Do horses need hard feed?

[abccaitlinp]

Just moved off a riding school where they didn't allow hard feed. I have two rising 5 year old mares and one is on the thin side as I think she's due a growth spurt and the other is as chunky as you can get!
They're both exercised everyday, they're on hay ledge but it's quite dry and turnout starts in two weeks.
Someone who has moved their horses off that yard too has started here rising 5 year old on Happy Hoof and I'm just considering what to put my girls on or if they need it? They might not since they've been without it their whole lives but I was just thinking of it as they were young. Thank you in advance.

 

[squidsin]

It's a 'how long is a piece of string' question really! If you are working them hard and/or they are poor doers or looking a bit poor, they may need hard feed. There's a lot of different thinking on horse feeds - personally, I am pro a high fibre diet with as little starch and sugar as possible, as I think that is best for the digestion and meets all their energy needs, unless they're in hard work (which my mare is not.) So she just gets a small scoop of speedibeet and a handful of chaff, plus a balancer for all her vitamins and minerals. Now the grass has really started to grow, I will probably stop giving her the speedibeet. But she's a good doer and only in very light work, if I was riding every day and competing at weekends she might need more. What are you planning on doing with your mares?

 

[Jessey]

I agree with the above, I am also an advocate of high fibre, oil if weight is needed, low starch and low sugar diet, plus a balancer or vit/min supplement. I actually tend to believe most horses, even in very hard work can carry ample weight on this regime. My scrawny arab was fed tons of feed and was still skinny, until I switched to the above, then he turned into a chunky monkey as he wasn't high on sugary feeds all the time
Having said all that, I have just brought my mare some conditioning cubes, but that is specifically because she needs a little fast burning energy feed when we do big mileage days so although I believe for weight you can achieve it from fibre for the most part, there are occasions I believe grain based feeds appropriate too
I think young ones the most important thing is free access to long forage and the provision of vits and minerals, feeding for the gangly stage of growth is unnecessary as long as they have this and no other contributing factors, they still grow like that, up and skinny, then out, up and skinny, then out

 

[horseandgoatmom]

Why didn't they allow hard feed-??? I guess you mean grain when you say hard feed?

Mine only get lots of good hay with a balancer and a squirt of oil and apple cider vinegar
little bit of black oil sunflower seeds - ground flax- a probiotic treat- joint suppliment treat
and Sonny gets optizyme and forco.
It sounds like a lot of stuff but it all fits into 1/2 a sandwich bag..

If they were not in good weight or doing many many many hours a day I might add grain but
for the most part I would try to stay away from it.

 

[horseandgoatmom]

Having said all that, I have just brought my mare some conditioning cubes, but that is specifically because she needs a little fast burning energy feed when we do big mileage days so although I believe for weight you can achieve it from fibre for the most part, there are occasions I believe grain based feeds appropriate too

You do quite a bit of miles and have that really big ride coming up~

 

[Wally]

Years ago we stabled at a hunting yard in Exford, Exmoor for the golden horseshoe 100 mile ride, There was an ANCIENT old ostler there who maintained all the hirelings were fed on nothing by good hay and hunted Exmoor twice a week on that.

I think horses are over fed these days, Riding school ponies ought to do well on turnout on reasonable pasture and hay. Most happy hackers need nothing mroe than grazing and hay. A performance horse who is competing at a high level may need a bit more.

Sugars and starches are not needed by happy hackers.

 

[squidsin]

Just moved off a riding school where they didn't allow hard feed. I have two rising 5 year old mares and one is on the thin side as I think she's due a growth spurt and the other is as chunky as you can get!
They're both exercised everyday, they're on hay ledge but it's quite dry and turnout starts in two weeks.
Someone who has moved their horses off that yard too has started here rising 5 year old on Happy Hoof and I'm just considering what to put my girls on or if they need it? They might not since they've been without it their whole lives but I was just thinking of it as they were young. Thank you in advance.

Just to add - it sounds as if you're moving them from a riding school with no turnout? So they will be on grass for the first time at their new place? I definitely wouldn't add any hard feed to their diet until you've seen how they adjust to being on grass - grass can be quite high in sugar so that alone might fizz them up until they get used to it. Any changes to diet should, ideally, be introduced gradually.

 

[horseandgoatmom]

Years ago we stabled at a hunting yard in Exford, Exmoor for the golden horseshoe 100 mile ride, There was an ANCIENT old ostler there who maintained all the hirelings were fed on nothing by good hay and hunted Exmoor twice a week on that.

I think horses are over fed these days, Riding school ponies ought to do well on turnout on reasonable pasture and hay. Most happy hackers need nothing mroe than grazing and hay. A performance horse who is competing at a high level may need a bit more.

I think your right...over here so many people would rather feed really big amounts of grain and not a lot of hay- then they don't have as much manure or have to deal with shifting
as many bales and much easier to shift one bag of grain for them.

