Winter feeding when stables over night

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Horsekaren

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That time is approaching when overnight turn out stops and my horse will be stabled from 1730 - 0730.
How many sections of hay do you give your horse through the night, I have a 15.3 cob who is an ok doer, when I got him he was having 4 sections but wasn't gaining weight so upped it to 6 -7. He is now at a good weight. I have been advised anything from 2 to unlimited :/ for hard feed he has half a scoop of fast fibre in the evening only.

To start he will have lots of grazing in the day but this will dry up in a month or so... and he will be muzzled as it is long sugar full grass that he can only eat so much of.

What do you feed your horses over winter?
 
I like them to have enough so there is a little left in the morning unless they are on a serious diet, as yours is in a muzzle during the day then it makes sense to allow plenty of fibre overnight, if you want to restrict it a bit then soak for a while to reduce the sugars and start with the 4 he was on previously and adjust as the weather gets colder/ grass goes to ensure he has enough, mine usually need more mid winter and into the spring that they do when the first come in and I will always increase the hay rather than the feed to compensate for less grass.
 
be positive said:
I like them to have enough so there is a little left in the morning unless they are on a serious diet, as yours is in a muzzle during the day then it makes sense to allow plenty of fibre overnight, if you want to restrict it a bit then soak for a while to reduce the sugars and start with the 4 he was on previously and adjust as the weather gets colder/ grass goes to ensure he has enough, mine usually need more mid winter and into the spring that they do when the first come in and I will always increase the hay rather than the feed to compensate for less grass.
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this.
my ponies have ad-lib, and because there's always some there they don't gorge. We split the ration into two haynets - and tie them at opposite sides of the box - they will mooch about between the two, again, reduces the gorging but they always have forage available.
You are wise to only give him a small feed of something non-sugary only, don't be tempted by peer-pressure or advertisements to stuff him full of hard-feed whatever it says on the label blurb - good, ample forage is the best and healthiest diet for most horses, very few need much more until they are truly working hard (that's NOT a bit of hacking and schooling daily)
 
I weigh my hay rather than rely on sections or eye. It's surprising the difference it can make. I have a fatty Warmblood so he has restricted hay at night but has good grazing and no muzzle during day.

I soak night hay and it's in a small holed haynet. At the moment he's only on 4kg at night as the grass is so good. In winter if he's in a bit early he'll have a small 2kg when he comes in and about 6kg overnight.

I know when he needs haying in the field as he starts having tantrums or pushing through the fencing. Usually this is not until January. We have individual paddocks so haying is not an issue.

I don't ad lib because I've never seen him stop eating when food is available and I can't afford to waste lots of hay being kicked around his stable. He's so far lived to 22yrs and touch wood looks amazing.
 
I like the idea of splitting the hay nets around his stable
My issue is the same as yours sussex by the sea, I use to leave about 3 quarters of a bale in his stable and when he had good grazing he would just eat what he wanted and kick the rest around lol

Now I am being more restrictive he eats every last bit of hay .... and then starts on the crap that is just dust that has fallen out the net... He is just such a hungry bear I worry he finishes his 4 sections in his greedy feeder by 10pm and then has nothing until I arrive again in the morning :( .... then I think o he must need more but I don't want to overfeed him hay.... I forgot to mention he then has a section before I turn him out but that is potentially 7 hours with now grazing which cant be good eek!



Sussexbythesea said:
I don't ad lib because I've never seen him stop eating when food is available and I can't afford to waste lots of hay being kicked around his stable. He's so far lived to 22yrs and touch wood looks amazing.
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Horsekaren said:
I like the idea of splitting the hay nets around his stable
My issue is the same as yours sussex by the sea, I use to leave about 3 quarters of a bale in his stable and when he had good grazing he would just eat what he wanted and kick the rest around lol

Now I am being more restrictive he eats every last bit of hay .... and then starts on the crap that is just dust that has fallen out the net... He is just such a hungry bear I worry he finishes his 4 sections in his greedy feeder by 10pm and then has nothing until I arrive again in the morning :( .... then I think o he must need more but I don't want to overfeed him hay.... I forgot to mention he then has a section before I turn him out but that is potentially 7 hours with now grazing which cant be good eek!
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You cannot really over feed hay, if they waste it give less until there is just a tiny bit left in the morning, if he gets enough overnight he will not need any before he goes out so you will not be giving him that much more anyway, if he starts to get too fat then soak it or reduce it slightly, most horses will eventually stop gorging if they know they never run out, there are exceptions but they tend to be small overweight ponies who don't have an off button.
A tub of chopped straw can be used to top up the hay as an alternative if they gain too much weight and is better than having to deal with ulcers.
 
