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How long does your horse go without forage?

Horse Care
#21

No water for for more then a couple of hours on a routine basis is not acceptable to me.

Hay wise, my long time barn threw hay at 6am, noon, 6pm and at nite check, typically 10pm. Amount as needed needed by each individual horse. Priced accordingly. Retirement barn they were given a small flake with grain and meds at 6am, out on grass 8am to 4pm and had hay in the stalls at 4 , more added at nite check, 8pm if needed. Winter was hay at 6, noon and 6. Again at nite check if needed.

When I couldn’t afford that type barn, they fed twice a day and not all of them had any grass turnouts. Honestly never had any problems but never picked a barn that shorted the amount of hay they fed each horse or used a one size fits all limit. At times I added my own soaked cubes on days I rode but that was only in barns I did not pick for long term boarding, Because sometimes you have to settle for what you can get at the time until you can get space elsewhere…but it better be priced accordingly.

Boarding is always a compromise. Even keeping at home involves some flexibility.

1 Like
#22

When I did board they were fed hay twice a day and being in the city we had no turnout/ grass.

My own horses get fed hay ( large amount) once a day Spring -Fall and probably go 6 hours at night in the dry lot without. They have grass all day.

In Winter they are out on dormant grass 24/7 and get 2 ample feedings of hay daily.

Water has always been (and should be) available 24/7 year round. No exceptions.

#23

I think all places I’ve stall boarded, the horses had water 100% of the time and grain fed AM and PM. Hay was generally fed 3x day, with the last feeding 6-8pm, and when the horses finished their hay, they didn’t get more till morning.

Now I keep my horses at home.
Of course, water available 100% of the time.
grain fed AM and PM unless someone needs weight put on (new horse, mare with a taxing foal, etc) in which case we’ll do a noon grain meal too.
Hay depends on the horse’s living arrangements:

For the horses who live out 24/7, they have grass, supplemented with hay when necessary, all the time. In winter, we put round bales out.
The stalled horses have grass/round bale when they’re out, and are fed hay a few times during the time they’re in. In winter, for example, they get more hay at night check (~10pm) and then breakfast and turnout again at 0600, so they go max 8 hrs between feedings. How long they go without hay depends on how fast they hoovered, and how much they get. The air ferns try to tell me they’re starving to death.
In winter, everyone gets soaked beet pulp as well, fed with their grain.

Horses look great: hunter-fat, shiny, and no issues with colics or ulcers.

#24

In winter, the pasture boarded equine has access to a round roll all the time. Water troughs have tank heaters so they don’t freeze over.

The full boarded equine is turned out all day with access to a round roll. He has hay in his stall when he’s brought in, but it doesn’t usually last all night, so, there is some portion of the night when he doesn’t have forage in front of him. Water buckets in the stalls and troughs in the pastures are heated, so water is always available.

#25

Thank you all for the responses. Very helpful.

#26

Never is the only acceptable answer, unless the horse has a diagnosed metabolic issue.

Free choice water and hay (or grass) are minimum standards of care.

2 Likes
#27

I board, but my horse is in an individual pasture 24/7, so he always has access to water and some grass stubble. He does go a few hours without HAY in the middle of the day and in the middle of the night, because he is a hoover and he sucks in as much as he can through slow feed nets as quickly as possible.

#28

I have a pony with a history of laminitis/founder that cannot have large quantities of forage. I use a slow-feed hay net to ensure that he is able to “graze” throughout the day as is natural for horses. Leaving a horse without forage for an extended amount of time is a recipe for ulcers - the stomach will continue to produce digestive acids regardless of if there’s anything in there to digest. It’s then that trouble can start.

In terms of water, it is never acceptable to have turnout with fresh, clean water available at all times.

1 Like
#29

Generally speaking, ours do not go without forage. Sometimes if the hay feeder in the AM/PM feeds a little bit “light” they will go a few hours without hay. My horse lives out 24/7, mom’s horse is on 12/12 board. The 12/12 horses get hay nets/bags/racks filled to the brim, so they don’t run out of hay overnight. The 24/7 turnout horses get hay put out that lasts until breakfast the next morning.

