I think it depends on the barn. In many cases, labor is the single largest expense. But I would agree that hay is often in the top three.
We give our horses free choice hay. It works out to about 35 lbs per day for each horse.
Mid Atlantic, horses out 24/7. Right now we are down to one horse (TB, but easy keeper) who has a 6-acre field and a deep shed, and gets about 3 flakes a.m. and p.m. Our bales (orchard grass/timothy mix) are about 10 flakes and 36 pounds, so figure 20-22 pound per day. When it’s dry and mild, he might eat a flake or so. When it’s sideways rain/hail/snow, he’ll eat it all and we load up more: like ~6 flakes each feeding so he isn’t wanting for it.
They need hay not just for weight but to keep them warm and the hindgut moving. I don’t want them to waste it, but I want to see a little left in the morning, to know they didn’t go hungry or cold overnight.
Impossible to tell but my question is: Is 1 flake standard with no room to increase? It seems like not enough, however, does he waste it? Clean it up? If he needs more- is the barn willing to give him more?
My guys who are outside have a round bale 24/7, supplemented with concentrate. My inside guys (2 medium ponies, 2 horses) get " a few flakes" when stalled in the AM, lunch if I’m home, and PM. I throw a bale out during the day and they are on pasture. My bales weigh about 75-100 so how many flakes they get in the stall depends on how the flakes feel. Eh- I don’t officially weigh it. and go by how they are cleaning up and how they look.
I am probably in the minority that I know mine run out of hay during the night, even with a slow feed hay net though it certainly lasts longer than in my hay racks. Since they are mine, I don’t panic that Poopsie 1 and 2 go through their hay. Now it is easier for me to manage since they are at home.
Anyway- I’d ask the barn if there is room to increase. Also- for your knowledge, take a scale out and get a an estimate on how much a “flake” weighs.
My retired guy lives at home with me and is out 24/7, with a pal. Neither are big guys (my guy is 15.2 on a tall day. His pal is a little mustang that’s probably 14.1ish, so we’re talking 800-900lbs each or so). I typically toss them about 20lbs of hay in the morning, then they get another 10-15lbs in the evening (my landlady isn’t as generous as I am, but it’s plenty). They spend a lot of time ignoring the hay, picking at what’s left of the grass or napping, most days, but clean most of it up this time of year, eventually. They both get a negligible amount of feed (just a ration balancer).
My boarded guy, who is also stabled at night (he is also little, at 15.3 and probably about 1000lbs) gets probably close to 30lbs of hay in his stall at night (which he will clean the majority of it up this time of year), and then he and his babies (he’s the resident weanling sitter) get a few flakes tossed at them out in the pasture. Since he’s around the corner from home, I drive by his field a lot, and they are often picking at their leftover grass or napping.
I don’t think I’d be very happy if any of my guys were getting 2 flakes a day, unless they were MASSIVE flakes. But that seems unlikely…even with my worst baled hay, I don’t think I’ve ever had one weigh more than 5ish lbs.