Ad-lib. You'll soon gauge it so that youre giving him just the right amount so that there isnt too much wastage. I cant bear it if my horse ever runs out (she has ulcers on and off so absolutely cannot risk her having nothing available to eat). As a rough guide, shes on about 12lbs at the moment and in the winter it can go up to about 19lbs. This is just overnight and doesnt include any that I put out in the field during the day.
 
The pair of mine are on permanent diets, so have 2% bw (of ideal weight) of forage per day.

So, for example, Blitz gets around about 7kg of hay in a greedy feeder net, plus 1kg of unadulterated straw chaff for overnight (7pm - 7am). He always has a little left over on a morning.

I have no idea how much that equates to in small bale flakes, as we only have big round bales - so I always have to weigh.
 
Its a hard one, people on my yard laughed at me when I said give him 3 quarters of a small bale (7-8 biggish sections), I reduced because I was throwing so much away but the last few nights he has had between 4 - 5 sections and his small feed. When I arrive it has ALL disappeared and to my despair he has only been doing 2- 3 poos a night which is low. I have listened to his gut and its gurling away happily. He is not in any discomfort and is just his normal self. The only thing is his poo seems a tiny bit dryer than normal but there isn't much grass so I have been advised this isn't anything to worry about. I brought him in one afternoon after only having done two poos the night before and he did 4 in four hours so not to bad.

Do you think wetting the hay might help?

I am toying with upping his hay again to see if it improves tonight but as I said I am being laughed at for the amount of hay he has and now he is up to weight I need to be carful that he doesn't keep gaining and to restrict it more :/
 
That is a very low production of droppings overnight and the dryness indicates some dehydration which over time could become impaction colic, it probably isn't anything to worry about but I would think he is not drinking enough, they often don't when they change over to in at night, get some extra fluid into him by wetting the hay and giving him the FF like a soup so he takes more water on board, ignore people laughing they may have their own ideas on what they do but it is fa safer to feed plenty of forage than to restrict too much and possibly end up with vets bills or at least a grumpy horse.
 
Horsekaren said:
I like the idea of splitting the hay nets around his stable
My issue is the same as yours sussex by the sea, I use to leave about 3 quarters of a bale in his stable and when he had good grazing he would just eat what he wanted and kick the rest around lol

Now I am being more restrictive he eats every last bit of hay .... and then starts on the crap that is just dust that has fallen out the net... He is just such a hungry bear I worry he finishes his 4 sections in his greedy feeder by 10pm and then has nothing until I arrive again in the morning :( .... then I think o he must need more but I don't want to overfeed him hay.... I forgot to mention he then has a section before I turn him out but that is potentially 7 hours with now grazing which cant be good eek!
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When I bought my Draft mare she was obese. I immediately put her on a diet with rationed hay and ad-lib oat straw chaff, so that she never had to stand around with nothing to eat. She did get through 2 bags of chaff per week at first. It took about 3 yrs to get her down to a sensible weight but now she can have ad-lib hay and just leave a small amount. When I say ad-lib, it is a measured amount but enough for her not to have to stand in with nothing to eat. Because our horses are at home we give part of the hay when they come in and top up last thing at night.
 
I have a very good doer who can inhale a haynet at record speed - so her hay is soaked.

When she comes in overnight each net weighs around 6kg dry and she has 2 of them. They are in small holed nets and will be gone by morning. If she was on that unsoaked she'd be huge.

My other one doesn't really like being in and I tend to find his poos get a bit dry on hay. He gets very wet sugar beet as his evening meal with a bit of salt so I know he's at least started the night with water in him! I've also found he likes 2 buckets in his stable for some reason.

