|
|
Post by jill on Jan 21, 2013 11:34:16 GMT 1
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2013 11:38:24 GMT 1
Really interesting, especially the bit on the left about the hay belly, I didn't know that!
|
|
|
|
Post by mandal on Jan 21, 2013 11:46:24 GMT 1
Yes, and of course we can't tell what good quality hay is without testing unfortunately.
The hay belly is the same as the grass belly in my limited understanding.
|
|
|
|
Post by jen1 on Jan 21, 2013 11:52:01 GMT 1
Yes ive been banging on about this for years , we only do a bucket feed once a day for a token feed the tbs get a little more, some are on little more than 100 grams of fast fibre, im of the opinion that the more you feed in a bucket the less forage they eat, also I find a lot of younger folk dont make the connection between food and fat horses,
|
|
|
|
Post by mandal on Jan 21, 2013 11:55:53 GMT 1
I am wondering where straw fits in here then? Of course it is only relevant if straw is a decent proportion of the diet...
Also, re the minerals and sugar content, reading Kathryn Watts's research that depends to some extent on the soil and how it is looked after as well as how hay is made which seems to be important for the sugar content especially.
|
|
|
|
Post by specialized on Jan 21, 2013 12:04:01 GMT 1
Whilst there is nothing new in the fact that hay or grazing should form the basis of their feed we must not forget that most pasture in the UK is deficient in many minerals and hay cannot provide some vitamins (the article is from the US so their mineral situation could be very different).
We feed a maintenance hard feed all year round to ensure our horses have the required vitamin and minerals as well as a good probiotic which supports the digestion of their fodder.
However we inevitably find that when a new livery arrives we have to wean them off massive feeds and slowly convince them that their overweight horses do not need more than a token. Usually the feeding decisions have been based on discussions with the 'experts' from the feed companies who want to increase their sales.
|
|
|
|
Post by marychick on Jan 21, 2013 12:06:00 GMT 1
, also I find a lot of younger folk dont make the connection between food and fat horses, a bit agei-st!  I suppose the issue is that "hay" is a bit of a general term and can cover a whole manner of sins. Without doing an analysis it's hard to know exactly whats it your hay. Plus lots of suppliers cut from different fields in different areas so you may not know what you're getting from bale to bale and then of course you'd need to test from year to year as you don't know when it was cut and how the weather has effected the nutritional value  ... tempted to rent a field and grow my own! hehe |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2013 12:06:43 GMT 1
I'd guess straw would add to the hay belly as more of it is indigestible but as you say mandal, most horses don't have a huge amount of it so I wouldn't have thought it'd make all that much difference unless it's fed instead of hay.
|
|
|
|
Post by marianne on Jan 21, 2013 12:07:34 GMT 1
Great article ! I often wonder how people thought horses survived for 50 million years before specialist horse feed arrived :-)
I feed balancer to my mare foal and oldie. The oldie also gets some conditioning nuts. The other 6 get ad lib hay and grass and a salt lick.
|
|
|
|
Post by marychick on Jan 21, 2013 12:12:33 GMT 1
Great article ! I often wonder how people thought horses survived for 50 million years before specialist horse feed arrived :-) They had access to a variety of forage rather than being fed limited species of grass from fields cultivated for cows |
|
|
|
Post by mandal on Jan 21, 2013 12:14:17 GMT 1
I believe they have mineral deficiencies in US. Pete Ramey talks of fields with no/little zinc and copper in the grass.
I think the article is very brief and it's much more complex in reality but I assume the aim is to get people thinking about some very basic issues.
|
|
|
|
Post by jill on Jan 21, 2013 12:20:37 GMT 1
It's really only as complex as we make it, most of us are feeding our horses as though they were performance horses in training or for some other reason need a very specialised diet. Most do very very well on a half decent basic diet, and that gives them all they need to do the work and maintain their systems. They can actually process most forage very efficiently, and all some possibly need to counteract any deficiencies is a supplement or two - we don't need to feed most of them as though they were top athletes. That's the marketing effect for the big feed companies.
|
|
|
|
Post by marychick on Jan 21, 2013 12:38:56 GMT 1
Completely agree with regards to energy levels etc that lots of people way over estimate the amount of feed their horses need to maintain their level of work. But unfortunetly in terms of trying to ensure your horse has all the nutrients they need for things such as healthy foot growth etc there may be more to it.
|
|
Amanda Seater
Grand Prix Poster
Listen to your horse you may be surprised what he may tell you about yourself
Posts: 3,866
|
Post by Amanda Seater on Jan 21, 2013 14:22:11 GMT 1
it does mention mineral suplementation in the article.
|
|
|
|
Post by ladyndibs on Jan 21, 2013 14:35:44 GMT 1
It's really only as complex as we make it, most of us are feeding our horses as though they were performance horses in training or for some other reason need a very specialised diet. Most do very very well on a half decent basic diet, and that gives them all they need to do the work and maintain their systems. They can actually process most forage very efficiently, and all some possibly need to counteract any deficiencies is a supplement or two - we don't need to feed most of them as though they were top athletes. That's the marketing effect for the big feed companies. Valid point, I also wonder if there is also the guilt factor, if you don't feed your horse x, y, & z then you're not doing the 'best' for your horse. It's not true but often what is implied. |
|
