What would you be feeding her?

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DellaMoon

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3 yr old (4 in Feb), 15.2/3 mare, out of work at the moment but will be restarted and mostly hacked once the weather allows. She bloats on grass but not an issue as I mostly have frozen mud now! Susceptible to hay belly but can just see and fairly easily feel ribs. Has had problems with faecal water and loose poo in the past but fine at the moment.

What would you be feeding her? How much hay and what feed? Just interested to see how others would feed her to see if I'm doing the right thing! Thank you!
 
If she is out of work at the moment, I presume she is unclipped. Therefore if you can just see her ribs through her winter coat she is probably a little underweight, so I would be giving her as much hay as she can eat to ensure she doesnt lose further weight through the winter. If the hay was of poor quality I would be giving her a balancer as well (which may also help with the loose poo problem), as it sounds like you have no grazing. If ad lib hay is not enough for her then I would be feeding additional fibre-based bucket feeds until she is the correct weight. (Things like alfalfa, beet and grass-based products - obviously dependent on what things tend to make her droppings loose).
 
Thank you TGM. I can't work out her weight, every day she looks different! The hay belly is very misleading but think I'm going to ignore it and feed according to her ribs!

And yes she is unclipped at the moment.She will be clipped when I start working her again. Then I'll have a better idea what's going on under the fluff. She's rugged in a medium weight full neck turnout in the day and lightweight full neck stable rug at night and is warm enough.
 
Never use the belly as an indication of condition! It can fluctuate on an hourly basis depending on how full of fibre it is. As you say, you need to check the ribs (ideally you want to be able to feel them easily but not see them) and the neck and bottom.

Check out the condition score guide on the BHS website:

https://www.bhs.org.uk/Horse_Care/Horse_Care_Advice/Publications/Download.aspx
 
Thanks again.

We seem to be on the same wave length. I was monitoring her hay but since the ribs appeared a bit more she's on ad lib at night and has three nets in the field during the day. She's hard to ad lib out as she just tends to keep eating till it's all gone! Feed wise she's just on a handful of molasses free hifi twice a day with a scoop of mint and pink powder. Not sure whether to increase her bucket feed. Think I'll give her a couple of weeks on the upped hay and see what happens.
 
If she is eating all the hay you put out, give her more. You will know she has enough when some is left behind. In the present weather conditions she will be losing weight keeping herself warm. You are doing the right thing upping her hay, make sure she has enough all the time with no grass about. It is also more cost effective than upping a bucket feed alone.
As a young horse she will still be growing too.
 
In these conditions I'd be giving her ad lib hay and a decent balancer to make sure she is getting all she needs to help to support her growth. Also is she up to date with her worming?
 
She is up to date with worming and so far as I know has always been on a regular programme (had her since Feb). Was thinking of sugar beet or fast fibre to up her bucket feed. She gets probably about 6kg of hay in the field, honestly she's not one for stopping eating when she's full!!!
 
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