What exactly does everyone feed their horse?

N

NeedNewHorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 July 2009
Messages
1,248
Visit site
Hi,

Just wondering what everyone feeds their horse and why???

And did you have them on something which didn't work before and have now reached a happy conclusion to what is best to feed??

(and amount of time at grass and quality)

x
 
I always start on the basis of lots of forage - good grazing or plenty of good quality hay or haylage - ad lib for those that aren't good doers. If they maintain their condition well and have the correct energy for work (which is the case with the ponies), then they just get a token handful of high fibre cubes on top of that. New horse is quite laid back, so he gets a bit more hard feed in the form of Staypower cubes and Speedibeet. Old mare is on the same, but in greater quantities as she tends to lose condition easily.
 
In my feedroom I have:
Just Grass
Hi-Fi lite
Pegasus Cubes
Oats
Kwikbeet
range of supplements

Every horse/pony is fed a combination of any of these, I play it be ear (or eye, I suppose)
Depending on general waistline they are either on dirt paddocks with access to hay or in first year lay Italian Ryegrass paddocks with decent covering. They spend roughly 18 hours a day out.

I've been through all sorts and now I'm happy that with the content of my feed room I can provide a balanced diet for any horse/pony barring some specialist requirements (I will cross that bridge if/when I get there)
 
Most of mine are good doers and are on D+H high fibre nuts and hifi lite, they get a bit of speedibeet in winter too. My old girl is 26, I wouldn't say she is a very poor doer but she does struggle to keep the weight on compared to the others. She has Alfa A oil instead of hifi lite and she has speedibeet all year round. She also gets an exta feed, the others get fed at night, she gets morning and night. That keeps her weight on a par with the others. My grass is not great but I have got decent quality hay. They are out from about 8am-7pm in summer and 9am til it gets dark in winter.
 
Will be interested in this post and replies, but anyway...

Both out on good grazing all year 24/7 they are on about 3.5 acres.

In winter they often come in at night if bad weather and as gelding gets older needs bit more tlc, if just out in day they are out about 12 hours and if frosty get haylage, also get haylage if staying out at night. Get adlib haylage when stabled over night.

Gelding winter gets half scoop of topline cubes some chaff and this winter will give half scoop of 16+ mix. Summer - get handful of mix to keep him happy

Mare - winter gets half scoop of low cal balancer and some chaff, summer gets handful of low cal to keep happy

They are both pretty good doers in medium work, altho harder to keep toplin eon gelding due to build and age.
 
Erm...200 acres of grass, rough grassland.

Silage if it snows.

A feed lick as supplement if they are foaling or are in foal.

A salt lick occasionally!

No one is thin!

IMG_0327.jpg


5B4W6672-21.jpg
 
i feed good forage (grass and/or hay depending on time of year) then add if they need more

at the mo my mare (who lives out 24/7) is on (same am and pm):

half a scoop of chaff to hold pollenx for headshaking and joint supp
1/4 scoop of allen and page power and performance for a little more stamina than our grazing alone can give her
an apple
a carrot
salt and oil (lol that's like salt and pepper thehehe :o sorry :o looong day in office aleady!)

ETA - last winter she had same as above but 1/2 scoop P&P and 1/2 scoop conditioning cubes twice a day - shes comp fit all year round - and lived out fully clipped in -16 and a foot of snow!!!
 
Spillers high fibre cubes and Dengie Alfa A lite, my horse had lami a few years back so have to watch his waistline.

I increas/decrease as required depending on grazing, he wears a muzzle when out which is during the day

He also has speedi beet in the winter and is fed soaked hay when in

Supplements

Formula for Feet
Garlic and parsley oil
NAF 5* respirator
NAF superflex

1 Danilon per day, he is 31 and has arthritis
 
Indie 14hh grey connie x mare. T/O 24/7

Grass: bare sand paddock as scorched by sun

Hay: big round bales in field for 3 ponies

Currently fed: 1 scoop hifi, 1/2 scoop d&h pasture cubes

Supplements: d&h daily vits and mins

In summer she's overweight, in winter she drops weight fast, tried calm and condition and baileys outshine but nothing worked so put her on plain old hifi and baileys conditioning mix and that worked wonders!
 
