Welsh D owners, what are you feeding?

NeverSayNever

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 July 2008
Messages
4,437
Location
uk
Visit site
just interested to hear what other Sed D owners are feeding in relation to how much work your horses are in. The reason Im asking is that last winter (my first with my girl) she was only on hay, ridden 4-5 times a week but tended to be long rambling hacks and walk/trot FW only as I was pregnant. This winter she is being ridden 2-3 times a week but Im asking more of her; working on her canter in lessons, doing fast work out hacking a bit of jumping. She was at the beach on Sunday galloping about and even had a little swim and we also have 2 lessons this week so i guess some weeks she works harder than others.. anyway, she is on adlib hay and a feed of forageplus balancer,linseed, safe n sound and 2 scoops of speedibeet and she is needing it tbh whereas last winter she held her condition better.
 
I've got a Welshie D mare on loan.

Plus my own traddie cob, both 15hh'ish. He has sweet itch so is fed a low-sugar diet.

They both have the same: i.e. two X feeds daily, first feed consisting of one double handful of A&P Fast Fibre with some Dengie Hi Fi Lite Mollasses free.

Second feed is one handful (soaked) of Unmollassed sugarbeet, mixed in with some Dengie as above.

Occasionally they'll have some hi-fibre horse & pony cubes mixed in just for a change.

They're both ridden at weekends: we tend to hack out (only) usually go for about 2 hrs each ride; then I try to get each horse out twice during the week - about an hour's hack, mostly walk & trot plus a quick burst of canter.

The main thing with Welsh D's is to feed them like a native basically: which (to me) means as much turn-out as you can, lots of fibre and not too many concentrates, plus avoid sugar (which I do anyway for my SI boy).
 
In light work - fast fibre & a supplement. Plus hay.

I wont be changing her feed when her workload increases - there really is no need with her. She can survive off the minimum!
 
Hacking a couple of times a week for up to 3 hours, walk, trot, canter.

Mine is on restricted grazing still, as our grass is still growing, plus a slice of hay just to provide additional roughage, a scoop of chaff, 2 scoops of biotin, 5 equibites for vits and minerals and a few carrots...

... he is holding his weight, which is pretty good at the moment. I would say a 3.

I did try him on some high fibre cubes, suitable for lamis, but they were too much for him even at about a 1/3 of the recommended rations, so I've dropped them. I'll probably use something like that though if he does drop condition when the weather worsens.

He lives out, clipped and rugged.
 
Mine is only ridden at weekends, which is mainly hacking. He is turned out for about 10hrs a day and only in at night to save the fields. He has a haynet at night and I've just started him on one feed a day of a scoop of speedibeet and a scoop of hi fi light. I put one mug of balancer in his snack a ball. If the horses stay out at night then a bale hay is put in the field for them (3 horses, 2 shetties). I only feed when the temperature starts to drop, and he's out with either a lightweight turnout or naked. He gets a few carrots with his tea and sometimes a swede, which he loves!
 
Mine is a 15.2, 10 year old living out 24/7 ridden a couple of times a week. He is fed 'safe & sound' in the morning and that is really just to be able to check him over. I haven't started him on hay yet as I still have plenty of grass at the moment. Saying that he has had a few problems going barefoot and having had some good advice from Oberon I am looking into a change of diet for him which I will be introducing over the next few weeks.
 
Mine is 14.1 not in any work but that's all about to change when our new instructor gets here :).

He lives out on restricted grazing still and has a couple of slices of hay a day to share with his shettie mate. he is not too fat but doing fine.
 
Mine just gets fed mix and chaff ! She has got a bit of fat on her so could lose some of that but probably will over the winter. She also stays in at night with around 3 sections of hay
 
As much hay as he wants and living out atm, and he's ridden 5-6 times a day but is an exstreamly food doer so is in good condition on this :) Also gets the odd carrot and apple for being such a handsome boy ;)
 
My 18 year old Welsh D does plenty of work in the spring and summer, worked 5ish days a week, hacking, schooling, shows, jumping, pleasure rides etc. Less so in the winter, but we're ticking over with the odd lesson and some hacking.

She has 300g of Speedibeet, a cup of linseed, and Pro Balance +, plus her haylage. Looks good on it :)
 
15.2 welshie ridden 3-4 times a week including competing or a lesson once a fortnight. He's on ad lib haylage, 6-7 hours turnout daily (in a field that still has some grass in it) and 2 feeds of D&H pasture mix (about 1kg each time I think) with a scoop of Alfa-A.

He's looking very well, fit and streamlined at the 'mo, so we might well need to bump up the hard feed as the weather gets colder / the grass runs out.

My old horse (now pts) was a VERY good doer (small net of haylage inside 3 nets type), so this is a big change for me!
 
15.3 hh Sec. D, in light work, in at night and out during the day.

ad lib hay in stable plus 2 x feeds consisting of: 1 x level small scoop of grass nuts and 1 x small level scoop of plain chaff
 
15hh, fully clipped. Working most days of the week, occassional hunting, regular lessons and showjumping/showing/HT.

He is fed as much haylage as he wants, competition cubes, chaff and top spec balancer. He gets the cubes and chaff twice a day. I'm kind-of happy with his condition but wouldn't mind a little tinkering to his management. He isn't a good doer so perhaps a little different management than most welsh cobs.
 
Work Load - Ridden between 3 - 5 days a week some very long hacks at least 1 but mainly an hour hack with road work and canters plus schooling on the road - as no school :( - he is a poor doer and is out 24/7 he has ad lib hay/haylage
1 stubbs scoop alfa a original
1 scoop fibre beet
1/2 scoop baileys no4 Cond Cubes
Plenty carrots and apples
all of the above split into 2 feeds :D

he is doing well but has lost some weight off his chest and bottom area ... :( but much better than normal :D He has a low chaser clip as well just to try and keep some more weight on him so he doesn't lose it from sweating :D

Other welshie lives off fresh air but is in minimal work :D
 
Mine's had a bit of a diet overhaul (thanks Oberon) as I wanted to keep his barefeet barefoot...
He is worked anything between 4-6 times a week (at the moment more like 4) but not hard... Mix of hacking and schooling.
Was condition scored by feed co rep at 3 a couple of months ago and I don't think he's changed weight much since then.
Hay adlib, alfa a molasses free, micronised linseed, Pro Balance, bit of Spillers high fibre nuts. I also add a splodge of aloe vera.
 
Ridden 3-4 times per week,light work. Good doer, very laid back, he has 1 scoop Dengie healthy hooves and 1/2 scoop of mix to try and wake him up a bit!! Twice daily. His weight is about right and he's working nicely from this!
 
Mine just gets two feeds consisting of small amount of fast fibre with 1/4 scoop healthy hooves,small cup micronised linseed with added magnesium,and occasionally some high fibre cubes in a snack ball.Oh plus hay.That's all she needs as she put on too much weight at the end of summer.
 
Half a scoop of chaff, quarter scoop of nuts, with some apples and carrots thrown in twice daily. He has access to hay when out grazing, and a big fat haynet for the night. He's worked 3-5 times a week and he's doing absolutely fine. :D
 
Still muzzled by day, in at night with 6-7kg hay that has been soaked for 12hrs. Lo-cal balancer and Topchop Lite (double handful), she's returning to work atm folowing injury but hunts off this diet!
 
15.1hh mare ridden 4-5 days a week gets scoop of spillers cool fibre and 2 mugs spillers lite balancer split into 2 feeds. About 8kg of hay a night and 6 hours grazing on well grazed down
Paddock. Good amount of energy and lovely shiny coat.
 
Top