Change of routine due to weather

[rosie]

My mare is usuallly turned out from about 9am til 5pm, but due to the amount of snow we have had she is now stabled all the time. Shes kept on DIY livery at a large farm and we've been told to keep horses in as the snow is 'affecting the insulators on the electric fence, so its not working'. At present she has been in since Monday night, apart from getting a short time out in the school while I muck out. I've also managed to take her for a walk in hand but even that only 5-10 mins at the most. She is fed on hay and shes gets a token feed of safe & sound, with supplements in twice a day. I was thinking of swpping to mixing haylage with her hay, thinking of the water content, but not sure if I would be better to just stick to hay, so as not to upset her digestion? Does anyone feed anything else to sort of supplement not having grass - or is hay just OK. I've never had to have her in for this long before, shes being very good upto now!

[Lorraine L]

Hi Rosie
Personally i wouldn't worry too much as long as you can keep her fed on hay. At least she is getting enough to keep her ticking over. It must be a nightmare for those who use specific feeds which aren't getting through with deliveries etc.

I have felt awful about not getting lukie out for some exercise / turnout but to be honest, its better that hes fed, and kept warm etc rather than risk the frozen ground or slipping.
I just hope that we can all see the other side of these conditions soon enough and we can all get back to some sort of normality. I have to keep reminding myself not to change things just because i think the boys might be in need of something else just because its cold.

[KoLaTo]

Just keep an eye on her droppings and if they get too dry/hard then if you have fairly wet haylage then try her on some.

Mine are out from 6pm til 8.30am and then in for the day, i have had to gradually include some haylage for all three and one is totally on it for the moment as he was/is suffering from dehydration and droppings were very dry and hard but *touches wood* i have now found a way to get fluids into him and he is munching away on wet haylage so droppings coming back to normall.

As mine are out quite a bit i do add speedibeet and more plain chaff while the snow is here and they can't pick at any grass at all but once it's starts thawing then they will go back out 24/7 and i will gradually cut the feed back down.

[potto]

Just a quickie..... I feed speedibeet as well and usually make up an amount for the next day aswell and managed to freeze some, who hasn't?.. I scraped out the middle bit and made a frozen ring.. this i tied up and put in the field for them to nibble on... but it got me thinking, during this weather when we are not a able to travel as often to feed, and with worries about dehydration etc. Frozen rings or blocks of feed tied up may be the way to go... You could do it with more water than normal...to make sure the feed wasn't too much in one go, plus it takes longer to consume and helps with hydration.

You could make some variations with bits of feed in like balancer , and maybe some herbs and (garlic just this once) or mint, rosehips, etc.... to get them interested.... anyway... just a thought...

Hopefully it won't be damaging to them... i suppose the vitamins might be reduced but so what... it will only be a tempory measure until the snow melts and it gives them some entertainment..?

[rosie]

Thanks for your replies. I have decided to stick with hay and not change to haylage. Her droppings are fine. Today hasnt been as cold as in previous days, so we are not having as many problems with frozen taps, therefore no worries about water! Am just hoping the snow melts soon.