaff when worked, and that is it!!!

I still get the hay whinney when they see me coming down the track, but as its taken me all winter to get my fatty down to a reasonable weight, im not going to let him pile it all back on now, so its tough love from me ;)
 
Ours are still getting haylage 2x a day and 2 feeds but are young so want to make sure they get what they need.

The grass is coming through and even though they aren't always there at feed time they come over straight away when they see food.
 
Ours are still getting some hi fi and balancer but no speedie beet now and about half the hi fi. They are still getting some haylage as the grass is sparse in their winter field and they will not move over until the end of the month. One is very young and the other is very old!
 
Mine goes out 24/7 this weekend for good and he'll be getting soaked hay during the day while the other horses are stabled. He has to have a small feed for his supplements, which he will probably get in the morning to keep him quiet when the others go inside.
 
I've stopped feeding my mare (whose out 24/7), slowly decreasing my geldings feed whose in at night and out in the day (soon to be 24/7)! My youngster and my OAP will carry on getting fed throughout the year though.
My mare is hoping for feed, especially as the others get it, but she doesn't need it, so she's not getting it! Mean mummy :p
 
Now that the little one has gone to school, the big boys are out 24/7. I am putting some haylage out for them overnight and they are coming in for feeds twice daily (and rug changes). Only two days into the new routine and they are absolutely fine with it. One of them was kicking his door to go back out again last night!

They are both on veteran chaff and speedi-beet with a handful of Badminton high fibre nuggets. One of the boys has Saracen Biolife 2000 balancer, which I really rate and has kept him looking really good throughout the winter.
 
My lot are out all year round only my old pony and ridden horse had M/W T/O's on! I was buying a big bale of haylage every 2 weeks, I stopped buying it at the end of Feb. None of them had any hard feed!! Their all fat too :D
If I had to feed it would only be barley and sugarbeet, everything else is over rated and over priced :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top