Cranky Chestnut Mare Help - Nutrition?

[lifeishorsesarelove]

Hay hay hay hay hay. So many issues can be solved by more/better hay. you have an ulcery/ulcer-prone horse. That means you need to keep that belly at least partly full as much as you can.

Solo turn out with a slow feed net, or buy hay nets for all her buddies. I feed on the ground 24/7 with 4 one-inch hole hay nets for 2 horses, 6 when I had 3. More than enough ‘piles’ for everyone to be able to eat, and it stretches out the hay for longer, so you don’t end up overfeeding to try to keep hay in front of them always. My hay is pretty rich and alfalfa heavy for 2 of the 3 I had on it, so if I fed free choice I would waste a lot and have bowling ball shaped ponies. The nets are great, I have pretty heavy duty ones and the horses kick them around and they have held up well.

If you can’t keep hay in front of her where she is, move. You’re going to be fighting a never ending battle against ulcers if you can’t keep her guts working with hay the way they’re meant to.

If she’s still cranky after solving the hay problem, I have had great success with my cranky chestnut mare with raspberry leaves (Mare magic is sold by smartpak), and I also added epsom salts as a magnesium supplement, which seemed to make her happier as well.

[paintedpony]

Hay

[dancerflash]

There’s a lot of people who under feed horse’s they survive. Not ideal not something I’d do to my horse. What blows me away the ones who let horses go hours on end…nothing to eat. Then wonder why horse has ulcers.

Way cheaper to feed free feed hay then treat ulcers.

[DawningDreams]

I’d gladly move her except for cost. The place I’m at allows me to work off most of the boarding costs (these people don’t want to groom or pick out the feet of their own horses - drives me crazy). The biggest issue is the trainer they use - she’s convinced them that horses will get sick if fed free choice hay and that horses never need to see a vet (use cayenne pepper and garlic on cuts). No matter what I say, they seem to do the complete opposite. The boarding around here is insanely expensive- $700/month for pasture board on crappy weedy grass. One place that I was looking at is really nice, free choice hay and nice arenas for $700/month full care. I’m meeting to talk with the BO to see if there is any way I could work off some of the costs (it’s also a much longer drive than where she’s at now.)

[paintedpony]

When you subtract the expense of supplements, ulcer meds, treatment for rain rot, inability to work due to rain rot, possibly delayed wound healing, the higher board bill might not seem so high.

Hay fixes alot of issues, both behaviour and general health.