What do you all feed a good doer?

[Sambo]

I give my slightly overweight (421kg ish) 14.2 Welsh D the following:

AM: 1 scoop Happy Hoof plus the water off the top of the sugar beet (no more than 1/4 scoop)

PM: 1 scoop Happy Hoof plus the water off the top of the sugar beet (no more than 1/4 scoop)
PLUS a large haynet (around 10kg) of haylage

He is on fairly good grazing - and he always has so much energy. He is also stabled at night.

He is schooled 4 times a week for around 30-45 mins and hacked once a week...

 

[celia]

Our sec c mare has a small handful of happy hoof with a vit+mineral supplement in the evening. She's on average grazing and has as much hay as the other two will let her get to! She's had the winter off (as they all have!) with the snow + bad weather but normally she's worked 5 or 6 days each week.

 

[Shysmum]

Sounds about right to me - I feed Healthy Hooves and speedibeet.

 

[posie_honey]

nothing

(apart from something for vits and mins - my weapon of choice for that is D&H equibites - but it could be a field lick (low cal lol) powdered suppliment in a handful of chaff or fast fibre etc)

i only feed any horse if it needs additional calories after grazing/forage etc

i would also feed soaked hay rather than haylege to a good doer

ETA - the hose in my sig competes all summer on just grazing

 

[firstponyMinto]

half a scoop of low cal high fibre pony nuts plus ad-lib hay

 

[cobgirlie]

Big lad will get nothing this summer, he was on feed last summer because he was just being backed and started off his ridden life so I wanted him to get nutrients and supplements but this summer as he literally can live off a blade of grass when that's what he'll get. Little one needs feed as he has sugar intolerances so drops weight but if he didn't and was a good doer as BC is he'd be on nothing too. Can't beat Dr Green for giving a horse what it needs in my opinion, good grass is 2nd to none.

 

[Faro]

Three of my four are very good doers - and came out of the recent snowy spell looking positivaly fat, despite having lived out in it 24/7.

I don't feed them anything at all, except for hay in the winter (had to be haylage this year mind, as it was both more widely available and more cost effective than hay). They always have access to a salt/mineral lick in the paddick.

Two of the three are competing at endurance of distances up to 80km so far and, but even at the height of the endurance season, the only extra feed they have required is a scoop of Speedibeet during and/or after a ride - and they certainly haven't lacked either energy or condition on my almost non-existent feeding regime. I will continue to do the same this year as well, as it has certainly worked for me and mine.

 

[steph21]

Im the same as Posie_honey mine gets nothing and will go all summer and winter on nothing but grazing and hay, and still shes on the large side! (shes the one in my siggy)

 

[WelshRuby]

My 14.2 Newfie has 2 handfuls of Top Spec topchop lite, handful of dry Speedibeet (soaked) x2 daily and adlib min/vit lick tub,+ magnesium lick and is on a 4 acre field grazed by sheep.
The ShettiexWelsh A has a herbal treat stuffed through the hole in his muzzle(!) x2 daily He can just get the tip of his tongue through the hole to lick the licks!
They get this twice a day.
Their mummy is cruel!!!!

 

[Bug2007]

Depends on the breed of good doer really...

I have a very good doing 3yr old TB she is on. (Mug = Coffee Mug)

Mug of High Fibre Nuts
1/2 Mug of Baileys Lo-Cal
1/2 Mug of Baileys Out-Shine
Mug of Sugarbeet watery.
scoop of Seaweed.

Oh and carrots.

She is 16.1hh and lives out 24/7 on good grazing, she has a field lick.
She is on the nuts for a high fibre diet as she is a windsucker.
She is fed that twice a day and looks great on it, she is never going to be skinny but this diet gives her the vit's and min's to keep her looking healthy and the high oil Out-shine gives her the stamina.

 

[YorksG]

Our good doers get haylage and barley straw, a handful of graze on for addition of any supplements (pink powder, wheatgerm for feet and joint supplement if necessary) The veteran is having soaked grass nuts and a tugtrub of graze on, to keep her weight on. They are all looking good (some are looking a bit too good ) Can't see the point of feeding extra calories to a good doer, just adds to the weight.

 

[bryngelenponies]

I feed my section A a small scoop of hifi lite just to put her vits and minerals in- that's it. She gets 1 slice of a hay at night in the field because during the day she is tuned out in a field with quite good grazing.

 

[bitlessbill]

Mine gets a scoop of hi fi and a mug of balancer, with a couple of carrots twice a day. (If cold I give half hi fi, half speedibeet) 2 sections of hay when in 10-5, lives out at night on grass.

