:lol:
ahhh yes napping is second to eating…very distant second in my mare’s opinion. you are more correct than my 0.0 seconds but hey the stuff is still there for them when they wake up.Not sure why but I can’g help but giggle as the image of sleeping cartoon pony snores in my head…#snorestosmores
Yes but how small are the water troughs? I used to live in michigan but I’ve been in east tn for 15 yrs now. I guess I forgot how cold it really gets. My theory would be, depending on how many paddocks there are, I would go at tax time or treat the barn with a credit card n get a couple of those HUGE bathtub type troughs for winter at the least, so hopefully they wouldn’t freeze solid, thats just me if I was running a business. That coupled with those pinterest water jug ideas might make a huge difference!?!
I feel your pain OP. When I used to board, I ran into the same problems as the OP and it sure sucked treating ulcers often. The only thing that helped was making sure they put their hay in the slow feed net in the stall overnight.
Now, they are never without hay or forage. In the summer, I have decent grass, so they get less hay, but I still offer it. In the winter, I use slow feed nets and a forage toy ball for the minis to keep them nibbling constantly. Keeping hay in front of them 24/7 is still easier and cheaper than dealing with side effects of them not having it.
Never. We have grass turnout, plus hay sheds in the pasture that are packed.
In the stalls, they have XL hay nets that never go empty. My mare managed to open the ring and dump all of her netted hay into the stall, and it completely covered the entire 14x14 space up to her knees.
Like @Simkie said, this was TOP of my list when I moved. I have a hard keeper TB mare and so I need as much forage in her as possible.
I have ponies…one large, 2 medium and 2 small who mostly live out 24/7.
They have heated water 24/7 but they would all be obese and lame if they had hay 24/7.
They each get a very small flake at 6:30 am, then they get nets hung. These last a couple of hours. They get another flake at noon/1:00 and another at 4/5. At 9 pm they get overnight nets which last 2-3 hours.
Water 24/7, Pasture, or if deep snow hay all day. Hay and grain at bring in, more hay at 10 night check, the aim being hay all night w/o filling muck tub with wasted hay in the am. Morning feed before t/o.
Now that the grass is gone, I’m giving my horses hay 4 times per day: approximately 7am, 1pm, 6:30pm, 11pm
All the hay is eaten in between each feeding, but of course it stays in their system for a while. During the day, after they eat the hay and poke around a while, there is usually a pretty serious naptime. I feel this system works well for my two ponies and two small horses, and keeps me from having to deal with four hay nets multiple times per day. Once the ground stays frozen and it rains less, I’ll probably get them round bales for their turnout time.
I have mine at home and they are turned out on pasture unless it is raining, so have grass, even in winter there is some, and piles of not so rich hay twice a day. In their stalls they have hay until they eat it all, which is not always, usually some left. They have water all the time but don’t drink well while in their stalls.
I have one of those figure eight style water heaters for the pasture water. I worry about them drinking enough water in the winter and the warm water seems to encourage them when it is freezing (not that often here in Georgia U.S.)
The three who are not clipped and blanketed and even my clipped and blanketed mare need that extra hay to keep warm, and when they finish they seem to nibble and graze even though grass isn’t growing. Forrage and water are #1 for me.
I board but it’s self care. Ponies out during the day on a dry lot with hay. In at night with 4-6 biscuits each in slow feeder nets which lasts them till morning. I try to feed enough hay so there is a little left in the morning. Never without water.
i cannot imagine horses going without forage for more than 3-4 hours if they inhaled their hay or something and without water… Never.
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In the winter there is always hay in front of my horse in his paddock or stall (attached). Occasionally I’ve gotten there within an hour of feeding and he as picking at a few pieces left on the floor. He gets a pile outside, in his stall, and in his slow feeder net. If he’s without hay for an hour or two it’s not the end of the world since he’s an easy keeper.
I’m the summer he’s on grass all day and/or night but if he comes into his stall there is always a net full of hay.
If he’s not working for some reason, he only gets hay in a small hole net due to being an easy keeper. In steady work, he can be on grass and more hay as he burns more calories. We’ve had some dry summers which has been good for him because the grass wasn’t so lush.
There are even easier keepers, usually ponies, and even with a slow feed net or doubled up nets they end up a few hours with no forage because otherwise they’d balloon.
Underfed is bad as is overfed.
Water should always be available! If the auto water freezes, insulated buckets are used.
OP, I can’t even! A round bale and a water trough that stays thawed is a bare minimum.
Mine are kept at home, and are very easy keepers (one is a mini).
I have a 100 gallon heated water tank. I’m in a place that gets real winters :lol: so needs to be heated or would be frozen solid for 6 months of the year.
They get hay fed 5 times a day between 7am - 10pm, and grained twice within that time frame also. So they are going from ~11pm-7am without forage.
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