What to feed horse stabled 24/7

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live2ride

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Due to the yard I'm at deciding the horses need to be in 24/7 for this month to allow ground to recover I am now trying to think of ways to keep a constant supply of forage to my mare without the weight gain

She is getting about 20lbs haylage during night, and little less during day
This is the only amount that will ensure she isn't standing in with no food, and as I alread suspect ulcers am keen for that not to happen

The question is I want to decrease the amount of haylage during day but maybe replace it with another very low calorie forage replacer

The question is what can I give in a bucket for her to munch through, which will not cause weight gain

There is no option to change to hay as yard provides all hay/haylage and due to last summer poor yield there is not enough hay for all to have :/ so she is stuck with haylage... I'm trying to exercise once/twice a day to keep weight off

So any suggestions?
 
No you have to get all hay/haylage/straw from them, so unfortunately can't

May ask if there is enough left to change her to hay in at least the day :/

But any other forage replacers I could give that have basically no nutritional values?
 
I really don't know how you cope with such rules, it seems so unfair. Surely if you own the animal you should be able to feed it whatever you like. What would happen if the yard produced crap forage, would you still have to feed it ?

A horse confined to it's box really does not need haylage unless it is doing plenty of work every day. Bagged forage will cost a fortune assuming it can be sourced. Maybe have a look at bagged forage suitable for lami sufferers ?
 
Have a look at Halleys feeds website - they sell eg chopped oat straw but its in a sack like chaff so wouldnt contradict the yard policy re hay/haylage.They deliver anything from 2 sacks at a time. Plus theres other options available in their range.

Personally I think that the rule is ok to buy it from the yard provided it is edible, BUT not if haylage is the only forage available and that wasnt the case when you signed the agreement, it isnt suitable for all horses and you should have the choice always to feed hay. Especially when you are being kept off the grazing.
 
You can mix straw into the haylage, provided it isn't rotten. It has 0 nutricional value, and is much cheaper then haylage or bagged forage.
 
SCMSL said:
You can mix straw into the haylage, provided it isn't rotten. It has 0 nutricional value, and is much cheaper then haylage or bagged forage.
Click to expand...

OP, if you do this please introduce it very very slowly. Straw will bung up a horse big time, especially one stood still for days.
 
Halleys make great Timothy hay bloks which I use for any horse in for any reason some haylage some oat straw chop a hay blok keeps things interesting for them.
 
My horse is stabled a yard where they get turn out in the manages only in winter for 20 mins or so a day. Most of the horses get 3 nets per day (am, lunch and pm) and a few including mine are on ad-lib. Most use haylage but I can't feed it as my horse would go crazy so he is on soaked hay given as much as he can eat. I would definitely push the issue of being able to source your own hay as if they are putting you under such tight constraints they need to be a bit more flexible. I would also divide your feeds up into as many feeds per day as the yard are willing to give him - adds more to the trickle effect. A lot of the horses on our yard also have the horse balls that trickle feed out to keep them occupied - would recommend borrowing one before you invest as not all horses will play with them. Hope this helps!
 
Honey Chop also do a plain straw chaff, my horse wasn't keen on it as is, but would eat it mixed with a bit of HiFi lite, so still a fairly lo cal option.
 
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