Is there a reason you won’t feed him grain?
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Can you put two slow feed hay nets in the turn out? That might slow the hoover horse down and give your horse the chance to eat.
I also recommend feeding grain. Very hard to keep weight on TBs without.
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Figure out whether the cost of 2 slow feed hay nets plus hay for 2 horses (assuming they will allow the QH to eat some hay during the day) is cheaper than moving the TB to board in a place that suits his needs better.
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His hooves where bad on grain, couldnt get rid of the whiteline disease and where soft but when on a grain free diet his hooves improved alot
What grain was being fed? A high-quality, low-NSC feed like Triple Crown Senior (or even a ration balancer if he doesn’t need additional calories) should not create hoof problems.
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I tried the triple crown senior, sentinel ls and a few others and his feet never got better till I removed the grain, I feed him coolstance copra and his feet do fine on that
Can you muzzle the other horse?
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I agree.
In this situation, increasing the calories to keep the weight on your horse would be easiest while he is stalled. This still leaves the situation of 8-9 hours without anything to eat, and it’s not something I would accept. I would be looking for some low calorie (and hopefully much cheaper) hay that you could put out for both horses in small hole hay nets. Hopefully this wouldn’t put much weight on the other horse, and would be acceptable to the owner.
Is there anywhere you could store a round bale, or perhaps under a tarp? Buying and storing a round bale, and filling nets from this would cut down the cost dramatically.
The only other way to do it would be to separate the turnout area, but I doubt the owner would want that.
If I couldn’t do either of those, I’d definitely move the horse.
I am assuming that the cost to house your horse at the relative’s is far cheaper than boarding. In any case, add up the cost of purchasing low calorie and cheaper (but still decent quality) hay for the two horses, as well as the cost of at least two slow feed hay nets (I might even opt for more than two slow feed nets scattered about in case the easy keeper hoovers his and steals from yours), and compare that to the cost of boarding elsewhere. I know you don’t want to feed your relative’s horse, but perhaps doing so might be cheaper than moving.
ETA: basically what @joiedevie99 already said.
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No matter what is recommended here, the question is really: What are the relatives willing to do? Should they be of the mind set “I have been looking after Fluffy in this manner for 10 years, and she is fine, no need to change anything” any recommendations are pointless.
I would have a discussion with relatives. Your choices may well be adapt, or move.
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Yeah I would discuss with the relatives. Let them know that if you can’t figure out a way for your horse to get forage during the day without their horse eating it all, you will have to move to a different place. In which case their horse will be alone, which was their reasoning for not wanting to do separate turnout times.
I am a bit confused about the feed, like TCS, causing bad feet issues though. I’ve never heard of that before, doesn’t really make sense. Wonder if it might not be a bad idea to still get on some kind of grain like that but add in a supplement like platinum performance or farrier’s formula.
I wish I could just move him but theres no boarding place in the area that has a riding arena, he would just end up being a pasture ornament
Not an ideal situation by any means, I suggest that you take measures to increase your horse’s caloric intake when in the stall. Get a hay net that will hold an entire bale, put it in a water tank and tie it to a ring you install at the bottom of the back wall of the tank. Put a few loose flakes on top at night fro immediate intake when he comes in.
Increase the calories in the am by making a soaked mash of the alfalfa cubes and stabilized high fat rice bran.
Start aggressively getting weight on your your horse now, don’t wait until it gets colder.
and start looking for a place to board that has higher standards for horse care.
So I bought some cheaper hay to throw to both horses so my horse at least has something in his belly during the day, I put out enough to where the other horse cant eat it all and it seems to be working out okay so far
I hope it works out well for you. Sounds like a very frustrating experience.
Correlation is not causation.
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I agree with Janet, Did you speak to a vet about the white line and what was causing it? I’m not sure how grain was diagnosed as the issue. Is it actual white line disease, or is it weak hoof wall structure?
If you won’t feed grain, why don’t you feed him alf pellets? Give him a big bucket of them at night. Hay alone, even free choice hay, is often NOT enough for a hard keeper. And do ulcer meds! I agree with PNWjumper that ulcers can cause hard keeping, and that if he has free choice hay all night a few hours during the day without is not a big deal. Horses don’t graze all day, they spend a lot of time standing around.
The last couple of weeks I have been considering selling him because he is costing me so much money but I have gotten really attached to him.
Out of all the horses I have owned hes the one I have the most connection with and he is so good under saddle.
You’re boarding with a relative and feeding “cheaper hay” with no grain, and this is “so much money”?
May I ask how old you are, OP?
