Too much hay?

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HaffiesRock

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This may sound like a dumb question so I apologise in advance!

My pony lives out 24/7, unrugged normally but this year will end up rugged due to being clipped. Last year he went into winter massively obese (how I bought him) so he stayed naked all winter with 2.5% of his bodyweight in hay and lost all the weight. He came out of winter looking a tad too lean but ready for the spring grass. He has held a perfect weight all summer and looks fit and healthy.

This year he will be staying in work over winter and has a neck and belly clip. Currently although it is very wet he is still very warm and naked. I d like to feed him ad lib hay, but being a greedy pony that he his, this would end up being far too much!

So this is my thinking, he currently gets half a bale of last years hay a day alongside beet pulp and soaked grass nuts and is holding his weight well. The last couple of days he has been getting more like 3/4 of a bale as I hate to see him stood in the rain not eating. OH is making me a hay feeder with a net in to slow him down. I was thinking of putting a full bale in it a day. Is this too much? Bare in mind its last years hay? I am obviously taking into account he will be ridden 4 or 5 times a week and making his own warmth so will need the fiber. I fed straw alongside hay last year but I was working on reducing his weight and even then this was never more than about 10kg combined. This year I dont want him to lose any weight and the hay doesn't cost that much more than the straw so would rather feed the hay. A bale weighs approximately 18 - 20kg.

I am guessing people will tell me what I think and that is to monitor his weight and go from there, but just wanted to see if there is a reason not to feed this much hay? He wont shovel it down like a pig but I doubt it would last him 24 hours!

I will add he currently has his hay ration split between am and pm as YO feeds in the morning. I can continue with this if needs be and the feeder doesn't slow him down enough, so he wont be left without forage for very long if he does eat it all.

Thanks
 
Does he not have any grass at all? I've tried putting hay out for mine, who is still out 24/7 on a big field, and he leaves it, preferring to eat the grass. Our fields have quite a bit of grass still and horse isn't bothered about hay at all unless he's stabled for any reason. If he still has grass then I wouldn't be putting out loads of hay yet. It isn't cold so the grass should still be growing, though there probably isn't a lot of goodness in it now.

Nothing wrong with horses coming out of winter a bit too lean IMHO, better than overweight and spending all spring/summer starving them to keep on top of it. Horses are designed to go into winter carrying a bit then lose it over winter. If he's really greedy then you can't feed adlib hay; I had one who would happily attempt to eat an entire big round bale in one sitting if you let him. Plus if he has some grass in his field then he isn't being left with nothing to eat.
 
A bale a day in October sounds like a lot for a hairy native type, and expensive on the pocket!

That said, if he is not overweight and you don't want him to loose any more, then it would be the sensible action.

Only you can monitor how much he needs really.
 
Would you not adjust the feed up and down according to his condition? My natives are not in work, or not worked much (mostly youngsters and brood mares), and I would not feed any hard feed at all unless one was losing condition. Mine averaged 1/2 a bale a day but they do have a bit of grazing to nibble at.

This is more of a question than a comment and I'll be interested in what others have to say.
 
My haff is currently in 24/7 and is on about 12kg a day (just under 2%) and he is putting on weight. Now back to soaking for hours and double netting as can't reduce the amount as the shavings start being eaten :(

I would keep as you are for moment, and then up if needed, but would be surprised if you need to up.
 
If you want to feed ad-lib hay, cut the bucket feed. But you don't need to worry about his jaws moving all the time. Horses usually eat for about 16 hrs per day when you add it all together and yours will have access to grass to nibble on if he runs out of hay. As you say, you need to monitor his weight weekly and adjust his feed accordingly.
 
Very little grass in the field now. His winter paddock is quite small so enough to nibble but not to make any difference to his hunger or weight! I dont want him getting bored if he has times when he has nothing to eat as a bored hungry Haffy is not what you want! Ha ha ha ha.

I will play it by ear (or weight tape) and see how we get on. Its old hay, so i'd guess not massively nutritious.

Some people like to rug and tuck their horses up cosy in stables, I like to feed mine as I have to be so careful with his weight during summer :) I love to see him knee deep in hay and happy :)

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One thing you could do is to dot that hay all around the edges of the field rather than putting a big pile in the middle. It'll make him walk around a lot more and slow down the rate of eating. Sort of like a paddock paradise but without the inner fence.... :)
 
I do do that normally, but its so muddy at the minute id rather keep him to the bottom end and not have him churning up the rest.

I will consider building two smaller hay feeders though, one at each end of the field so he has to walk up and down. x
 
I would just play this by eye and wieght tape a bale a day is a lot for a pony of that size if he gains wieght you are going to have to reduce you may like to see with a great pile of hay but if he gains wieght it will do him no good .
When you have done this winter you will know how to manage him for the best.
I have a cob he's out clipped ( for hunting ) so has a rug he's much slimmer than your pony and I restrict his forage he would just stand and eat and give up grazing if I gave him a chance .
There's no point in over feeding at this time of year after Christmas things will be different.
 
We tried to feed out natives ad lib in the winter but they just get fat. They now get hay twice a day and have to spend the rest of the time scrabbling around for any left over grass they can find. In really bad weather they get some extra hay. They now come into spring a more healthy size.
 
Thanks everyone, I feel a bit better about about it now. Ill continue with the half a bale and increase if he starts to lose some weight.

Thanks
 
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