What Are People Feeding Their Natives This Winter?

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Cheshire Chestnut

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Starting to buy feed in now... What are people feeding their natives this year?

I have a (always) hungry Welsh D who is a really good do-er. Living in at night and in moderate work. Reacts massively to sugar so I thought I'd put him on Bailey's Lo Cal Balancer this year and see how he goes.
 
I found the Baileys Lo-Cal balancer made a couple of our Dales ponies a bit lively! Looking to try Honeychop Oat straw or Saracen Slim chaff with Linseed and Brewers Yeast this winter
 
tda said:
I found the Baileys Lo-Cal balancer made a couple of our Dales ponies a bit lively! Looking to try Honeychop Oat straw or Saracen Slim chaff with Linseed and Brewers Yeast this winter
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Oh no!! :eek:
It's a minefield. I fed him Happy Hoof last year because he wasn't doing much and it was more of a token feed than a meal, however he needs a bit more this year so think I'm going to have to experiment!
 
All ours will be on hay, with dried grass chaff and soaked grassnuts, if they start to drop too much weight. Various 'straight' supplements, such as turmeric, as required by the individuals. Ours aren't actually natives but are all good doers (possibly bar one).
 
Mine are getting straw at night. I've still got decent grass. When that's gone, they will get a small amount of haylage during the day, mostly to stop the Daemonic one from trying to escape.

That said, I do have a couple of bags of FF in the dining room which I bought for my old lad, and they will get that when it's colder because something may as well eat it :(
 
2 of mine are getting a tablespoon full of fast fibre to add equimins advance complete and mixed herbs. ( exmoor and highland)
2 others in work get half a scoop of safe and sound with equimins advance complete and linseed. ( cob x tb and a welsh x Arab)
Hoping to keep them on this all winter as they all have weight to loose
 
My New forest is on Blue Chip Lami lite and grass.

He lives out and we have a lot of grass and the fields are rotated so when he moves on to rested grazing he has to be muzzled until it has been eaten down.

If we get snow and when there is less grass he gets hay in the field and I swop him onto Blue Chip Original Native balancer.

He is very good doer.
 
I must be doing something wrong! I am in the Scottish Highlands, all mine winter out with no rugs, and hay is rationed or they put on weight! As above, all they get is good hay and a salt block, and that includes in foal mares! Of course, none are in work, so maybe that's the difference? One year, due to an infertile stallion, I had foals born in mid winter. Again, they were outside but did have molassed feed buckets. The foals were like little fur balls and with a hot milk bar on demand could not have cared less about the snow and ice.
 
Thistles and brambles. Well, officially grass and haylage, but you can bet that they will still be after the contents of the hedgerow!
 
Yep, grass and hay and whatever they find in the hedges. We have one that stands and picks individual blackberries this time of year.
 
Has anyone used Rowen Barbary Calm & Easy before?
Got some as a sample at Cheshire Show and it smells devine! Doesn't appear to have sugar in it (no molasses) but is high fibre. It's more like a course mix, compared to the pellets of Bailey's Low Cal.

Any opinions on it would be fab :)
 
Mine will be on a sparseish paddock for 7 hours a day and in with 12 hour soaked hay (8kg) for the rest of the time. She'll get a mug of fast fibre with yea sacc, mint and Riaflex (joint supp) and has a salt and mineral lick in her stable.
 
Ad lib hay, a handful of fastfibre, a big handful of straw based non mollased chaff, pro balance, plus linseed, salt and then various other bits for my sweet itchy/barefoot navicular horse. They dont need extra calories in the form of hard feed generally but if they do I'll add some soaked oats, but thats unlikely given the level of work they do and how efficient they are at turning food into fat :lol:
 
lazybee said:
Yep, grass and hay and whatever they find in the hedges. We have one that stands and picks individual blackberries this time of year.
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Our dogs pick the blackberries too!

I would love to leave ours out all winter, but the land is too wet. I just thought the straw chaff would bulk out and then wouldn't have to feed so much hay.
 
Connemara gets dengie molasses free chop. At the moment he has a big half scoop of it morning and night with salt and limestone powder. When we starts to drop weight I will add a bit of midlings/thirds accordingly.
 
Mine (connie type) is getting a handful (when dry) of Speedibeet with micronised linseed, Pro Hoof and salt. If he needs more condition in the winter I will reassess. He is an average doer, out 24/7 on reasonable grass. From the end of Oct he'll be stabled overnight and out for about 4 hours during the day, plus work. So he will get adlib hay when in.
 
Grass & limited soaked hay as they're both fatties. When the grass stops growing they will go onto baileys low-cal or fast fibre with a vitamin and mineral supplement.
 
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