When a barn says “We feed based on what each horse needs”, do you assume (zips suit) that means the amount of hay given varies from horse to horse? Or do you assume it covers up to a certain amount?
And yes, assuming is never good, one should always clarify. But for sheets and giggles, let’s not dwell on that aspect. 
I would not assume but playing along I would say they mean they feed the amount a specific horse needs. If your horse needs extra hay and grain they would give that.
That does not necessarily mean there are no maximum limits.
I would ask for clarification in writing because IME if a quantity is not given it’s a loophole for a sneaky BO/BM to argue “no, Dobbin does not need XYZ”. I can name quite a few times I have seen that practice employed. Then you’ll see what I like to call the “Latent Hay Policy” which is where the BM will say that Dobbin already gets what their ‘max’ hay amount is and that they are not willing to budge despite no defining clause in the paperwork.
Also important because what the BO/BM thinks the horse needs and what the HO thinks the horse needs are two very divergent, and rarely reconcilable trains of thought. 
[QUOTE=beowulf;8851986]
Also important because what the BO/BM thinks the horse needs and what the HO thinks the horse needs are two very divergent, and rarely reconcilable trains of thought. :)[/QUOTE]
If that was me saying that (we feed what each horse needs), then I mean exactly that…no matter how much grain/hay. However, my idea of good weight on a horse may not be the same as the HO’s. HO needs to ask for clarification.
[QUOTE=Sweetums Mom;8852013]
If that was me saying that, then I mean exactly that…no matter how much grain/hay a horse needs. However, my idea of good weight on a horse may not be the same as the HO’s. HO needs to ask for clarification.[/QUOTE]
Exactly…
I remember running into a bit of a tiff with a HO over her horse, who was the poster child for an 8 on the HBC scoring… She was grandfathered in as she was an old boarder when we acquired the property, so she was technically under the previous BO’s contract which was very different than ours. She had been allowed to govern what Dobbin got for food and it turned the two of them into greedy monsters :lol:
I had relegated Dobbin to a dirt paddock the second I saw him, which incited a great range of outrage and blubbering, childish tears from the HO. He was seriously on the cusp of a laminitic attack – apparently, the grass paddock he gorged in had been ‘his paddock’ for the last 10 years.
She was always trying to get some outlandishly high NSC feed in and we only fed 3 different feeds (medical exceptions were of course made, at the suggestion of a vet). She wanted to feed him this sweet-feed that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, I told her no. Cue tantrums.
We (BO, vets and I) tried so hard to manage him in a way that he would not founder - but his owner was so staunch against any change in his diet. We wanted him on dribbles of hay and timothy pellets only - she wanted him on grass with 6 grain feedings…
Anyway, my last straw was when fever rings started to develop and told I her Dobbin needed to be cut back significantly as it was a miracle he had not had a laminitic attack yet. Cue hysterics of Herculean proportions. “But my contract says XYZ!! I REFUSE! HE’S NOT FAT HE’S A QH!”
It was a long, somewhat head-ache inducing battle - we had irreconcilable differences and she brought Dobbin into a self-care situation where he could be on grass, fed him the sweet-feed she wanted and he immediately foundered. :no:
[QUOTE=runNjump86;8851958]
When a barn says “We feed based on what each horse needs”, do you assume (zips suit) that means the amount of hay given varies from horse to horse? Or do you assume it covers up to a certain amount?[/QUOTE]
I assume they feed based on what they think each horse needs.
That may or may not be what a given horse actually needs. The claim itself is not evidence of any specific behavior.
Most barns (that I’m aware of) do feed horses different amounts of feed based on what they need, and I think it is considered reasonable practice that if a barn has one or two horses that are requiring quite a bit extra than the others (or extra feedings) that there might be an extra charge. Of course, if the boarder doesn’t like that, they can always leave (or the BO can give them notice).
Where hay is concerned, I think it is a little trickier because many owners are unrealistic about what their horse actually needs/eats. Yes, it looks nice to have a giant pile of hay in the rack, but if at the next feeding half of it has been pulled out and mixed in with the shavings, that’s a huge waste of $$. Some horses turned out on nice pasture are picky about eating hay when they are in their stalls and really need very little. Other horses are hay hoovers who will quickly suction up a perfectly respectable 15 lb. serving of hay and act like they are being starved, despite a generous body score to the contrary.
If I were searching for boarding, I would specifically ask what this statement meant, and I would then clarify by also asking, “how much feed/hay do most of the horses get?” If I could see that my horse was going to be eating a lot more than the other horses, I would definitely bring that up for discussion before moving in.
As a BO,when prospective boarders ask how much we feed,i do say it depends on what the horse needs.one horse may be an air fern and another may need triple that.it all balances out,and none of the horses here are skinny.I will say if i think dobbin needs more or less weight,and then adjust feed accordingly.Saying that,we have a very good nutritionist at the local feed store,and we have the hay tested(3 different kinds).So we try to make sure each horse gets what they need.
most barns i know of, feed the same amount of hay, which is usually 2 flakes per meal. then they adjust the amount of feed. Reason being, that 4 flakes of hay is not really enough for most horses anyway, but it’s all the barn can afford to feed.
I would assume it means that the amount of hay varies by horse, depending on their individual needs. I’m lucky in that every place I’ve boarded has tended to overfeed, although not to the point of obesity (with one exception). Most places in my area also offer a choice of grass hay only or grass and alfalfa, so the elderly Cushing’s gelding gets alfalfa and the fattie mare just gets grass
I have, however, seen a lot of barns that charge extra for anything over 2 flakes per day (roughly 14-15 lbs) which is just not enough for some horses.
