Worried not feeding enough 5 year old

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ClareGilby

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I am new to horse owning although ridden lots of years but the lady in the stable next to me knows so much about horses I feel a bit inferior.

I have had my 16.2h Irish Sports Horse for a couple of months now and am trying my best to do everything for her, I really love her. I have wormed her, vaccinated her, had the farrier in, and am having her teeth done on Monday.

I worry about the food. When she came to me the dealer fed her on haylage only. I have changed her to adlib hay (about 8 slices a day roughly) and a big bowl of dinner am and pm (big scoop of spillers pony nut, big scoop of chaff and scoop of garlic). She makes me feel like I'm doing it wrong. Maybe I am paranoid but I just want to do what is best for her.
 
Weigh everything, you only have to do it once and write down how much a scoop of each type feed weighs. Put the hay you usually give for the day and weigh that, you can use suitcase scales.
Then ring a feedline like Spillers or Baileys, they will then work out how much you need to give for the amount of work you are doing with her, they will recommend their own feeds but it will give you a good idea if you on the right track. Then if fellow liveries make you feel unknowledgeable, you can say you got your advice from a equine nutritionist and you know exactly what you are feeding and why.
 
If the horse looks well (not too fat, not too thin), has enough, but not too much, energy for what you want to do, has good hooves and a shine to her coat (when not plastered in mud...), has plenty of hay (which she does) then you are giving her enough. People stress far too much about feeding in general - it's not rocket science!
 
It is worth bearing in mind that the stomach of a horse is very small in comparison to the rest of it and they are designed to trickle feed rather than guzzle big bucket feeds in one go.

As Cortez says, if the horse is looking well and is in good health, has nice manners when you are handling/riding her and has hay in front of her at all times she will be a happy horse who should be a joy to own.
 
A big bowl of feed is unnecessary and garlic isn't good for horses. Ad-lib hay is often enough for horses in light work, which yours will most likely be.
I am not a fan of feed companies' helplines, IMO they just want to sell their own products, regardless of need.
If the horse looks well and is a sensible weight, all is well. If the horse does need something extra, a high fibre feed is usually best, as that is what the horse is adapted to eat.
 
Cortez said:
If the horse looks well (not too fat, not too thin), has enough, but not too much, energy for what you want to do, has good hooves and a shine to her coat (when not plastered in mud...), has plenty of hay (which she does) then you are giving her enough. People stress far too much about feeding in general - it's not rocket science!
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This. If your horse is healthy and doesn't need to gain weight, you are feeding her enough. I know its difficult, but try not to over feed. I did that with my horse as I got him when he was skinny and worried he would lose weight again. He became enormous very quickly last year. He is on a diet now.
 
Thanks for your advice. I know the lady next door means well, but her horse is a dressage horse that is polished at all times and she orders it's food in from Germany or somewhere and said to my daughter we should get it for Nina. I want to keep it simple. I prob will have a go at weighing it as well.

I must be doing something right though as she is is considering changing her bedding to mine. Thanks for the advice on the Platinum Plus Pellets they are working out a treat. They have changed my life, and Nina is enjoying a dry comfy bed.
 
ClareGilby said:
Thanks for your advice. I know the lady next door means well, but her horse is a dressage horse that is polished at all times and she orders it's food in from Germany or somewhere and said to my daughter we should get it for Nina. I want to keep it simple. I prob will have a go at weighing it as well.

I must be doing something right though as she is is considering changing her bedding to mine. Thanks for the advice on the Platinum Plus Pellets they are working out a treat. They have changed my life, and Nina is enjoying a dry comfy bed.
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Sounds like you are doing a great job. It doesn't hurt to listen to other people's advice but ultimately you have to decide whether it's right for YOUR horse. If your horse is looking and feeling well then that's a sure sign you are doing things right!! X
 
Charlie007 said:
Sounds like you are doing a great job. It doesn't hurt to listen to other people's advice but ultimately you have to decide whether it's right for YOUR horse. If your horse is looking and feeling well then that's a sure sign you are doing things right!! X
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Couldn't agree more, and just because you may ask for advice it doesn't mean you have to take it.
By the way where are the pictures?????????
 
