Feeding the easy and the hard keeper together

[endlessclimb]

Here in a handful of months, my horses will come to live on my property. Their set up will be stalls opening to a communal sacrifice area. I don’t plan to close them in unless the weather is really really bad.

How can I feed my Easy Keeper 26 year old gelding with my Hardish Keeper (more like, big eater) 7 year old mare together, without the Old Man getting grossly fat?

Grain I am not worried about, it’s hay. I’d like to keep hay in front of the 7 year old all day long and allow her to eat as fast as she wants, but either slow the Old Man WAY down or restrict access for certain periods.

I’m sure lots of you have ponies and horses together, or this exact scenario I am facing. What worked? What doesn’t work?

Thanks!

[JB]

Grazing muzzle like Greenguard, and yes, horses can still eat hay with it on If necessary you could remove one of the barriers to make a bigger slot

[Inimitable]

Unfortunately, I have not found a great solution for this that doesn’t involve a lot of management. I have one fat@$$ pony and 4 high octane TBs. The only thing that worked for me last winter was stalling the pony at night so I could manage his calories. And a grazing muzzle in the summer. Most recently I got him a donkey so they can both be on donkey diets and the TBs can eat me out of house and home. So probably not the suggestions you’re looking for. It’s hard! Hopefully someone else will have an easy and obvious solution I have overlooked.

[lenapesadie]

Without utilizing separate “pens”, as Mr LS calls them, the grazing muzzle is your best bet.

Both of my horses can pull hay out of a Nibble Net (2” holes) with their GG muzzles on. I feed Teff hay that has fairly long pieces and is not compressed.

I don’t leave muzzles on 24/7. I think it’s too uncomfortable for my guys. So I just do muzzles during whatever portion of the day they also have access to a grass paddock in addition to the dry lot where I keep hay.

Different management needs among a small herd has been one of my biggest challenges. Some folks are lucky and have horses that get along all the time and have minimal differences in nutritional needs. I haven’t been as fortunate so far!

ETA: coming up on the 3 yr anniversary of horses coming home to this farm and I’m finishing up the addition of “proper” stalls with attached individual dry paddocks to help with management.

[endlessclimb]

Gah, the muzzle. I was thinking this was probably going to be the answer. That’s ok, he will survive.

I could probably wire off separate pens for them when they’re on hay, but then I need to move where the trough is and it’s much more inconvenient to reach with the hose. Then I could have them together (Old Man muzzled) when they’re on grass for ~half the day.

I’ll try the muzzle with hay first. He’s a super smart dude, so there will likely be several iterations of this.

Thanks everyone!

[FjordBCRF]

I’ll chime in as another with success with a grazing muzzle on hay as well. Green Guard now makes a “diet” insert you can use to make the muzzle holes smaller as well.

I’ll ask but Im guessing its not the case but maybe it will spark creative thinking. Is one significantly taller than the other? You could hang hay bags higher up so the shorty couldn’t reach, but thats prob better in an easy keeping mini with a full size horse.

[endlessclimb]

Well, yes sort of. The Old Man is 15hh even, and the young mare is 16.3. I don’t think that’s enough of a height difference though. That’s a super idea with a mini!

[lenapesadie]

@endlessclimb

so there will likely be several iterations of this

This is the true story of setting up horse keeping at home

[luvmyhackney]

I had to build a mini dry lot in the pasture. So they could be together but different food sources.

My pony became very efficient eating with a muzzle.

[MunchingonHay]

@Inimitable

Most recently I got him a donkey so they can both be on donkey diets and the TBs can eat me out of house and home. So probably not the suggestions you’re looking for.

This is actually the best answer. She needs a donkey!!

[Inimitable]

I’m a genius! Lol. Actually, it has been the best thing for this particular dude in more ways than one. I used to resent his very existence, but now that he has a girl donk to keep him in line he’s 1000x more pleasant to have around and his waistline is reappearing. And I’m in love with the donkey. She’s the perfect amount of grumpy, sweet, and sassy.

[Texarkana]

My donkey is muzzled year round when in any field with grass; she survives.

My tubbo mare is muzzled a good 7+ months out of the year. Also survives.

P.S. The whole reason I have a donkey is because when I moved my then 2 horses home in 2012, they turned into Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. After a month of their herdbound idiocy with no end in sight, I found myself a weanling donkey who has been the best thing since sliced bread!

[endlessclimb]

I have a feeling I’m going to be in the same boat.

I don’t want my Old Man muzzled 24/7, but that’s probably what it’s going to take. He gets fat looking at hay. I recognize how lucky I am to have an easy keeper old horse, but his arthritis really suffers when he’s overweight.

[Texarkana]

I don’t love muzzling 24/7, either… but I also don’t love stalling horses and don’t have a dry lot, so I end up doing it when I have to. I think it bothers me more than it bothers them.

My donkey gets stalled overnight to get a break from her muzzle, mainly because she’s tidy and doesn’t care if she’s alone in the barn. She’s a bit of a diva anyway.

[lenapesadie]

It’s definitely tough to have extremely different forage needs. My dearly departed Norman was super hard to keep weight on; really needed free choice alfalfa and fresh grazing in addition to buckets of high calorie feed. A nightmare with my easy keeping riding horse.

Now I have an air fern pony and the easy keeping riding horse. It’s less bad. Like they can have the same kind of hay at least.

Bc my life is extra, my riding horse is also a shelter hog. Too sunny, windy, rainy, buggy, noisy, dusty and at 2 pm … his butt is in the barn and he ain’t sharing.

In my ideal world, my horses would be together, outside 24/7 but the horses didn’t get the memo.

[FjordBCRF]

@MunchingonHay

This is actually the best answer. She needs a donkey!!

Yes!!!

This is actually my plan if/when I’d be able to bring Charlie home to retire. DH LOVES donkeys but I’m not paying to board one

[Inimitable]

@Texarkana

My donkey gets stalled overnight to get a break from her muzzle, mainly because she’s tidy and doesn’t care if she’s alone in the barn. She’s a bit of a diva anyway.

My donkey is also very tidy in her stall. And a diva. She’s my first donk, so I really didn’t know what to expect when I brought her home. But she’s a joy and adds very, very little in terms of time and effort to my daily routine. In fact, she has simplified things a great deal in terms of herd management and my mental health (I really, really butted heads with that dang pony before she came along). And her ridiculous face makes me happy.

[MunchingonHay]

I wanna kiss that nose!

[Inimitable]

She will allow it. Reluctantly.

[MunchingonHay]

I have snacks.