I would hope it means what they say - feed according to the horse’s needs whether that be hay and grain (within reason). Many barns will have several different feeds to accommodate various horse’s needs - Senior, a higher performing feed for those in heavy work, a feed for those in light work etc.
I appreciate the replies and the honesty. I, too assume that when a BO/BM states “we feed each horse based on their needs” that it means the air ferns/hard keepers balance each other out, within reason.
This is something I’ve run into a couple times lately and apparently it means “We limit hay to X flakes”. X is an amount that most easy keepers can maintain on, but is not nearly enough for every horse.
I had a hell of a time with bad boarding barns when I moved to Missouri. The worst was the most expensive. The barn owner was in Florida and her manager lied to me repeatedly about how much he was feeding my horse. She was a bit thin going in there and plummeted to about a 2.5. Every rib sticking out in stark relief.
My friends TB was a bit of a picky eater and prone to ulcers but had already hovered her poor quality hay by the time I was leaving at 8 pm. I threw her ONE extra flake before I left and she got reamed out in the morning for wasting hay. I got passive aggressive articles on beet pulp left on the board for me.
Horses are at home now and this horse is a 6 and gets 1 lb of RB a day.
If I ever board again my first questions will be about hay quality, amount and frequency.
I think the best way to find out what that means is to look at the horses in the barn to see if they look healthy and in good weight, and talk to a few boarders. It is important to note if there are horses in the barn of the same breed or type as yours.
My barn provided feed to my Thoroughbreds when I started boarding. They were not getting enough and were looking thin, so I started buying extra hay to supplement. The owner/manager thought they had plenty and did not want to feed them more of his hay, and because my extra bale was stored with his hay, it was confusing as to what was what. We changed the agreement so that I buy all of the hay and his workers do the feeding and cleaning. It works great now.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that this guy had had Arabians and I think he honestly believed that my horses were getting enough because the amount of hay my horses were getting seemed excessive to him based on his experience. But Thoroughbreds are generally much larger than Arabians, really inefficient, and they just need more food.
I can’t guess what ‘feed what they need’ means.
Is this what boarders do these day; i.e. let the barn manager decide what kind and how much to feed a horse? Don’t you think horse owners should know how much hay and grain their horse needs and it should be them telling the barn manger, not the other way around.
Horses need free choice forage unless there is a individual-specific issue that precludes it.
Any barn that restricts hay is poorly managed and to be avoided at all costs.
Do not assume anything. Make sure you have in writing how much hay and grain and the type of each that your horse will get. Otherwise plan to buy extra so your horse will have enough to eat.
I am thankful that my BOs are great and feed my horses accordingly. I will say, the only problem I’ve had is that I thought the horse was eating too much vs workload (energy) at some points but I think everything is well adjusted now.
My OTTB gelding is a hard keeper, so he gets almost 5 pounds of grain per feeding. I buy a bag of rice bran a month to help supplement weight gain on top of his supplements and corn oil. They give him as much hay as they can which is nice :winkgrin: My mare is fat and happy too - she will eat everything, while he isn’t a huge fan grazing or eating all of his hay. They have no grass access unfortunately but I do graze when I can.
I’ve been in situations where I was feeding at a barn and realized quickly that most horses were being overfed vs their workload. It eventually turned into a dangerous situation. Horses were big yes, but eating lots of grain and working once a week, the turnout situations were pretty much 12x12 paddocks. My opinion of course didn’t matter and I ended up leaving because of that. It got to the point where most of the workers couldn’t even handle the horses.
I think it’s important to get anything in regards to feed in writing just to avoid any confusion. It’s also nice to know that who ever is feeding and deciding on grain/hay amounts if knowledgeable!
[QUOTE=Dressagelvr;8853992]
Horses need free choice forage unless there is a individual-specific issue that precludes it.
Any barn that restricts hay is poorly managed and to be avoided at all costs.[/QUOTE]
while that is nice in thought and the way things should be, this is not ‘Shouldland’. There are very, very few barns in the world that offer truly “free choice”.
Usually those two reasons will drive a BO to either be stingy, because BOs rarely make a profit, or they will be resentful of the horse that leaves 10lb+ of nasty untouched hay in his stall, wasted and urinated on.
Farms will say buzzwords like “free choice”, which boarders will find really means “Dobbin will get a flake if there is not a morsel left” - which, as we know, never happens.
If you are lucky enough to find a barn that actually has a hay bale, round bale, or hay in front of the horse 24/7, you are very lucky indeed.
I have never seen “Free choice” lived up to in barns that had horses in the stall half the day, and have only seen truly “free choice” when the horse was out 24/7 on a roundbale.
Even in the barns I managed, I was very careful to never include the word “free choice”. Horses were given pasture (grass) during daytime, 2-3 flakes PM, 2-3 flakes night check and then, if needed, more in the AM. Messy pigs were given haynets. None of the horses were skinny, and I would have loved to have a roundbale instead but owners were reluctant or scared of the idea… in the US, roundbales are usually castigated despite being an excellent choice of free-choice fodder.
As a BO I do feed according to what each horse needs, feed and hay wise. Most all of the ones that I care for are airplants so it is easy here:) The only one who gets more hay is one of my personal horses because she is in more hours due to founder last year (dex and early PPID) so she gets more soaked hay and more feedings of hay, only out 5 hours at this time. All of the horses get soaked hay here.
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