Riding causing weight loss?

[grandprixer]

@Mersidoats

Regarding the hay issue - I have a friend that boards at a barn where the owner works another job, and has no time to be throwing hay at the horses every 3 hours. Instead, she fills up a giant slow-feeder net every 1.5 - 2 days for every horse and hangs it in their runout area or paddock. I’m talking one of those nets that can hold a whole bale. It has teeny-tiny holes so no-one gobbles it up in two hours. Would you be able to fill a giant net for him yourself? Hang it in his paddock after you ride?

Also - beet pulp. I feed beet pulp lunches to the hard keepers, and if they are really dropping weight while in work, they also get soaked alfalfa cubes. Beet pulp without molasses.

The issue is partially that, partially the other horses. None of them need the extra weight and my horse is bottom of the totem pole, so they’d eat his hay unless they all had their own. Which comes back to the inability to feed every few hours and deal with the usual hay squabbles.

I did used to feed beet pulp! I was told it didn’t have much nutrition though? My understanding was that its a great buffer type food but not a weight gain thing - please please correct me if not.

merrygoround, I wish I could give the weight and nutrition in the hay. The only thing I can think of is that it’s 50lb bales and we usually get 16 flakes. I think that’s at least 3lbs per flake? It’s not the prettiest hay I’ve ever seen but it’s pretty good for the area. It’s stored in a loft and a few bales at a time are brought down into the barn aisle for feeding.

One thing I’ll add about this hay. I would say it’s good quality, but the horses usually prefer the grass for the first few months of fall/winter regardless of what I feed. Until around December, all the horses eat their grain and maybe 1.5 flakes each before wandering back to grazing and finishing hay later in the day.

[JB]

@grandprixer

I did used to feed beet pulp! I was told it didn’t have much nutrition though? My understanding was that its a great buffer type food but not a weight gain thing - please please correct me if not.

1000 cal/lb, ish, high calcium, protein similar to grasses, and other nutrients. Plus it’s high in pectin which is highly digestible and helps create a healthy hind gut

merrygoround, I wish I could give the weight and nutrition in the hay. The only thing I can think of is that it’s 50lb bales and we usually get 16 flakes. I think that’s at least 3lbs per flake? It’s not the prettiest hay I’ve ever seen but it’s pretty good for the area. It’s stored in a loft and a few bales at a time are brought down into the barn aisle for feeding.

given that he’s not getting hay now, it doesn’t matter, but but yeah, 3lb/flake for small bales is typical. that said, 18lb for a horse who is/should be in the 1000lb range and needs weight isn’t cutting it. Hopefully you can get hay started sooner rather than later and see if that starts helping

One thing I’ll add about this hay. I would say it’s good quality, but the horses usually prefer the grass for the first few months of fall/winter regardless of what I feed. Until around December, all the horses eat their grain and maybe 1.5 flakes each before wandering back to grazing and finishing hay later in the day.

Grass can be a lot sweeter this time of year, that’s normal/typical

[grandprixer]

@Mersidoats

Regarding the hay issue - I have a friend that boards at a barn where the owner works another job, and has no time to be throwing hay at the horses every 3 hours. Instead, she fills up a giant slow-feeder net every 1.5 - 2 days for every horse and hangs it in their runout area or paddock. I’m talking one of those nets that can hold a whole bale. It has teeny-tiny holes so no-one gobbles it up in two hours. Would you be able to fill a giant net for him yourself? Hang it in his paddock after you ride?

Also - beet pulp. I feed beet pulp lunches to the hard keepers, and if they are really dropping weight while in work, they also get soaked alfalfa cubes. Beet pulp without molasses.

The issue is partially that, partially the other horses. None of them need the extra weight and my horse is bottom of the totem pole, so they’d eat his hay unless they all had their own. Which comes back to the inability to feed every few hours and deal with the usual hay squabbles.

I did used to feed beet pulp! I was told it didn’t have much nutrition though? My understanding was that its a great buffer type food but not a weight gain thing - please please correct me if not.

merrygoround, I wish I could give the weight and nutrition in the hay. The only thing I can think of is that it’s 50lb bales and we usually get 16 flakes. I think that’s at least 3lbs per flake? It’s not the prettiest hay I’ve ever seen but it’s pretty good for the area. It’s stored in a loft and a few bales at a time are brought down into the barn aisle for feeding.