[This is only in the winter - in the summer he is on Dr Green!]

Mine has ad lib hay, one scoop of Pony Nuts, half a scoop of Top-Line Cubes, one (tiny) scoop of Kossalian Blood Salts and a dribble of oil.

He has ad lib hay to keep his weight on, pony nuts bulks the feed out, the top line cubes also help him to keep weight on and build his muscles up a treat, the blood salts stop him becoming stale and means i feel happier that he's getting all of his needs and the oil keeps him shiny!

Tried him on a light pasture mix and it sent him loopy. Pony nuts and cubes are all I can keep him on!!

He is an 18 y/o TB x ID, still in full work, schooled for an hour a day 5 days a week, jumped once a week and hacked once a week, and is also kept in over night.
 
Summer feed -
Youngster - handful of hifi lite and garlic
Shetland - tiny token of hifi lite and garlic
Mare - 1 scoop of hifi lite, 500ml of dengie balancer and 1/2 scoop of fast fiber. Alongside garlic, redcell, megatrex, cortavet

In the winter the same plus fiberbeet and hay in fields. At mo they live out 24/7 first year mare has ever lived out and seems to be coping well.
 
Not much!
They are both native x tb and are good doers. Both out 24/7 atm, one on a fatty paddock (can't be muzzled due to a sarcoid on her head which is currently being treated), the other muzzled as needed (not much in her field, but if we get a grass growth spurt then she has it on. She isn't in a fatty paddock as she does better being able to have a good wander around). They each get a token tea. The fatty paddock one gets a scoop of no molasses chaff with a scoop of pink powder, the muzzle one gets a scoop of fast fibre with joint supp, magnesium (recommended by back lady) and scoop pink powder. They each get pink powder as they are not fed the recommended levels of food as they just don't need the calories! They have different foods as after trying a few things, they really gobble these up (the can be a bit picky!), they aren't heating at all and they are v low cal and no added sugars.
 
Grass (the limited amount there is :rolleyes:)
Hay (to suppliment grazing, although I wouldn't normally at this time of year)
D&H Safe and Sound
Codlivine "Mobility" vits & mins supplement
NAF biotin supplement

I like the Safe and Sound because it is alfalfa based forage with lots of extra bits and bobs in it, however because I don't feed the recommended amount I top up with the Codlivine and recently added the Biotin on the recommendation of the farrier. Simples. :D
 
Frances - they're GORGEOUS !!

The boy is barefoot and growing quite rapidly, so I supplement his (limited during day) grass with Dengie Healthy Hooves. His feet are fab, his weight is fine, and he's really growing into himself. He also has a Dengie Garlic Litelick in the starvation paddock during the day - gets so excited about that, he kicks it around trying to get more out. But it last ages. sm x
 
my 9 year old tb has 3kg of enduro 100 and 2kg of barley with 1.5kg of alfa a a day split into two feeds and the youngster has 1.5kg of alfa a with 2kg of build up cubes . The youngster has been having ener-g since he arrived but has now finished that and the older one get a 5 day course of calmer over any bigger comps we do as even though he is rather slug like at home he canshow his tb side when we are out and about. Both out 24/7 on okish grazing and look pretty good at the mo - would maybe like a little bit more on the baby but he is only 3 months out of racing so it will take time.
 
Pickle is currently on 1/2 scoop Hi-Fi, 1/4 scoop mix and an iron supplement for his anemia. He doesn't have haylage at the moment, as he is fat as it is and they have grass.

In winter he is generally in at night, with 12/14lbs on haylage. He also gets about the same feed, but we tend to play it by ear and adapt it if we feel necessary.
 
Ad lib hay
Grass
Token 2 x feeds of mollasses-free chaff and a handful of pony nuts so he doesn't break the door down when all the other horses get fed!

Drastically simplified his diet over the past 6 months - was a grumpy, hot headed chap and the change has made a world of difference.

Was also concerned about ulcers.
 
I feed horsehage, 1 slice in the stable during the day, out at night

In a feed I give, 1/2pint of topspec balancer
1 scoop of mollichaff showshine
a bit of garlic

in the winter im hoping that all I will need to add is some sugar beet and maybe abit more of the topspec.