Lots of places also really have limited turnout and very limited grass if any.

 

[horseandgoatmom]

Weird my reply did not go thru just the quote

I think your right over here so many people seem to want to feed lots and lots of grain
and not a lot of hay- they get less manure have to shift less hay bales and much easier to
shift 1 bag of grain.

Many places have very minimal grass turnout if any. Not the lovely rolling hills of grass
over there- at least not around here overall its too urban.

 

[abccaitlinp]

They had turnout on the riding school all year round but the winter turnout was a sand paddock which I wouldn't have liked to put them in. They had turnout in summer but it was only 45 mins to an hour but where we've moved to has small turnout paddocks that you put your horse in for 30 minutes whilst you muck out but the real turnout is a big grassy field which has all day turnout or 24/7 if you'd like. I plan on schooling them more and eventually showing them, I've took them to a few for experience and I've been told they both look good, one being on the fat side but I'm working on that! I just would like to make sure I'm giving them the best start vitamins and minerals wise.
My two wasn't on the riding school but they both were ridden everyday, the actual riding school ponies however were ridden a few times a day everyday and I thought they should have something more because they're being worked into the ground but because it was a riding school they didn't allow anything but the hay they was given and the very little turnout in summer.

 

[Wally]

That's my biggest problem with horse ownership. I would not have a horse if I could not offer him large areas of grazing that suited that horse. TB's can manage dairy pasture, small hairies need lots of land with scrubby keep on it. I f I could not offer a horse the right environment I would not have one, A stable and a dirt yard is not suitable to keep a horse on.

I love Tigers, however, I do not have the right environment to keep them, so I don;t have them.

 

[horseandgoatmom]

Mine don't have a lot of grass but they are very happy and healty.

 

[abccaitlinp]

Well we moved to this new farm because of the turnout it is from as early in the morning that you put them out to around 6-7pm and this is from May till October.

 

[squidsin]

They had turnout on the riding school all year round but the winter turnout was a sand paddock which I wouldn't have liked to put them in. They had turnout in summer but it was only 45 mins to an hour but where we've moved to has small turnout paddocks that you put your horse in for 30 minutes whilst you muck out but the real turnout is a big grassy field which has all day turnout or 24/7 if you'd like. I plan on schooling them more and eventually showing them, I've took them to a few for experience and I've been told they both look good, one being on the fat side but I'm working on that! I just would like to make sure I'm giving them the best start vitamins and minerals wise.

Maybe just give them a balancer? I use the Horse and Pony Direct low cal one and my mare looks good on it!

 

[Trewsers]

Mine don't have a lot of grass but they are very happy and healty.

I think it depends on what they are used to? yours sound happy and fine. I know our J didn't cope with lots of grass and space cos he wasn't used to it. He was more than happy to have a few hours in his paddock and the rest stabled - even in summer. Horses for courses and all that

 

[Trewsers]

That's my biggest problem with horse ownership. I would not have a horse if I could not offer him large areas of grazing that suited that horse. TB's can manage dairy pasture, small hairies need lots of land with scrubby keep on it. I f I could not offer a horse the right environment I would not have one, A stable and a dirt yard is not suitable to keep a horse on.

I love Tigers, however, I do not have the right environment to keep them, so I don;t have them.

Hahha good point about tigers! lol
I see what you mean.

 

[squidsin]

I agree, to a certain extent, and I wouldn't keep mine at a yard with no turnout, but in Southern Spain and North Africa - and anywhere that's hot and dry, I should think - most horses are kept on dirt yards and stabled. My friend keeps horses that way in Spain. It looks weird to me, and her horses are quite thin to my British eyes, but she says most Spanish horse keepers think British horses are too fat.

 

[Trewsers]

I think they live under canopies and have turnout in sand / dirt in South Africa?

 

[newforest]

Interesting points mentioned here. But unless you own a working horse they dont in my view need anything more than grass and hay.
The racers in training only got haylage and barley. Actually a lot less than their fellow pleasure horses in the stable next door! Working to me is racing, Eventing, Hunting, high competition.

Different countries have different terrain and weather so some horses don't get grazing as there is no grass. I wouldn't tell those people not to have them. They will be feeding what they have access to and those horses having been born there most likely adapt anyway.
You cant tell everyone with a good doer to move to Dartmoor, Exmoor, Wales or Scotland. But as the owner of one on non sparse pasture its my job to get off my arse and work her.

 

[newforest]

Well we moved to this new farm because of the turnout it is from as early in the morning that you put them out to around 6-7pm and this is from May till October.

Where abouts are you?
I always thought no winter turnout was Oct to Mar on grass. I do find it strange that places don't have adequate space for the volume they want living there. A yard nearby has no winter fields that are not boggy and bald. So the horses live in as there is no turnout in the school. If we as owners refused to move there these places wouldn't exist.