Grain once a day

[JB]

This is far less about how often he’s fed, and entirely about how much would be fed at one time.

I fed once a day for 18-ish years. Why? Because nobody got more than a ration balancer, and there’s no need at all to split that.

I feed twice a day now and DO split that, for the sole reason my 33yo needs to eat at least 10lb of feed a day (and trying desperately to get him to finish that, let alone try to get to 12lb a day), and that cannot, should not be done in a single meal (not that he’d eat it anyway). So I bring them all in twice a day. If I could bring the 33yo in by himself to eat, and feed the others once a day, I’d do that in a heartbeat, but 33yo won’t eat at all if they others aren’t also there.

[pompeiii]

I am currently only feeding concentrate 1x/day. This may change in the winter, but it’s working for me now. I generally always feed the “larger” meal when my horses are inside (so overnight in the winter, morning in the summer) as my boys tend to graze on concentrate (my gelding takes 3-4 hours to eat because he gets distracted by his alfalfa). They always have free choice hay available.

Currently they get their evening meal outside: soaked cubes/fibre beet mash with a handful of grain. This might become breakfast in the winter OR an extra at dinner. We’ll see. But they’re loving eating their mashes outside so why not? They also have hay and my OTTB’s weight looks better than ever. He was leaving dinner in his excitement to go out so this is working.

[GoodTimes]

I agree with the others that it’s about how much is being fed, or if there are meds involved.

Mine are boarded and live out 24/7, always with access to hay/pasture and water. My young mare comes in for a few hours during the day because that’s what her pasture mates owners want, fine by me. They get breakfast, which for her is a cup of beet pulp and her vit/min supp. When the other horses get their second meal she gets a handful of cheap grain so she thinks that she got something. Then her grazing muzzle goes on and she goes out.
My gelding doesn’t come in at all and only gets “grain” when myself or my mom is out. Which means he usually eats six meals per week, not always at the same time. His meals are two cups of shredded beet pulp with molasses to carry his vit/min supp and omega 3 oil, he’s a picky eater.

[candyappy]

I have only ever fed mine once a day.

The only exception was a rescue mare but she went to once a day when she gained all her weight back.

As others have said it all depends on how much the horse needs per day. Can they not just feed yours twice a day if he needs too much to eat safely in 1 meal?

[Djones]

My herd gets hay 2x a day, they are on sparse grass, too. They get “fed” once a day. Water is checked twice a day. Everyone looks marvelous for their ages.

[melula]

It’s a 10/10 pelleted complete feed so mostly forage based feed (6lbs) Two pounds of rice bran. 8 lbs at one time seems excessive. I might try to decrease the amount and see what happens.

[melula]

10/10 pelleted concentrate. It’s a low sugar feed so not very much actual grain. The total weight is 6lbs of that feed and 2 lbs rice bran so 8 lbs. I’ll maybe decrease the amount and see how she does.

[beau159]

@melula

A trainer that I like works out of a barn that feeds grain once a day. Hay is 24/7. I’ve not heard of such a thing. In my world, horses are grained twice a day or at swanky places three times. My hard keeper currently enjoys three pounds of grain twice a day with a mid day snack of rice bran. What are your thoughts in moving from a two + regimen to all concentrates once a day? It’s apparently all the rage on the east coast. I’m obviously skeptical. Please allay my fears. Happy to trailer in, but far more convenient to keep my horse at the trainer’s preferred barn.

What is your definition of GRAIN? Oats? Sweet feed? Senior feed? Alfalfa cubes? Etc.
I think that’s a very important factor in the discussion, as well as the amount (pounds) fed, that you stated.
Six+ pounds, to me, is a lot. And would be better to split up if he really needs that much to keep weight on. How is your hay quality?

EDITED after I posted as I see you updated that it’s a pelleted concentrate. What brand?

I have my horses at home. They are on pasture 24/7 in the warmer months and have hay 24/7 in the winter months. I do not check on them in the morning. I have to get my kids ready for school and myself to work. I have three horses and two are easy keepers and do not get anything additional. My other one needs a few extra calories but she gets it once a day when I get home from work. (alfalfa pellets, purina outlast, hygain zero)

[JB]

@melula

The total weight is 6lbs of that feed and 2 lbs rice bran so 8 lbs. I’ll maybe decrease the amount and see how she does.

yeah, that’s just too much, especially 2lb of rice bran at once.