We're all keeping fingers crossed we can stay out as long as possible, but it looks like rain this week and that tends to make the farmer a bit tetchy about the mud sadly.
 
I don't have too much advice so wasn't going to comment (but was reading as I find it interesting) but your last post made me want to say something.

Don't let other people dictate how you care for your horse. If they are laughing at you they are being childish and no one should be laughed at for giving their horses enough food to last the night. I don't really understand why they would be laughing at you for giving him enough hay.
I give me boy enough to last him overnight, last winter (as it got into the depths and there was limited grass) some people commented on the amount he got but he's a big warmblood and I was not having him run out overnight. He ALWAYS has something to eat. They're just things said in passing and I don't take them to heart as nothing is meant by them and I know I'm doing the best for my horse. Obviously the people saying things to you may be different but I wouldn't let them influence you and just do what your boy needs.

If your horse needs to lose weight/control weight then you may need to think about feeding in small holed nets or something so that it slows down the feeding but I think they should still have enough to last. Or feed soaked hay as that takes out a lot of the sugars.
 
Thanks for the comment, I don't believe I am being laughed at in a nasty way I think where this is my first horse I can look a bit silly with when I drag the biggest hay net in history to my stable and then throw much of it away in the morning.

I am going to wet his hay net tonight to see if there is any improvement.
I am glad other people can relate to me on not wanting their horse to run out of hay... sometimes I think I am being crazy but its not like he will have his dinner and bunker down for a nights sleep he will just stand there wondering where all of his hay has gone for 8 hours.

Is suddenly wetting hay ok or is this something that should be introduced slowly like a different feed ect

Amye said:
I don't have too much advice so wasn't going to comment (but was reading as I find it interesting) but your last post made me want to say something.


Don't let other people dictate how you care for your horse. If they are laughing at you they are being childish and no one should be laughed at for giving their horses enough food to last the night. I don't really understand why they would be laughing at you for giving him enough hay.
I give me boy enough to last him overnight, last winter (as it got into the depths and there was limited grass) some people commented on the amount he got but he's a big warmblood and I was not having him run out overnight. He ALWAYS has something to eat. They're just things said in passing and I don't take them to heart as nothing is meant by them and I know I'm doing the best for my horse. Obviously the people saying things to you may be different but I wouldn't let them influence you and just do what your boy needs.

If your horse needs to lose weight/control weight then you may need to think about feeding in small holed nets or something so that it slows down the feeding but I think they should still have enough to last. Or feed soaked hay as that takes out a lot of the sugars.
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Horsekaren said:
Thanks for the comment, I don't believe I am being laughed at in a nasty way I think where this is my first horse I can look a bit silly with when I drag the biggest hay net in history to my stable and then throw much of it away in the morning.

I am going to wet his hay net tonight to see if there is any improvement.
I am glad other people can relate to me on not wanting their horse to run out of hay... sometimes I think I am being crazy but its not like he will have his dinner and bunker down for a nights sleep he will just stand there wondering where all of his hay has gone for 8 hours.

Is suddenly wetting hay ok or is this something that should be introduced slowly like a different feed ect
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That's good then - sorry I might have misinterpreted slightly. It just sounded like you were worried about these people as they were laughing behind your back or something. I really wouldn't worry, everyone looks after their horses slightly differently and, as others have proven, it's not silly to want your horse to have hay to last the night. I'm a first time horse owner and I can understand the feeling of uncertainty when it comes to things like this, it goes away with time and as you get to know your horse. You also get to know that, even though people at your yard may be more experienced than you (or seem it), they may not always know the best way to look after a horse (or your horse - as all are individual) and you'll learn to take everything with a pinch of salt and think 'maybe it's how they'd do it, but would it work for me?' :)

I'm not sure re. soaking. I think it would be fine to start soaking straight away but I don't do it so I'm sure someone else will be able to advise!
 