 

[Gorgeous George]

George is a 16.3 shire x who gets fat on thin air! He has 2 feeds a day, each feed is: 3/4 scoop hi-fi lite and 1 mug of lo-cal. He is turned out all day and then has 3 sections of hay for overnight. In the summer he will probably be muzzled all the time he is out unless the grass gets v.poor.

 

[fidleyspromise]

Twice a day I put 7-8 kg hay out. (14-16kg in total for 2 ponies). They don't always finish this!!
Both are healthy, happy and a good weight

 

[Charliepony]

Haylage really puts on condition!! Would avoid it for a native type pony...

I have two good doers, a young pony and an elderly horse (tb x wb, god knows how he does it, I'm sure he has a secret carrot stash). Pony gets 2 haynets soaked hay a night, no feed, horse gets crappy haylage ad lib if it's snowy/no grass. Neither of them need feeding, both are shiny and of a nice weight (horse is a bit round but can't be ridden so not much I can do) I see no point in wasting money on feed!!

 

[MrsMozart]

I give my slightly overweight (421kg ish) 14.2 Welsh D the following:

AM: 1 scoop Happy Hoof plus the water off the top of the sugar beet (no more than 1/4 scoop)

PM: 1 scoop Happy Hoof plus the water off the top of the sugar beet (no more than 1/4 scoop)
PLUS a large haynet (around 10kg) of haylage

He is on fairly good grazing - and he always has so much energy. He is also stabled at night.

He is schooled 4 times a week for around 30-45 mins and hacked once a week...

Out of interest, why any feed at all? You say he's overweight, but he's on good grazing and you're feeding him and giving him haylage?

Our good doers get a small handful of Happy Hoof purely to get the vits in. The grazing is currently sparse, but they aren't running up screaming to be fed and aren't that interested in the hay that we put out, prefering to mooch about the grazing.

Ours get worked most days, anything up to half an hour basic schooling or lunging or playing in the school. They won't get proper feed until they are doing much more.

 

[Hippona]

The hairy natives get ad-lib hay in stable and field.....plus a scrape of Hoofkind once a day so they can have their vits/mins supplement (365 Complete).

They don't need anything else......

 

[christi]

Ad Lib hay only .. 1/2 a handful of high fibre cubes in her ball out in the field in the morning. she only needs to look at food and she puts weight on .... cant wait till march and i can get her grazing muzzle back on .

 

[PucciNPoni]

I'm waiting for a customised feeding regime from D&H (they have blood results, photos, measurements etc as I was concerned he might have EMS, turns out he's just a very very goo doer).

Currently though, my 15.1 pb arab (weighs about 500kg) gets

3/4 scoop Dengie good doer
1/2 small scoop speedy beet (very watery)
3/4 mug Bailey's lo cal balancer
1/2 small scoop oats

a few wee supplements (MSM, Seaweed, Garlic & Mint)
The above he gets twice a day

Then at night in his small holed doubled hay net, a single slice of oat straw, a single slice of hay

Grazing at the moment is pretty average I'd say, but it tends to be good grazing. He gets muzzled (probably start in March, kept him muzzled til October last year).

Worked 4-5 times a week: lunged 45 min, ridden 45-60 minutes or hacked up to 90 minutes

 

[Heucherella]

My clydie x had just equibites in the summer for vits and mins, and hay at night. When the grass stopped growing he got a bit grumpy, so has had 2 scoops Good Doer morning and night all winter, to keep his belly full. He is looking very good on it, and as the spring arrives I will wean him off it, and back onto just grass, nighttime hay, and equibites. We hack for 2 fast hours twice at the weekend, and school 3 times a week for 45 mins, with one session jumping.

 

[thistledonicely]

Mine gets a handful of Good Doer and ad-lib straw in the field over winter. She's out 24/7 unrugged and is happy as a lamb.

 

[galaxy]

My 15.3hh ISH weightapes 585kgs and I want her a little slimmer, but due to a few issues her work isn't quite as hard as I'd like at the moment....

She gets

1 double netted 8/9kg net of haylage per night, which is one large stuffed net (she's on haylage as we buy huge bales to share at the yard because the cost of hay is obscene in our area. But thankfully our hayledge is quite dry and not very rich)

1 scoop of Hi fi non molassed twice a day


If you work on the principle that a horse should get 2.5% of their body weight a day, She should get about 14.6 kgs (and as I say she is a bit more well than I'd like her) She is out during the day and there is grass in her field.

I have always fed hay ad lib, this is the 1st horse I haven't, but she would just eat everything that is put in front of her....

 

[Sambo]

Out of interest, why any feed at all? You say he's overweight, but he's on good grazing and you're feeding him and giving him haylage?

