So, why do we feed hard feed and then ration stabled horses hay?
- Thread starter Whatanejit
- Start date
Totally agree with you. I have known people to give their horses 2 slices of hay until morning and I always wonder what the poor things must do for the other 10 hours they are in the stable! Milly gets as much as I can fit in the haynet (OH had to help me hang it last night cos it was so heavy 
) and then a sensible amount of hard feed morning and night.
) and then a sensible amount of hard feed morning and night.
forage all the way for me! star isn't a good doer at all but giving him any cereals or nuts is like rocket fuel for him! so he's on a high fibre diet
i have a fatty on a diet and i do exactly as you suggest.
Ad lib hay and a bowl of HiFi with her supplements in - to get the minerals down her and also to stop her feeling left out when the others get a calorie-fest at dinnertime
Ad lib hay and a bowl of HiFi with her supplements in - to get the minerals down her and also to stop her feeling left out when the others get a calorie-fest at dinnertime
yes I totally agree with your way of feeding too. I would only really add any great quantity of feed if they needed energy for heavy competing but would still definately keep with plenty of fibre.
When I did my exams quite a while ago there was a lot more focus on hard feed than there is now. At the RS where I worked the horses got ad lib hay and two hard feeds to balanced to their work load and tempremant etc. I do think there is a definite change in the way we are feeding horses and all for the better.
Having said all that my pony and horse do both have a token feed early morning (one is an oldy and one is young.) They both get a minimal amount of low energy mix just as a carrier for a broad spectrum vit and min supplement in it. My only concern especially throught the winter is that these extras may be lacking in the hay or grass they recieve. (Plus the rest of the horses get a feed and I think they would like feel a bit badly done too )
When I did my exams quite a while ago there was a lot more focus on hard feed than there is now. At the RS where I worked the horses got ad lib hay and two hard feeds to balanced to their work load and tempremant etc. I do think there is a definite change in the way we are feeding horses and all for the better.
Having said all that my pony and horse do both have a token feed early morning (one is an oldy and one is young.) They both get a minimal amount of low energy mix just as a carrier for a broad spectrum vit and min supplement in it. My only concern especially throught the winter is that these extras may be lacking in the hay or grass they recieve. (Plus the rest of the horses get a feed and I think they would like feel a bit badly done too
)
i don't feed anything startchy at all. my mare lives out. if she is sick/lame and does come in she gets pretty much a full bale of hay put in her stable. at the moment i feed her a balancer, speedibeet and some alfalfa, plus her magnesium supplement and hoof supplement. these are powders so the speedibeet makes it more palatable for her. in the summer she gets the balancer and thats about it. however, i have just bought hi-fibre nuts as there are 3 horses living out at the moment and no hay going out yet, so I am having to give the extra energy via high fibre cubes rather than hay. if she was stabled at night she would be on ad lib hay, her balancer and supplements and nothing else.
Dee, this stems from the old school.
When I worked on a livery yard we even had to weight every hay net! 7lbs for this horse 3lbs for a pony etc. But that was years ago and hopefully, most people now know that this causes all sorts of problems.
Ad lib hay overnight is the way to go. Try and keep at least two nets on the go in different corners to improve movement during the night. Better still, keep the hay on the floor so the horse has the natural position for eating. If your neddy has some hay left in the morning then you know you gave enough, if it's all gone you need to give a little more the next night until you find that 'just right' quantity.
It can be messy to muck out in the morning but that's why it's easier and better for the horse to be out all night in a field.
When I worked on a livery yard we even had to weight every hay net! 7lbs for this horse 3lbs for a pony etc. But that was years ago and hopefully, most people now know that this causes all sorts of problems.
Ad lib hay overnight is the way to go. Try and keep at least two nets on the go in different corners to improve movement during the night. Better still, keep the hay on the floor so the horse has the natural position for eating. If your neddy has some hay left in the morning then you know you gave enough, if it's all gone you need to give a little more the next night until you find that 'just right' quantity.
It can be messy to muck out in the morning but that's why it's easier and better for the horse to be out all night in a field.
the reasoning behind hard feed 'concentrates' probably stems from when horses were worked a lot harder than they are now. racehorses and eventers still need this extra 'concentrated' energy rather than getting a full belly full of hay which takes a long time to digest. but i do disagree with stabled horses being left with hardly any hay overnight. there are some on our yard who have eaten up in 2 hours. they must be bored silly.
I totally agree, it really annoys me when people don't give enough hay/ haylage and fill them full of hard feed.
