Comments on: Fit or Fat

By: janis hogarth

janis hogarth — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:57:26 +0000

Hi.

within the past few months there was an ad for an automatic feeder, can you let me know which issue it was in?

Thanks for the help,

Janis

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:02:48 +0000

The case is over feeding our horses .The fact is alot of horses owners do not know how much hay is required per horse.I believe a horse should be fed 30lb of hay per feeding twice a day . I do not free feed . With that being said my horses are still over fed . My 8 year old gelding just has to look at hay and he will gain 50 lb.
So the question is…. “How much hay are we safely to feed per horse with out over feeding . This Question is applied for winter feeding as it does vary for weather . Horses do need more hay in -20 + winter months to keep warm .

By: Deborah George

Deborah George — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:41:17 +0000

I think the trend of feeding all sorts of high-test feeds and supplements and keeping horses in stalls 23 hours a day has passed,thank goodness and people are realizing that horses,by nature,are grazers,who need to move around freely. We’ve always fed plenty of hay and turned our horses out,24-7,weather permitting. We feed very little grain,but we do supplement as necessary. Naturally,the amount of feed and roughage has to be adjusted according to the horse’s work load. Our one horse has a tendency to get too heavy,so we try to keep him off the best pasture. He is primarily a trail horse,while the other is a performance horse,who is competed regularly in driving events,along with being pleasure ridden and driven. Naturally,he requires more grain,but still not the enormous amounts that some people seem to feel are necessary. I truly feel this is where many people run into trouble with behavior issues,as well. You have over fed,under worked horses that are basically going stir crazy. In addition,as far as winter goes,and we get some nasty winter weather in Pennsylvania,it has been proven that hay and not grain,is what helps keep a horse warm. We never blanket and our horses stay very comfortable when turned out.

I was wondering about Jeanne’s question-when you say hoof problems,do you mean he has had Laminitis at some point or does he have Navicular? If he has had Laminitis or Foundered,I could see why your vet doesn’t want him out on grass. We had a pony years ago,who had suffered previous bouts of Laminitis,so we had to keep him off of grass. On the other hand,if the problem is Navicular,the grass really wouldn’t be a factor,other than if he gets too heavy,it puts more weight on his already sore feet. My Paint Horse who had Navicular,always did best when he was out and moving around and I did keep his weight down. I wanted to add a word of caution-you said your horses were turned out on gravel-watch that you don’t feed them hay off the ground.I know of a horse that nearly died from colic that was caused by ingesting gravel with his hay. (The owner had spread gravel in a muddy area.)

By: KCashatt

KCashatt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:32:46 +0000

I believe if a horse is ridden regularly and by regularly I mean at least 3 times a week…much of this information would be self-evident either the horse would start losing weight and you would give more food or he would remain the same which is rarely the case. He would also relish his food. Horses just like humans need exercise – our muscles were made to MOVE and so are theirs. Standing in a stall day in and day out is not condusive to a horse being to metabolize his food whether you are feeding grains/pellets or combo grains/hays etc. Having your hay tested for nutrients is an important step and then adding where there are deficiencies makes the most “cents.”

By: Ned Ludlum

Ned Ludlum — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:10:06 +0000

key things to look for are vitamin levels, organic minerals

What should horse owners look for? Every article I read eludes to what is good and what is bad but offer no absolutes. where is reliable accurate information regarding nutrition for a horse?
Commercial manufacturers of pellet supplements are in the business of selling product. What is the objective information that people can reference when choosing vitamins and minerals for there horse?

By: Jeanne Vaughn

Jeanne Vaughn — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:15:05 +0000

Hi,
I am concerned about our horses; we have an older horse, about 18 yrs. old, who has hoof problems and our vet thinks he should not be on grass…period. He and our younger horse, age 7, are in a fenced gravel area about an acre in size. I tend to think, because I read it somewhere, that horses are grazers and are happiest in a pasture grazing all day. Are we doing the right thing? They seem heathy, our older horse has had better hoofs, they get hay and grain and they do have room to run and kick, etc.; I just want some assurance that we are doing the right thing.
Concerned horse lover.

By: Shauna

Shauna — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:50:26 +0000

This is a great article. More people need to be educated on feeding.
I have many horse people around me that have very fat horses and think they are helping them keep warm in the winter. But in reality over weight horses cant regulate their body heat.

By: Eric Wade

Eric Wade — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:07:32 +0000

I believe that this article should have been released a long time ago!, Owners pamper their animals to much these days, you can get alot further in any disipline by feeding the proper amounts to horse.