No need to introduce soaking gradually although you don't want to give him too much so it does get wasted so I would split his ration into 2 nets, 1 well soaked the other dry so you can leave it and top up any that is left to soak for the next day, any wet that is not eaten needs to be thrown out but no need to throw out dry stuff, use your own judgement so none it being wasted and gradually just leave him with soaked hay once you know how much he eats.
 
ignore the idiots laughing at you!

so 5 sections=all gone but 7/8=lots left? is that right? if so you cant be far off the perfect amount :) try 6.5?

my pony is only 13hh but gets a mountain of haylage (off a round bale so impossible to quantify in sections) and i'm sure on a livery yard people would roll eyes but he is a healthy weight, not fat, and has some left each morning :)

you are ok to start soaking immediately,it wont harm him.
 
You cannot over feed hay. Horses should have forage at all time. Every single one of my horses has adlib hay and none of them are fat. I don’t care if they waste it as long as they have enough to eat!
 
FfionWinnie said:
You cannot over feed hay. Horses should have forage at all time. Every single one of my horses has adlib hay and none of them are fat. I don’t care if they waste it as long as they have enough to eat!
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Not the same for everyone though. Not sure why you always think what you do always applies to every single horse across the entire country/ world hence your use of exclamation!!

You can't pay much for your hay if it's ok to waste. In the south-east everything is massively expensive. Most people have no control over their grazing and it's incredibly difficult to get the balance right. Not too fat whilst maintaining gut health. It's a constant challenge.

There is also nothing natural about a horse gorging on freely available hay whilst standing in a stable. Constant foraging by a wild horse moving across vegetation low in nutrients is what their gut was designed for.
 
Sussexbythesea said:
Not the same for everyone though. Not sure why you always think what you do always applies to every single horse across the entire country/ world hence your use of exclamation!!

You can't pay much for your hay if it's ok to waste. In the south-east everything is massively expensive. Most people have no control over their grazing and it's incredibly difficult to get the balance right. Not too fat whilst maintaining gut health. It's a constant challenge.

There is also nothing natural about a horse gorging on freely available hay whilst standing in a stable. Constant foraging by a wild horse moving across vegetation low in nutrients is what their gut was designed for.
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Wow you’re a barrel of laughs. Silly me I thought this was a forum where we gave our own experiences. My experience is feeding adlib hay to horses who are free to range 24/7, leads to healthy happy horses without the management issues many people on here seem to have.

If you don’t like my experiences feel free to put me on UI instead of being nasty.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Wow you’re a barrel of laughs. Silly me I thought this was a forum where we gave our own experiences. My experience is feeding adlib hay to horses who are free to range 24/7, leads to healthy happy horses without the management issues many people on here seem to have.

If you don’t like my experiences feel free to put me on UI instead of being nasty.
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I'm not being nasty as far as I see it but you are. I'm not going to put you on user ignore because I actually like you and often think you have a lot of useful information and experience I'm just questioning why your post seems to declare there is only one way and that's the Ffionwinnie way? That to me does pull my chain (maybe my weakness) because it implies that everyone else who does things differently doesn't know what they're doing.

Also what's it got to do with being a barrel of laughs? This is not a jokey thread. What's the problem with questioning what others say? I thought this was a discussion forum?
 
Sussexbythesea said:
I'm not being nasty as far as I see it but you are. I'm not going to put you on user ignore because I actually like you and often think you have a lot of useful information and experience I'm just questioning why your post seems to declare there is only one way and that's the Ffionwinnie way? That to me does pull my chain (maybe my weakness) because it implies that everyone else who does things differently doesn't know what they're doing.

Also what's it got to do with being a barrel of laughs? This is not a jokey thread. What's the problem with questioning what others say? I thought this was a discussion forum?
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I’m not being nasty obviously I’m boring but I was only telling the op that this is what works for me, I’ve got 8 horses here all cobs and natives apart for one and they all eat adlib hay and none of them are fat - what else am I going to say other than that is my experience, should I just not comment because I’ve said it before, not really sure what is wrong with me having my say compared to anyone else who commented.

At no time did I imply it would work for everyone or indeed that anyone should even try it - thats your perception, but the op was concerned they were “over feeding hay” if there was waste and I, (and other posters who you didn’t feel the need to tell off), also said you can’t over feed hay. Personally I don’t care about waste compared to a horse standing with nothing to eat. I take steps to try and minimise wastage but most horses are wasteful and that’s just something I accept.
 
