Balancing Free Choice Hay & Fat Minis

[Arelle]

Is anyone old enough to remember the old head desk emoji? I need it.

I am trying my darndest to figure out a way to keep hay in front of my miniatures (horse, cow, and donkey) 24/7 without them getting even fatter than they are currently.

Every time I’ve put plain jane coastal out in slow feed nets, no amount of exercise can outwork the caloric intake of these guys.

Every time I put them on a diet where they’re fed a few handfuls of hay a few times a day, I’m afraid they’ll have gastric issues.

Is there anything out there that is the equivalent of rice cakes or sugar free jello for fat-on-air equines? My big horses get 24/7 coastal and then actual meals 3x a day, and look fantastic, but I cannot figure out how to feed these air ferns.

Photo tax (the primary offender is the Shetland; the donkey is actually a new addition - but his mother already had a broken crest and I would like to avoid that if possible):

[Scribbler]

IME many horses become obese on free choice hay. Despite this being the current “best practice” recommended everywhere.

[lenapesadie]

You’ll need to either net harder or get lower calorie hay. Teff might work. You might try some Bahaia just as filler between “meals” of the better hay.

[S1969]

@Scribbler

IME many horses become obese on free choice hay. Despite this being the current “best practice” recommended everywhere.

Yes, and minis are a bred-down dwarf that couldn’t exist in nature. They don’t need 24/7 hay, period.

If you’re already feeding 3x a day for the other horses, I would just feed hay at those times. I wouldn’t like my horses (mini included) to go 12+ hours with nothing at all, but they certainly will not die without hay for a couple of hours during the day and a few more at night.

The only thing I would worry about if you’re restricting hay in that mixed species herd is making sure each is getting what they need. I have no idea how much hay a cow should eat daily, for example.

[Catherine616]

I don’t feed our mini free choice hay for that reason! She will never stop eating. So far I have had good luck with lower calorie first cutting hay and also Triple Crown’s Safe Starch forage.

[Arelle]

Perfect! As long as someone else is doing it and not experiencing negatives like ulcers or colic, then I’m fine to continue with what’s working - I just stress on the balance.

Thanks!

[Scribbler]

The whole 24/7 hay thing exaggerates the risk of colic and ulcers on an intermittent restricted feeding schedule.

For most pet horses, obesity with laminitis and founder is a real and present danger and cripples or kills more ponies than ulcers or colic caused by feeding schedules.

[pick_a_pony]

Isn’t that the truth! So many people think fat horses are a good thing when it is really the cause of so many other issues!

[cayuse]

What I do with my minis is weigh there hay and divide it into 5 feedings. They both get 5 .5 lbs a day so it’s pretty easy to work out, and I’m home so I can pop out to the barn and toss it to them. I do give them a slightly heavier portion at night if its cold. I could not give them free choice, it would be a disaster health wise.

[scislandsprite]

I’ve seen some people double hay-net for ponies to make it last even longer for the ponies since they’re able to work hay nets a bit easier. However I have a horse that’s not on 24/7 hay due to being an easy keeper and has never had ulcers or symptoms. Someone I talked to insisted so firmly I was wrong, I believed them. I forked out the cash to have the vet come out and scope, no ulcers or anything like the sort. Some of them just don’t have gastric issues

Edit: Typo

[arbeegirl]

My aunt has a mini donkey and a mini mule. Both are very easy keepers. She puts their hay in small slow feed haynets and hangs them all around their turnout including the wooded part. This encourages them to move around to get their hay. She also has a couple of hay balls for them. They pretty much live on a dry lot with occasional access to some grass.

They rarely finish all the hay she puts out for them each day.

[candyappy]

@Arelle

I am trying my darndest to figure out a way to keep hay in front of my miniatures (horse, cow, and donkey) 24/7 without them getting even fatter than they are currently.

In my way of thinking you are trying to kill them with kindness. They don’t need access to hay 24 hours a day. I KNOW the thinking today is that unless they can eat continually 24/7 you are going to have ulcers and that is just not true.

My horses have never had hay 24/7 and in 40+ years of owning horses I have fed they amount of hay they need to maintain a healthy weight and nothing more.( 2-3feedings a day).

I have had them on dry lot, small acreage and pasture( like now and I struggle to keep weight off). Never had a horse with ulcers, so while ulcers happen it isn’t because of feeding alone.

Feed them the amount they need to be healthy in several small meals a day. Overfeeding has a lot more risks than feeding just 2-4 times a day. IMHO.

[Arelle]

The good news is, my herd is all healthy. No one is obese, or foundering, despite the fact that I do provide 24/7 hay to my big horses.

Thanks everyone for the input; I appreciate it!

[S1969]

I think the idea is that a grazing animal should have access to food nearly all the time for optimal digestion, but actual wild horses (and other grazing animals) would not have access to quality timothy/alfalfa 24/7. They would have access to all kinds of less nutritious forage including wild plants, tree bark, and weeds, and have to spend a lot of time walking around to find enough to eat that they kept a good balance of ‘free choice’ and calories burned.

Other than my TB mare, my herd has to have limits. (Especially the pony and mini, although my Dutch WB is pretty damn fat). And that’s not even with good quality hay/grazing. The best option is for me to limit hay by putting it out only a few times/day, and supplementing the TB mare with senior feed and alfalfa pellets. Then she gets enough, and the rest don’t blow up like balloons.

[candyappy]

@Arelle

The good news is, my herd is all healthy. No one is obese, or foundering, despite the fact that I do provide 24/7 hay to my big horses.

Thanks everyone for the input; I appreciate it!

I imagine you want to keep it that way and unrestricted hay is just not optimal for a donkey , small pony or mini and in some cases a full-sized horse.

If they are doing well I would just stay with what you are doing?