Ben is now on week 2 of box rest and he seems to have 2 moods. He is either wired and on high alert, or he is really grumpy. His most exciting part of the day is understandably when I arrive with fresh hay. He gets this 3 times per day. At 6am, lunchtime (between 12pm and 2pm) and then at 8pm.
As he has arthritis in his back, I am very keen for him to eat from the floor in a natural position, rather than in haynets. However, he scoffs his hay from the floor like there is no tomorrow. It is quite remarkable how quickly he eats it. The hay is soaked for between 6 to 8 hours so most of the sugar should have been removed from it. He gets 2 big haynets at night (the hay is emptied from the haynet and put on the floor), and one big haynet each at 6am and 12pm. However, when I arrive at lunchtime and the evening, there is no hay left and he is obviously hungry. From today I have therefore doubled this ration so he is getting 2 haynets at each visit.
Does it sound excessive for a horse to eat 6 haynets of hay per day? It seems a very large quantity of hay to me. It is all well soaked and he has it wet. He is pooing for England and his digestive system seems to be working well. I have never had him on strict box rest before so it's hard to gauge what is a 'normal' amount of hay to consume. Any thoughts?
As he has arthritis in his back, I am very keen for him to eat from the floor in a natural position, rather than in haynets. However, he scoffs his hay from the floor like there is no tomorrow. It is quite remarkable how quickly he eats it. The hay is soaked for between 6 to 8 hours so most of the sugar should have been removed from it. He gets 2 big haynets at night (the hay is emptied from the haynet and put on the floor), and one big haynet each at 6am and 12pm. However, when I arrive at lunchtime and the evening, there is no hay left and he is obviously hungry. From today I have therefore doubled this ration so he is getting 2 haynets at each visit.
Does it sound excessive for a horse to eat 6 haynets of hay per day? It seems a very large quantity of hay to me. It is all well soaked and he has it wet. He is pooing for England and his digestive system seems to be working well. I have never had him on strict box rest before so it's hard to gauge what is a 'normal' amount of hay to consume. Any thoughts?