I have a 16.3 7yrs tb so we just see how he goes, but this winter he will be on really good grazing so hopefully he will look good.
If we can get good hay they will be on that and not horsehage, but ran out atm
 
Reasonable-ish grazing, 24/7 over summer, 12 hours a day in winter, supplemented with hay as needed.

Handful of Healthy Hooves (which I won at Badminton :D) and 50g Equivite GP supplement.

She's a good doer, in light-medium work.

Really interesting to read what everyone else feeds :)
 
Mine are in very light work so its nothing exciting. They are turned out 24/7 Una my young friesian gets a generous amount (half a large scoop) of sugar beet pellets and a large scoop of rolled barley, as well as some garlic, salt and olive oil - once daily. Charlie has a tiny bit of sugar beet just so he feels he's getting something but he doesnt need it. They are getting a small amount of hay at the moment as im short of grass, but normally they wouldnt have any as the grass is generally very good and rich this time of year!

Through the winter they get as much hay as they need. Una is quite a poor do-er and needs a lot of good quality grass to keep the weight on so i tend to increase her food to the same amount as above, but 3 times a day, through the winter when they grass is not available and again, as much hay as she needs. But it is a struggle with her in the winter to get enough food into her!!
 
Twizzy is living out 24/7 &gets.
2 slabs of hay in the field
- 1 scoop of A&P Ride and Relax, Soaked as directed ;)
- 3 15ml of Garlic Grans , kept on a dairy farm, have to get rid of the flies some how.
- 2 30ml of Outshine by Baileys.
- some codliver oil supplement.
- 2 good handfulls of Dengie Alfa-A.

good handful of carrots chopped up and apples if i have them. Some horse treats if shes lucky.

She is very spoilt...........................

In the winter she gets half of this and as much hay as she can eat, even though she would rather eat the straw. and she will be out in the day and in at night.
 
I try to keep it simple as im sure one day when he gets older ill be getting the supplements out :)
He is on Alfa A applechaf with conditioning cubes, garlic and oil.
Apples and carrots if i have them.
Hay too.
 
Mine all get a mug Equlibra 500 and a handfull of hi fi senior out 24/7 in the winter in at night with haylage and sugarbeet.
 
Grass (though there isn't much atm) for half the day (out during the day in winter, night in summer). Ad lib haylage (farmers own) when he's in. If he puts on weight I just slow him down by putting it in small holed haynets.
Coolstance Copra and Alfalfa pellets - currently a scoop of each per day split over 2 feeds. But I tweak the quantities depending on how he is looking.
Micronised linseed.
Supplements
Brewers yeast, seaweed and magox and Maxaflex fed at a loading dose.
Plus a salt lick in his stable.

I am just waiting on the results of a forage mineral analysis to see if anything jumps out as being lacking in which case I will add what's needed.
 
09072010081.jpg


George is out for about 21 out of 24 hrs on reasonable grazing through the summer. He has one feed a day of 1/2 scoop of Fibregy, 550g Top spec Comp Balancer and a scoop of speedy beet. He also gets a small hay net with his feed for while he waits for me to arrive to either ride, lunge or turn him back out. He also gets garlic and extraflex joint sup.

This past winter he was on 1 scoop Fibregy, 3/4 scoop High Fibre nuts, Scoop of speedy beet and his supps twice a day as well as 7-8 hours turn out with Ad lib hay when stabled.
In the worst of the winter he also had a handful or two of conditioning cubes if he needed them but this was included in the 3/4 scoop of nuts so his feed was still about the same size.
I think he looks pretty good on it!
 
When I got my horse he was on hi-fi and pony nuts. Shortly after when he was in v little work I cut out the nuts completely.

Back into work again, he went on hi-fi and spillers high fibre cubes.

He seemed to lack some sparkle on this, so changed over to baileys lo-cal and hi-fi.

I'm really pleased with the lo-cal, he looks great and is now doing loads of fitness work, local shows, pleasure rides, lessons and xc schooling. Now I just get feed shop own-brand chaff instead of the hi-fi.

I always feed oil and salt.

He is out 24/7 on bare grazing, and gets a few sections of hay am and pm.

(He is a very good doer.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top