Pearlsasinger said:
A big bowl of feed is unnecessary and garlic isn't good for horses. Ad-lib hay is often enough for horses in light work, which yours will most likely be.
I am not a fan of feed companies' helplines, IMO they just want to sell their own products, regardless of need.
If the horse looks well and is a sensible weight, all is well. If the horse does need something extra, a high fibre feed is usually best, as that is what the horse is adapted to eat.
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This. With a new horse I personally would start with just hay and add stuff later on if there is an issue (weight loss, poor coat / hooves etc) - adding one thing at a time so I know if its doing any good. If she's a good weight and has enough fibre (which she does) then you are feeding enough.

A lot of chaff has high quantities of molasses which can be bad for many horses, maybe this is what your neighbour is referring to? There are plenty of no molasses options around these days though (including Agrobs which comes from Germany and maybe the feed you are referring to).

Personally I never feed garlic anymore as it has been shown to disrupt gut bacteria and can possibly cause anaemia if fed continuously, and I only ever fed it in the past in mid-summer for flies.

IME one of the fun things about having a horse on a livery yard, particularly if you admit to being new at horse ownership, is that everyone will have advice for you - the hard part is working out what is good advice, what may be good for some but doesn't work for you, and what is total rubbish.

Good luck with your new horse (photos ?).
 
Thank you so much, my vet is coming tomorrow to vaccinate and do teeth so I will go through all of my feeding worries with her as well. It has put my mind at rest a bit more now. x
 
I don't know how to upload photos yet, I am a bit of a technaphobe unfortunately. I will put some on as soon as I fugure it out lol xx
 
hard feed should be a small amount. adlib hay is good but bucket feeds , if required at all, should be small and split into multiples per day if they cant be fed all at once.
id start with adlib hay.
add in hard feed which is fibre based- simple fast fibre plus a powder mineral and vitamin supplement is ideal for most horses, and some table salt.
 
Most horses need a balancer of some sort ... there are loads so try not to get bogged down in whats in what!

I always say buy the best you can afford. I also say avoid sugars and starches as generally these are not good for horses.

On the balancer front you could get the pasture tested and buy a balancer that fixes the imblalances (forage plus) or go for a broad spectrum such as a topspec / thunderbrooks / etc.

However - it is worth reading the labels ... try to avoid high iron contents as most horses dont need any extra iron and high levels prevent the absorption of copper. this can been seen in hair and hoof quality.

On to chaffs, again dont fill the bucket with fibre if you can feed hay - its just a waste of money!
Avoid sugar - so non of the mollassed type. Alfalfa is good on paper but can make some fizzy and / or footy. you could try adding a handful og grass chop.

My go to diet for ANY horse (im currently feeding an yearling and a veteran) is coolstance copra (as a protein base), micronised linseed (low levels support inflammatory response and other beneficial effects), a balancer (baby is on spillers sure grow and oldie is on thunderbrooks) and a hand ful of grass chop.

If they are losing weight up the copra and linseed.

If they put on weigh lower the copra and linseed.

Also dont be fooled by thinking you can feed your horse for more energy ... thats like eating a mars bar before a marathon - its short term fizziness. True 'energy' is a slow process of fitness.

if you are on facebook join one of the barefoot groups as there are some really good discussions about feeding etc (which are useful whether your horse is shod or barefoot!)

Keep up with adlib hay :) Add some salt to feed and provide free access to salt
 
As amandaco ha said...keep it simple. A really plain unmollassed chop, hay as you are giving and either a balancer or linseed and a bit of salt...ditch the garlic, can cause mild anaemia...you'll get there, if you can feel her ribs without digging into her side but you can't see them, perfect...horses do need a bit of help protein wise to help build the top line but that will come with schooling and hacking work...enjoy and well done for sorting out all the stuff your average joe doesn't do!! Make sure the saddle fits well too. A master saddler will help..(unless you've already done this!) go enjoy...
 
