Feeding two horses in paddock

[Trotting]

recently switched from boarding to keeping horses at home, small property with one decent sized paddock with run in sheds. Two mares, a quarter horse and a thoroughbred. Tb was on pasture and free choice rounds at boarding facility with 15 or so other horses and qh was recently purchased from a home where she had free choice rounds with maybe 4 or 5 others and she was on her way to becoming too fat as she is an easy keeper. Tb is not a hard keeper she reletively stays the same year round.
Well the qh is a complete cow and keeps chasing the thoroughbred off the hay. they each get a large haynet twice a day and a flake or two off the sqaure bails mid day. Right now im feeding them at opposite ends of the paddock so they are good for a while but my thoroughbred is a slow eater and the qh chases her so if she comes over the tb will leave the hay so now she is only getting half her food and the qh is eating the rest.

I can tie them near their food when im home but i work 4 -5 days a week and wont be home to untie them when they are finished so that wont work. I only have one paddock so at this time i cannot seperate them, later on i can purchase livestock pannels to seperate if needed but dont have the money at this time.
Is there anything i can do in the meantime to make sure my tb is getting her food ?

[Bluey]

Could you find a way to confine the bossy one, let the other have the paddock and her food all to herself?

Three panels, two if you have a corner, should do it to make a small feed pen you can keep one in half a day, thru two feedings.

[IFG]

Can you divide with electric tape? After having a similar situation for 4 years, I now have my paddock divided with round pen panels. More of a PIA in some ways, easier in others.

[ParadoxFarm]

Separation would be best, but may not be practical for you. I find when I have 3, 4 horses, I always split the hay in 4, 5, 6 piles. Make more piles than horses and that seems to help. The bossy horse will still push the TB away, but since there are several piles, he has more places to grab a bite. And it usually seems to slow down eventually when they all know they get enough hay. Good luck. Even using nets, set up several.

[tabula_rashah]

My four eat in the field together. They greedy fatties get enough chopped hay (couple of handfuls) mixed with their grain that it takes them longer to eat than the slower ones

[Trotting]

The first day i made up bags and loose piles very spread out but the tb just goes and stands by the fence and watches the other horse eat if she gets chased away she wont go to the other piles for some reason.
I cant corner one in because they would be stuck in there for too long while im at work (12 hour shifts) so same problem at tying i will definitely look into tape. Not sure what the cost would be for that.

[hosspuller]

I saw a set up that had several stalls just wide enough for a horse. When they were fed, the horse was protected on the sides with only the hind exposed. I figured the aggressive horses left the lower horses alone since they were exposed to a kick in return for a bite.

[Trotting]

Maybe im not looking in the right places but it looks like the energizer for the electric fencing alone will be almost the same price as just buying panels.

[IFG]

This is the one I have: https://www.statelinetack.com/item/parmak-solar-pak-6-fence-charger/BXF19/?srccode=GPSLT&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1tfquo2i3QIVk4izCh1d4A98EAQYBCABEgJDu_D_BwE&kwid=productads-adid^160636394091-device^c-plaid^109335675948-sku^70780-adType^PLA

[IFG]

Adding, that was the cost per panel for my priefert panels more or less.

[Trotting]

Panels here are about 40 per panel.
Im in canada so for the cost of that would only be slightly cheaper to what id be paying for the amount of panels i need.

[IFG]

@Trotting

Panels here are about 40 per panel.
Im in canada so for the cost of that would only be slightly cheaper to what id be paying for the amount of panels i need.

Check to make sure that those are horse-safe panels. I started a thread here a few months ago and got lots of great advice on how to chose panels so that they would hold up to horses and not catch a leg.

[Trotting]

Yes they are. My friend uses them to keep her stud and they are sold at a local equine supply store. Its pretty average for my area to have them from 40-70 $ per panel.

[S1969]

Well, there aren’t really a lot of easy answers.

1. Separate horses with hard fencing
2. Separate horses with electric fencing
3. Stalls
4. Lots of piles of hay

Pretty much that’s it. My 3 go out as a herd and have enough resources but obviously that can result in one being at optimal weight and one being a big fat cow. (Or two fat cows).

I could separate mine but I don’t. Probably it would be more ideal from a feed/weight perspective but more expensive/time consuming from a fencing/cost and daily turnout perspective.

I also have plenty of room to spread hay around - paddock size will make a big difference. What size paddock are you working with?

For me, livestock panels would be far more expensive than electric - I have this charger to separate my full pasture from my sacrifice pasture and it works great.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr…r?cm_vc=-10005

[Huntin_Pony]

Any chance of feeding earlier so that you can let the QH loose before you leave for work?

[Palm_Beach]

Can you hang one more hay net so they never run out?

[Trotting]

Sadly with a physical job and 12 hour shifts im already getting up as early as i can physically handle to feed and get ready.

Id free feed but im worried about the qh gaining weight again she still needs to loose some. Its gonna be at least a month before i can buy something to seperate them so idk what im going to do. Was hoping for a cheaper temporary option. The lady i was boarding with decided she didnt want boarders anymore so i put myself in a bit of a hole building the paddock setup and buying hay for the year, and having my truck break down on top of that. Might just have to add to the hole

[Highflyer]

You could try muzzling the QH during the day. It might slow her down just enough.

[SuzieQNutter]

Mine are divided into the all you can eat paddock and the Jenny Craig paddock.

When you feed 2 horses in a paddock you put out more than 2 feedings, so one cannot guard both. That does not help when one eats slowly and the other inhales.

[RInurse_Rider]

I second muzzling the greedy horse. I’ve done it with my fat, food-obsessed gelding.