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I think it's difficult if you've got good doers. I tend to change the amount of hay or haylage according to lots of factors, including the weather.
I'd love to feed ad lib forage but frankly they'd end up as lard balls...down here in the soft south they don't need to generate so much heat to keep warm so just put on fat. If I was further north, with harsher winters, they I dare say ad lib would be do-able.
So I'd say ad lib is ideal as long as they don't turn into porkers.
 
I do restrict some of my horses. Fatty for instance would eat himself to death ATM as he's unable to work properly . So he's not on ad Lib I have a Stable graze unit , I simply fill a net with the hay he I want him to have then I divide between the three compartments of the Stable graze and a portion for the floor .
I do that about seven and set the Stablegraze for three hours he then gets forage at 10 , 1am and 3 am .
You can set it at different times so during the day we might go two hours and he gets very small amounts .
It's a good way to deal with this issue .
 
I have hay in a bin soaking :) going to try half and half, I think my plan is to let him eat as much as he feels the need to tonight (greedy feeder and wet in normal sized haynet and see what happens)

I appreciate all of your comments, I understand each horse is different and not everything works the same on every horse.
All I can say is since trying to cut his hay the poos are fewer, dryer and he has no food left by morning.
I certainly don't want him to get fat, I don't want to be wasting hay as its not cheap and I don't want him standing there with nothing to eat. its a fine balancing act :D
I just want to see more sloppy wet poo in the morning, rather than dry rocks that im crawling around on my hands and knees to find :D
fingers crossed incorporating wet hay and upping his allowance again will help :D
 
I've never been one for weighing out my hay, I think you just 'get a feel' for what each horse needs depending on that day ie temperature, how long they've been out etc. I used to have a 15hh cob who was a good doer and he was usually given 4/5 slices of small bale hay, with a bit more if chilly. At the same time, I had a 12hh pony who was given 3/4 soaked slices. The cob didn't have an off button and he maintained his weight perfectly and was given a small chaff feed and treat ball to keep him ticking over. Each to their own, mine weren't brought in until 7 or so but others on the yard would have ponies who had finished their nets within a couple of hours of being brought in at 4!
 
Im another one to admit i have never gone about weighing my hay or sticking to a strict amount. I agree with Sophstar in that i go by the events of the day and what condition my horse is in at the time. Generally my mare has a constant of a feed (performance balancer, chaff, fibre beet, carrots, glucosamine and cider vinegar) and a haylage net through winter (two flaps at the moment though may go up in dec/jan and reduce the hay dependant on how poor i am) - I then alter the amount of hay i give every day on what im up to, her bring in time and her grazing. This can be in the region of 4 to 7 slices at the moment (she's a large very well built hunter in medium/hard work). Generally i think once you get to know your horse well you can get a grasp of how much they eat; its something you have to adapt to with time. A bit of hit and miss but you get to the stage of much less wastage the more you know their habits. I wouldnt give a damn what people say if you feel this is right for your horse, at one stage last winter my mare was going through a bale a day (no haylage last winter) and people found it funny that it was so much but at the end of the day she needed it ... although my purse didnt. Also greedy feeder haynets on different tie rings around the stable definitely slow my girl down eating what she has - its got to the point now that she will come in and goble her haylage/feed and then pick at the hay throughout the night.
 
We weigh hay here. I used to think I could tell by eye and feel how much a three section haynet was. Once we started weighing it proved I was way out with my estimates. a section of hay can vary in weight quite a bit.
 
I'd start with 4 slices as you say he didn't gain on that and you say he's a good weight now, and see how he gets on, see how much he leaves and adjust to suit. You can tape him if you don't have access to a weighbridge and adjust the amount accordingly.
 
My horses have access to a field shelter at night - i hand 4 large haynets up which hold a bale. There is normally a bit left over in the morning. The field has zero grass just mud in deep winter so like to make sure they have something to munch at all times. They also have a bale in the day time between them.
 
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