The thing is, everyone has a different view on feeding.

You won't go far wrong with adlib forage.

Mine compete on a small amount of soaked grass nuts to which I add a vitamin and mineral supplement.

Keep it as simple as you can :)
 
PorkChop said:
The thing is, everyone has a different view on feeding.

You won't go far wrong with adlib forage.

Mine compete on a small amount of soaked grass nuts to which I add a vitamin and mineral supplement.

Keep it as simple as you can :)
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Yup. What she said.
 
This is really funny. My vet has told me I can up her feed as she is such a big girl 17h. She said I can give more or less double what I am feeding with a conditioning mix as well. It seems like a real minefield as everybody is different but I am gonna just try and keep it simple. She does get a good hours work a day 6 days a week. I hack her a couple of times and my daughter schools and jumps her in week as well.

I am now giving her a large scoop of nut, scoop of conditioning mix and scoop of chaff with a splosh of linseed oil. I am gonna ditch the garlic and hopefully this should workout, only time will tell.

Thanks for all the advice, its appreciated.
 
ClareGilby said:
This is really funny. My vet has told me I can up her feed as she is such a big girl 17h. She said I can give more or less double what I am feeding with a conditioning mix as well.
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Did your vet say she is underweight then? Does your vet ride and/or own horses herself?

If you are going to follow her advice, then I would increase the feed very slowly to make sure it doesn't have an adverse effect on the horse's behaviour. Some horses are fine on rations like this, but others have a tendency to lose the plot!
 
Yes my vet has a 17h horse and rides, has all her life. She gives about 3 scoops per feed, and has 4 coats on her to keep her warm. I thought this all sounded a bit excessive. I don't over rug Nina either as she is a hardy Irish hunter and was prob used to being thrown out in a field with no rug, so she just has a good quality medium rug with neck and she feels toasty.

I am now giving her a conditioning cube and dengie afla a molasses free instead of chaff. It is a case of sifting through all of the advice and finding what works for Nina. She isn't underweight but she needs to bulk up her topline as she is only 5.

I feel like I am starting to get to grips with it all now, reading all the posts on here really helps.
 
feeding more hard feed than necessary can create problems- behaviour, laminitis, excess weight, colic...
tbh I wouldn't change anything if the weight is good. topline will come from maturity and work.
I certainly wouldn't double the amounts you've listed and id doubt the word of any vet to suggested such a regime tbh....
 
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I think we can overcomplicate feeding.

If mine needs more weight on I ensure she has enough forage then up her feed slightly. If she needs to loose weight I lower it or don't feed hard feed.

I avoid anything with molasses or high protein/sugar, I stick to low digestable energy and I don't like "colourful" looking mixes. To be honest I am going to switch to Simple Systems as I like that it isn't as processed as other feeds.

Mine gets fed Alfa A molassess free (although some horses react badly to alfalfa) and unmolassed speedibeet which does her fine. Currently at rest/very light work.
 
ClareGilby said:
Yes my vet has a 17h horse and rides, has all her life. She gives about 3 scoops per feed, and has 4 coats on her to keep her warm. I thought this all sounded a bit excessive. I don't over rug Nina either as she is a hardy Irish hunter and was prob used to being thrown out in a field with no rug, so she just has a good quality medium rug with neck and she feels toasty.

I am now giving her a conditioning cube and dengie afla a molasses free instead of chaff. It is a case of sifting through all of the advice and finding what works for Nina. She isn't underweight but she needs to bulk up her topline as she is only 5.

I feel like I am starting to get to grips with it all now, reading all the posts on here really helps.
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Top line comes from correct work, so long as the horse is not underweight. 'Topline' created by overfeeding is just another name for fat! If she is only 5, she is unlikely to have developed enough to have a true top line yet. She probably has some more growing to do. The work you describe is really only light work, tbh.
 
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