When it’s late spring/summer and pasture is good, they’re on grass 24/7. The 12/12 horses are on grass while turned out and get their bags/nets/racked filled with hay while in their stalls.

Also all have access to water 24/7.

#30

I wouldn’t tolerate that life for my horse.
When I was a kid I rode at a barn that had one heated trough. It was placed next to the barn in a courtyard. Each paddock opened into the courtyard. The horses were turned out for 8 hours. Twice in that time, the paddocks were opened for the horses to go to drink. They drank a lot because the water was warm then went back to their round bales. It was a good compromise for extreme cold weather.
Leaving a horse daily without hay or water for an extended period of time is asking for colic and ulcers. Even a single chance to drink during the day would be better than nothing.

#31

I have a small retirement barn (9 horses, 1 donkey). Horses are never without water (heated nelsons) or hay.

I use small hole, whole bale nets in each corner of the run ins, so a good six bales inside the sheds as well as 4 bales in the hay feeders built into the fence line. For 4 horses.

To be fair, those are hard keepers. The easy keepers also have hay and water all the time, but more like half a bale for 2 horses.

#32

”‹”‹”‹I have a welsh/arab/cross mutt pony thats 12.2h n I only give him 2lbs at about 6am in a slow feed net when he goes out, he picks at dead brown grass till 12 n gets about another 2lbs in a slow feed net and then at night about 9pm he gets between 2.5 and 3 lbs in his slow feed net in his stall. So he only gets maybe 6 to 7lbs of hay max and my field is dead and he is still chunky!

He is probably done with his net in the stall by 1130, and doesn’t get fed again until i put him out at 6. So he goes without picking at anything for about 6 to 7 hrs a day. He has water in his stall, a tub that tends to stay half full this time of yr bc of the rain coming off the roof, i dont have gutters yet :frowning: right outside his stall which opens to the pasture, and a water trough at the other end of the pasture by the gate.

#33

Why wouldnt they at least crack the water troughs a few times a day??? Did they actually say no we dont bother? Holy cow!!!

1 Like
#34

exactly .0.0 seconds without having both water and hay

#35

:rolleyes: I’m guessing you’ve never had:

  • An air-fern large pony that gained weight just looking over the fence at the green grass
  • A horse very prone to Laminitis, that must be kept underweight
  • A senior/aged horse that can't chew standard hay
  • A pony/horse that is IR (Insulin Resistant)
  • A pony/horse with Cushings
  • A pony/horse that is overweight that must shed a lot of weight
  • Trailered a horse/pony (where exactly do you put the water while you are hauling?)
  • A foundered pony
  • A horse that is recovering from choke
  • A pony/horse that is colicing or has recently coliced
  • ... (I could go on)
Never say never. ;)
5 Likes
#36

So, leaving aside the horses who have health issues, I think we all agree free access to water and forage is best. It’s easier to do for horses out 24-7 ironically - mine live out full time with a water source that almost never freezes and giant sheltered square bales in winter (70 acres of grass otherwise), but the same farm has stalled horses who probably do run out of hay and have buckets freeze over night…

1 Like
#37

ummm actually I have had a few of those OP mentions NO health issues or anything to indicate the horse has any “special restrictions” and this is at the barn not in a trailer.

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#38

My horses live at home, they live outside 24/7 with round bales so never without hay, heated water, access to shed (they never use it) My daughters pony can get too fat on just the hay when this happens he will wear a grazing muzzle even though the round bale has a slow feed haynet on it.

1 Like
#39

Well, it’s not that easy. They freeze solid, top to bottom, over night unless they’re heated. So unless you’re getting up 3 x a night with your ax at the ready, you have to heat the water somehow.

I once boarded at a place that didn’t have outdoor water. Would never do it again. The colic bill wasn’t worth it.

1 Like
#40

However long she sleeps at a time. The rest of the time she is munching on something.

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