Worrying about winter feeding

R

retired eventer

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Hope I'm over-thinking this but does anyone know how many hours can a horse go with nothing going through its' stomach before it becomes a problem and the issue of ulcers rears its' ugly head ?

My mare lives out 24/7 and gets her evening hay around 5pm. Say she has eaten it all by 8pm, bearing in mind there's no grass in her paddock, she has nothing until breakfast at around 7am. Should I worry ? - anybody know the answer or is each horse different ? At this point no reason to think gastric ulcers are an issue.
 
If she were in a stable, or on hard standing with hay until only 8 pm, that would be a problem. However if there is grass to pick at in her paddock, she should be ok. I don't like our horses to be without something to eat for more than 2 hrs. If she is maintaining her weight, she must be eating more than you think.
 
I had 3 living out all year round, last hay piles put out at 4pm (admittedly quite a lot and spread out to stop fighting) , back up to field at 8am to feed and hay again, even in snow, they were fine for years, no signs of ulcers or discomfort, main thing was they had water to drink and I made their feeds sloppy to prevent any colic...they’re very good at finding bits n bobs to nibble on...
 
I would leave a couple of slices of good barley straw. If she is hungry she will eat it, some times they just pick at it for something to do. Mine have a round bale as well as their hay and they just nibble at it overnight.
 
Thanks all for your input. I'm inclined to think there is a nibble here and there in the paddock because I do sometimes catch her head down looking for snacks when I arrive - that's my hope anyway. She's definitely not fading away. I wonder if there is any actual research done on this subject ?
 
I don’t like mine to go more than 4 hours with ‘something’ going through their gut. I have no idea if this is the right thing, but I’ve got 6 and none are fat, maybe a little bit overweight at times? But none as far as I can tell, have any issues with ulcers. I think I must be applying my needs to them though as I can’t go more than 4 hours without food either lol!
 
I would use oat straw not barley .
You can buy plain oat straw chopped from feed merchants honey chop make one but others do as well that’s a option if you can’t source good baled straw .
 
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