What to feed a horse - Numpties guide required

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djlynwood

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I have had my first horse for just over a year now. In that time we have been on livery so just have what the livery give her.

Its a handful of conditioning cube, a handful of Hi-hi lite. I supply the suppliments which are Benevit Advance broad spectrum mins and vits and linseed oil.

My horse is a 7yr old ISH in light work. She is ridden everyday for about an hour, 2 days hacking and 5 days in the school. School work consists of 2 jump sessions and 3 flatwork. She is quite fit, can be lively and opionionated but nothing bad.

I will be going from full livery where they were only out for 3 hrs per day, even in summer hence reason I want to change! We will now be on DIY and she will be out 24/7 until the end of October. Her work will not change.

Now I can choose what I want to feed, I dont know where to start.

I dont think I need the conditioning cubes as she has really muscled up (she was skin and bones when I first got her) Im thinking of just feeding a balancer over the summer but not sure what to feed over the winter.

What are the basic rules for feeding, there is so much information out there Im blinded and confused!
 
you'd be best off going to all the suppliers and give them the info and getting their suggestions really!

try dodson and horrell, allen and page, spillers etc, they all have sections on their website for asking for this advice and see what they come back with! allen and page are good, they tend to send out samples as well, so you can see if your horse likes their feed!
 
I'd stick to a fibre based diet, far better for your horse and easier for you! If she's only been getting a handful of feed anyway I doubt it would have made much difference. Your horse will also be benefitting from the extra grazing.

I'd stick with something like Hi Fi Lite chaff/fast fibre with Speedibeet if needed over winter and you can always add in calories with oil or linseed if you need them.

I hope you enjoy your DIY, it sounds as if your horse will be happier anyway. :)
 
Feed fibre first, then add hard feed if necessary.

With increased turnout you may find horse gets fatter and a balancer may not be appropriate. There are less calories in a powdered vitamin & mineral supplement fed with a handful of chaff. In winter I'd go with a balancer in chaff. The condition cubes won't be doing much if its literally just a handful. It's easier to use balancer and chaff than a handful of cubes with chaff and powder supplement, its one more thing to store.

There's not only one right way to feed, there's several ways that may suit your horse. It comes down to what's available in your area, price and personal preferance.

In general, fibre and oil are better for a horse than sugar and starch. Molasses are sugar and mixes contain more starch than the equivalent energy level cube. The other thing is not to overload the horses stomach, which is about the size of a rugby ball, so split the ration into two or three feeds a day if necessary.
 
Thank you for your replies.

Will I not need to feed anything then if she is out 24/7?

Also, can thay have too much fibre?
 
It isn't possible to have too much fibre! Also if your horse is a good doer then chances are she won't need any feed over the summer, also depending on how good a doer she is then chances are she'll be ok on just (good quality!) hay/haylage over the winter :)
 
You may not need any hard feed for a horse out 24/7, it depends on the horse and how well they hold their weight. Some owners struggle to keep the weight off them. All they'd need in that case is vitamins & minerals, though there are some people who believe that's a waste of money.

There's no such thing as too much fibre, unless fibre is all the horse gets and its still overweight. Grass, hay and haylage is fibre and should form the main part of the diet. A bucket feed can be as large as you like if its all fibre, eg feeding four scoops of mix at once is bad but feeding a whole bucket of unmolassed chaff is fine.
 
If she's a good doer out 24/7 I wouldn't feed anything except for a tiny handful of hifi with a vit&min supplement if you don't know what's in the grazing. Then after a few weeks reassess & see how she's managing weight & work wise & then decide what's required. I wouldn't ask a feed company though, they always recommend at least 3x as much as necessary.
 
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