zoeshiloh
Well-Known Member
I was having this discussion with a friend last week, as she was amazed that I throw bread out for my horses - she had never realised that horses eat bread! What with the financial climate at the moment, I wondered whether anyone else had any tips for cutting down on hard feed/hay needed.
I had one horse that used to get a can of Guiness every night in his feed - he was lacking a lot of condition when we bought him and my vet advised a can of Guiness. I had never thought about it before, but apparently it is very common in showing and racing yards. It worked an absolute treat. When my dad said it must cost a fortune, I pointed out that a 32 pack was about £18 from the supermarket, and would last a month - about the same, if not less, than any supplement on the market,
I also feed my horses loaves of bread in the winter (and summer if a loaf goes stale). I squish it in their haynets in the winter, as a little extra food. For 40p a loaf, it is a really cost effective dose of bran.
My favourite little extra, and one that a lot of people cannot try because of where it is grown, is whole sugarbeet. My OH is a farmer, and I get as much as of the stuff as I want for free in the winter. I give each of my horses a bucket full every night, and they love the stuff! It looks just like a swede, and it means that I can cut down a bit on the amount of haylage I am feeding. If your OH isn't a farmer, then there is no reason why you can't approach the local farm and ask if he will sell you some - I think last year the going price was about £20 per tonne!! Of course, it is really only grown in East Anglia, so a bit of a geography problem for the majority.
I had one horse that used to get a can of Guiness every night in his feed - he was lacking a lot of condition when we bought him and my vet advised a can of Guiness. I had never thought about it before, but apparently it is very common in showing and racing yards. It worked an absolute treat. When my dad said it must cost a fortune, I pointed out that a 32 pack was about £18 from the supermarket, and would last a month - about the same, if not less, than any supplement on the market,
I also feed my horses loaves of bread in the winter (and summer if a loaf goes stale). I squish it in their haynets in the winter, as a little extra food. For 40p a loaf, it is a really cost effective dose of bran.
My favourite little extra, and one that a lot of people cannot try because of where it is grown, is whole sugarbeet. My OH is a farmer, and I get as much as of the stuff as I want for free in the winter. I give each of my horses a bucket full every night, and they love the stuff! It looks just like a swede, and it means that I can cut down a bit on the amount of haylage I am feeding. If your OH isn't a farmer, then there is no reason why you can't approach the local farm and ask if he will sell you some - I think last year the going price was about £20 per tonne!! Of course, it is really only grown in East Anglia, so a bit of a geography problem for the majority.