At my yard I have been having problems with people not feeding my horses right. At my yard they are all fed together, and are fed the same unless you buy in different stuff. I buy in all my horses feed. Both of mine get happy hoof, one gets happy hoof with a handful of H+P cubes plus alfa A, it too three weeks to drum it into their heads what I wanted them to get. They kept only giving them a tiny bit of their chaff and a load of nuts and beet! I also found out the other day that the YM had only been giving my pony a handful of haylage in the morning I was furious!! So no I leave all feed sitting out ready for them and I leave their evening hay sitting outside their stable for whoever is haying so that I know they are getting enough.
I find that people just won't listen, and really don't want to know. My horses have never looked or gone better since I changed thier diets!
Cerys
At my yard I have been having problems with people not feeding my horses right. At my yard they are all fed together, and are fed the same unless you buy in different stuff. I buy in all my horses feed. Both of mine get happy hoof, one gets happy hoof with a handful of H+P cubes plus alfa A, it too three weeks to drum it into their heads what I wanted them to get. They kept only giving them a tiny bit of their chaff and a load of nuts and beet! I also found out the other day that the YM had only been giving my pony a handful of haylage in the morning
I was furious!! So no I leave all feed sitting out ready for them and I leave their evening hay sitting outside their stable for whoever is haying so that I know they are getting enough.I find that people just won't listen, and really don't want to know. My horses have never looked or gone better since I changed thier diets!
Cerys
Y
Yann
Guest
I hate seeing horses left overnight without adlib forage for no good reason. I'm not aware that anyone at my current yard would do that but it certainly used to be the case where I started off
BTW There's not much difference between a scoop of Hifi and a scoop of Happy Hoof in terms of nutrition, it's just that the Happy Hoof has vits and mins already added to it.
BTW There's not much difference between a scoop of Hifi and a scoop of Happy Hoof in terms of nutrition, it's just that the Happy Hoof has vits and mins already added to it.
I totally agree, high fibre is the way to go for most pleasure horses obviously there are those who need more calories than fiber alone can provide, thats when you start adding 'hard feed' but fiber should almost always be available adlib.
But, if you have a real fattie/lami prone horse you will be told to restrict their hay to as little as 1-1.5% of their body weight for a 300kg pony that means they can only get 3-5kg of food in a day - believe me, thats not alot of anything.
Then these panicked owners (scared of a/another bout of lami) look for the best feed - they find things like Happy Hoof which is approved by the Laminitis Trust and think that it is the best thing to feed, if your not into nutrition why would you look at the ingrediants when it won't make any sense to you anyway? you trust what it says on the bag and unless someone you respect tells you any different why would you change it? honestly - you wouldn't
Casual mentions of how high it is in sugar and how plain chaff would be less calories etc might be the way to go
obviously there are those who need more calories than fiber alone can provide, thats when you start adding 'hard feed' but fiber should almost always be available adlib.But, if you have a real fattie/lami prone horse you will be told to restrict their hay to as little as 1-1.5% of their body weight for a 300kg pony that means they can only get 3-5kg of food in a day - believe me, thats not alot of anything.
Then these panicked owners (scared of a/another bout of lami) look for the best feed - they find things like Happy Hoof which is approved by the Laminitis Trust and think that it is the best thing to feed, if your not into nutrition why would you look at the ingrediants when it won't make any sense to you anyway? you trust what it says on the bag and unless someone you respect tells you any different why would you change it? honestly - you wouldn't
Casual mentions of how high it is in sugar and how plain chaff would be less calories etc might be the way to go
I totally agree with you
My boy is the only one on the yard that doesn't get mix or 'hard feed'. Even through winter he gets big buckets of Happy Hoof (packed with vits and minerals and super high fibre) and speedi-beet, plenty of high fibre cubes in his snackaball over night and ad-lib hay whenever he is stabled. That along with 10 hours or so grazing in the day and a Horselyx stable lick and he survives quite happily in perfectly well condition working 4-6 hours a week. If he starts lacking in condition through winter he gets oil added to his feed for switched to a higher energy cube but that is all. He is much happier and contented as he always has something to much on and I think it must be better for him physically as well as that is what horses are designed to do, eat high fibre foods constantly.
Saying that through winter I have fed my 2yo youngstock mix to keep weight and condition on him, simply because I could not get enough food into him to keep him going through winter and needed the concentrated goodies in the mix for those few months BUT that was as well as 24/7 grazing and ad lib hay and high fibre feeds not instead of.