Our good doers get a small handful of Happy Hoof purely to get the vits in. The grazing is currently sparse, but they aren't running up screaming to be fed and aren't that interested in the hay that we put out, prefering to mooch about the grazing.

Ours get worked most days, anything up to half an hour basic schooling or lunging or playing in the school. They won't get proper feed until they are doing much more.

He always seems hungry!!! He eats his feed so quickly you wouldn't believe and his hay too (I have it double netted with small holes) - so just never thought anything of it!

I am thinking it needs reducing as he is so hyper all the time.... he looks like a mini fresian stallion - with the same head carriage...

I wish they could talk!!!

I have to feed haylage as haylage for 400kg bale is £30 and for a large rectangle bale of hay is costing £45!!! So its too much! They haylage isn't amazing quality though, it is really dry and not very sugary or sweet smelling at all!

I might get Spillers out to do a weighing and give advice maybe....

I forgot to add he also gets 1/2 scoop once a day of fibre plus nuggets in a treat ball... he never has any food left in the morning so I try to slow his eating down as much as possible! I could put the whole bale in there and I think it'd all be gone by morning!!!!!

 

[MochaDun]

We have no decent winter grazing and they are out for a limited amount of hours as they start to gather at the gate and mess about so my 14.2 native cob x who is already needing to lose some kgs ahead of Spring is getting a 6kg net of haylage overnight, am starting to reduce this down and make up the amount with Top Chop Lite though he's taking a bit of persuading...it's just to try and reduce some calories and to mix in his supplement with, 2 carrots in there as well. I'm doing this on the 2% of bodyweight calcuation thing but so hard to know what he's getting out in the field (very little if anything I think). Am trying to crank up riding also so we're ready and slimmer/lighter for when the grass starts coming through.

 

[AFlapjack]

My boy is currently fed:

AM - 1 scoop of Dengie Hi Fi Original and 1 mug (coffee mug) of Horse & Pony cubes

PM - 2 scoops of Dengie Hi Fi Original, 1 mug of Horse & Pony cubes, Pink Powder and Superflex.

He is stabled 24/7 at the moment so when he starts getting turned out again the feed will drop.

He also gets on average 2 slices of hay during the day and another 2 slices during the night as well as small pile of haylage.

As he gets no or very little grass (can be hand grazed) I try and keep the amount of forage he's getting high and varied.

 

[galaxy]

He always seems hungry!!! He eats his feed so quickly you wouldn't believe and his hay too (I have it double netted with small holes) - so just never thought anything of it!

I am thinking it needs reducing as he is so hyper all the time.... he looks like a mini fresian stallion - with the same head carriage...

I wish they could talk!!!

I have to feed haylage as haylage for 400kg bale is £30 and for a large rectangle bale of hay is costing £45!!! So its too much! They haylage isn't amazing quality though, it is really dry and not very sugary or sweet smelling at all!

I might get Spillers out to do a weighing and give advice maybe....

I forgot to add he also gets 1/2 scoop once a day of fibre plus nuggets in a treat ball... he never has any food left in the morning so I try to slow his eating down as much as possible! I could put the whole bale in there and I think it'd all be gone by morning!!!!!

I think you are feeding too much.... I know it's hard knowing they are stood there not eating.... not overfeeding and being overweight is a big problem too.

He's 14hh, and weightapes 412kgs? So 2.5% of his bodyweight is 10.3 kgs.... You're feeding that in hay just overnight! Then he's out at grass during the day? And he's getting chaff, speedibeet and fibre nuts.....

 

[MrsMozart]

Definitely over-feeding, unless there is some underlying issue we don't know about.

Soak the haylage, that will get rid of some of the calories.

Cut the feed down to a handful to get the vits in.

 

[Sambo]

He's 14.2 and averaged 421 on weight tape - but does vary....

Ok... so shall I just reduce it all rather than cut any out do we think? I will keep his fibre plus as they are cause i like the treat ball idea and slow him down...

Maybe just do half scoops of HH twice daily rather than once to start with?

Grazing is OK... Ive attached a pic of him in the field and also one without rug on so you get an idea...

These were all taken the same day - he started with blanket clip in the morning, went out to graze and then gave full clip when he came in... all taken last weekend.

 

[galaxy]

Have you got any weigh scales? Weigh his nuts and chaff and work out exactly how much you are giving him

I would cut his hayledge too.... Lets say you give him 1.5% (which I still think is generous as he certainly has grass in his field!), that is 6kgs of hayledge.

It's 2.5% of his bodyweight that he needs a day, but that includes what he is eating in the field, so you have to guess that part