[Scribbler]

You should crunch the numbers and see what the vitamin mineral intake is. You might be further ahead with a very good ration balancer or VMS and much less of the pellets as long as the missing calories are made up in plenty of good quality hay.

Is this your feed?

https://www.augustacoop.com/product/nutrena-1010-horse-feed-pellet-50-lbs/

It doesn’t have any added VMS, it’s 10 per cent protein, and 10 per cent fat. Can’t find ingredients or nutrition analysis. $25 a 50 lb bag so almost $100 a month before you add any ration balancer.

Honestly if your horse can chew I would replace this with hay and a ration balancer and maybe a flake of alfalfa to make up the protein since alfalfa is usually higher than 10 % protein. Feed a standard 5 lb alfalfa flake and you have that covered.

That leaves you with about ten ounces of fat that’s in the 6 lbs of pellets. You can see if he really needs that, once he’s getting more hay and his ration balancer.

[StormyDay]

Some barns have moved to feeding more hay and less grain, so they now only do one grain feeding a day. I think it’s a combination of more people owning fat prone warmbloods and a bigger priority on good turnout. If your horse is spending 12 hours a day on grass, it probably doesn’t need a ton of concentrates to eat.
Also, the cost of grain probably plays into this. It used to be you could get a bag of grain for $17-20. Now it’s like $30-40. The cost of hay hasn’t increased at the same rate. It’s now significantly cheaper to feed hay than feed Pre-mix grain.

[Scribbler]

That calculation depends on region. Some places are paying insane hay prices

[StormyDay]

@Scribbler

That calculation depends on region. Some places are paying insane hay prices

That is true. I’d say in general though, most of the USA has cheaper hay than grain.

[Scribbler]

Hay should be much cheaper than bagged feed because it’s simpler to produce and binder twine has to be cheaper than a nice pretty full color plasticized 50 lb feed sack. But with our hay prices up around $800 a ton here, I think alfalfa cubes may be cheaper on a per pound basis than alfalfa hay.

$800 a ton equals $20 for 50 lbs.

[StormyDay]

@Scribbler

Hay should be much cheaper than bagged feed because it’s simpler to produce and binder twine has to be cheaper than a nice pretty full color plasticized 50 lb feed sack. But with our hay prices up around $800 a ton here, I think alfalfa cubes may be cheaper on a per pound basis than alfalfa hay.

$800 a ton equals $20 for 50 lbs.

Holy cow where are you at? That’s Florida prices

[Scribbler]

Well, Canadian dollars!

[MadTrotter]

@StormyDay

Holy cow where are you at? That’s Florida prices

Yeah that’s like $20 for a decent sized two string square.

I cut my own grass hay but buy alfalfa. Market in upstate NY is: first cutting sells for $6ish, second $8ish, alfalfa $12-$14. Any bales under 40ish lbs are considered “kickers” and sell for less.

[StormyDay]

Okay that makes more sense but still seems super high. We pay about $6 to $12 for a 50lb, depending on if you buy it from the field or from the feed store.

[Scribbler]

@StormyDay

Okay that makes more sense but still seems super high. We pay about $6 to $12 for a 50lb, depending on if you buy it from the field or from the feed store.

I am paying $22 a bale for some “nice local” this weekend, delivered by the farmer, 60 lb bales. This is double what I paid for local hay when I started horse keeping again about ten years ago. And when I was 15 I paid $3 a bale!

[Weezer]

At my place I feed a TB mare about 7lbs of food twice a day (so 14 lbs total). Most of that weight is beet pulp, but she gets a few pounds of pelleted feed in there. I know it’s not ideal to feed her such large portions but I can’t feed her 4 times per day and I’ve worked with a nutritionist and vet to find the right balance of feed. I’ve been feeding her like this for over two years and she is doing beautifully, so I think it might be okay to feed a large portion once a day.

My biggest concern would be the horse eating too quickly and choking if the one meal is exciting. Maybe put a big rock or salt block on top of the meal to force the horse to eat slowly?