My boy is the only one on the yard that doesn't get mix or 'hard feed'. Even through winter he gets big buckets of Happy Hoof (packed with vits and minerals and super high fibre) and speedi-beet, plenty of high fibre cubes in his snackaball over night and ad-lib hay whenever he is stabled. That along with 10 hours or so grazing in the day and a Horselyx stable lick and he survives quite happily in perfectly well condition working 4-6 hours a week. If he starts lacking in condition through winter he gets oil added to his feed for switched to a higher energy cube but that is all. He is much happier and contented as he always has something to much on and I think it must be better for him physically as well as that is what horses are designed to do, eat high fibre foods constantly.
Saying that through winter I have fed my 2yo youngstock mix to keep weight and condition on him, simply because I could not get enough food into him to keep him going through winter and needed the concentrated goodies in the mix for those few months BUT that was as well as 24/7 grazing and ad lib hay and high fibre feeds not instead of.
Mine get no hard feed at all, but they do get 8 hours turnout with ad lib hay, and nearly a bale of hay each at night when they come in. I'd rather have hay left in their stables of a morning then find they'd had nothing to eat half the night, after all they are naturally trickle feeders
Kath x
Kath x
Same here. It's very, very unusual to find a horse on the yard has run out of hay and more often than not if they have the owner has left a full net close by that you can hang up.
I know that our yard isn't the norm though, which is a real shame.
Although I do weigh out my mares hay as I have to steam it before feeding it to her, she always gets enough so that there's some left over in the morning. I only weigh it as any that is left over has to be given away or put on the muck heap as it goes musty and inedible quite quickly after it's been steamed (same goes for soaking), so I try not to end up with huge amounts left over, though last night she decided to only eat half of her hay and I've now got a huge netfull that I'm not quite sure what to do about!
Mine gets lots of hard feed, but always has access to haylage or hay (or grass, as is turned out for 14-16 hours a day). If he finished his ration, I would make sure I left much more for him the next day. As it is he gets 2 large stuffed haynets, and usualy leaves half to 1/3rd of each.
He used to be on fibre only (with his suppliments), but RI recommended his current diet of competition mix and sugar beet to up his energy levels, as he is rather lazy, particularly in the school. He doesnt get fizzy, and isn't a very good doer, though looks great just now! Oh, I realy notice the difference in his coat when he gets oil as well - just a swig at night.
He used to be on fibre only (with his suppliments), but RI recommended his current diet of competition mix and sugar beet to up his energy levels, as he is rather lazy, particularly in the school. He doesnt get fizzy, and isn't a very good doer, though looks great just now! Oh, I realy notice the difference in his coat when he gets oil as well - just a swig at night.
I rant and rave about this at our yard. Alex gets MORE than enough hay a night. And his feed is fibre based. With a balancer...which he doesnt get much of, just enough to suppliment the feed. And he looks fab!....well apart from hes now fat due to me not being able to ride. But his coat etc is fab. His feet are stronger than ever.
After screaming at people on our yard they also asked me to do a feed for them. I weighd the horse, and put the couple on fibre based feeds. They too have never looked better! And i KNOW im doing no harm putting alsorts into the horse!
After screaming at people on our yard they also asked me to do a feed for them. I weighd the horse, and put the couple on fibre based feeds. They too have never looked better! And i KNOW im doing no harm putting alsorts into the horse!
that happened with finn to, he's on spillers response for laid back horses, he's so laid back he's horizontal
. he's the only one of 7 that gets hard feed, the rest are doing really really well on fibre only with a dash of oil.
My friend reckons it all goes back to the days when people kept horses in big cities with no grazing - hackney cabs and the like and didn't know about the importance of fibre - they fed what they had access to. Not much hay in ninner city London in those days . The way we keep horses now has changed but some people still cling to the advice handed down over the years. I don't know how true that is - but it makes sense to me
Most people I know feed ad lib hay to stabled horses. At our RS they generally feed hay from the floor and the horses have the most enormous quantity of hay, about a wheelbarrow full each. The only ones that have nets are those that like to poo on theirs (only one or two).
I'm not a hard feed fan - a little goes a long way with most horses and a lot can do very well without. The cob I ride gets a tiny bit of competition mix with his fibre on occasion when he is lacking sparkle, but not often and he looks fab
. The way we keep horses now has changed but some people still cling to the advice handed down over the years. I don't know how true that is - but it makes sense to me Most people I know feed ad lib hay to stabled horses. At our RS they generally feed hay from the floor and the horses have the most enormous quantity of hay, about a wheelbarrow full each. The only ones that have nets are those that like to poo on theirs
(only one or two).I'm not a hard feed fan - a little goes a long way with most horses and a lot can do very well without. The cob I ride gets a tiny bit of competition mix with his fibre on occasion when he is lacking sparkle, but not often and he looks fab
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