One thing I’ll add about this hay. I would say it’s good quality, but the horses usually prefer the grass for the first few months of fall/winter regardless of what I feed. Until around December, all the horses eat their grain and maybe 1.5 flakes each before wandering back to grazing and finishing hay later in the day.

[grandprixer]

Maybe beet pulp will be my choice then. Works out cheaper, plus I can throw some oil on top.

[kashmere]

@seabreeze

Dear heavens. Yeah, run away fast.

:eek: For. Real.

That’s bananas!

[Synthesis]

My TB gelding has been a hard keeper and calorie density without breaking the bank has been a challenge. After trying a lot of the commercial options I’ve had the best luck a lot of hay plus the following mix 2x daily:

• whole oats: research proves they extract the nutrients regardless of passing the kernel/hull (2-3 qt depending on workload)
• crushed/rolled barley: must be crushed/rolled for horses to process (2-3 qt depending on workload) reduce oats for barley to increase calorie density
• some sweet feed for flavor
• 1 cup alfalfa pellets: for calcium and stomach buffering
• 1 cup hemp hulls: flavor and fat, GREAT coat shine

I can get close to 50% more feeding done for the dollar, compared to feeding similar quantities of high cal feed. I haven't found he gets 'hot' on it. I also haven't seen much in the way of 'ulcery' behavior. Just shiny, steady gaining/maintaining and sane.

Its horses, ymmv, but I’ve seen this combination (oats, barleyt, sweet feed) work well for multiple TBs. Got it from a PhD Nutritionist and former long format eventer, who had done this for her TBs for years. I suspect a WB might hang from the ceiling but TBs seem to do well on it.

[MzCarol]

My OTTB was not gaining weight and I tried everything!! The workng recipe that got him to gain and sustain:

Fed both AM and PM
3lbs Tribute Resolve
2lbs alfalfa pellets
2 dry cups beet pulp (wetted) no molasses

He is rarely in a stall. Either pasture or free choice mixed grass hay.

[grandprixer]

Can shredded pulp rehydrate is 30-45 mins safely? That’s about how long it takes me to get tacked up and ride, so while I untack and clean up he could eat. But he’s choked twice on grass so I worry about that short a time.

If they should be good, would a pound of pulp after each ride with a cup of canola oil be a good place to start?

[Marla_100]

Just some more thoughts-

If your horse is fed out in an area with a bunch of other horses and yours is low man, how do you know he’s not being run off by the other horses before he finishes his meal??? Have you ever stood there and watched how polite and mannerly the other horses are and IF your horse gets all his food?
Usually after a day or so the paddock bullies figure out how to gulp their food down fast and go eat the low man’s food.
Your horse may not be getting all that you think.

Also, my horses here in Sunny Florida told me several weeks back that the lush green pastures don’t taste as great as their nice
alfalfa hay in their stalls/shelters. The grass isn’t so attractive to them this time of year even though it LOOKS great to me.

Also you say the barn feeds quality hay, Bermuda. Around here we don’t consider Bermuda a quality hay, more like cow hay.
Many TB’s would definitely lose weight on just Bermuda. So your hay may not be as great as you think. It’s cheap though.

Is there another paddock on the property where your horse and maybe just one or 2 other quiet, submissive types could be in together? Some horses just don’t do well if they’re low man on the pole. They get run off their food everyday and start to drop weight.
Your set up at the barn may be part of the problem here and maybe your horse cannot fit into that environment.

[mep0726]

@RedHorses

Experiment (regarding the how much do you feed after riding question).

Right now you want more calories than he’s burning in ridden work because you want a bit of gaining weight as well. That makes it easier because you can start with a couple of pounds and if he gains weight you can cut back, and if he doesn’t gain you can add more.

Mine is erratic when it comes to eating his feed so I tend to offer more than he’ll finish before I’m done tacking up as far as alfalfa cubes. I know about how much he can eat in that time and if he does finish I will offer more after the ride in addition to the extra grain. He will usually finish off any remaining cubes after his post ride grain. My horse needs extra weight right now so he gets the two pounds regardless of whether I ride 20min or 2 hours.

Having been at barns where they could not/would not separate horses at feeding time, this was my solution to keeping weight on my horse who wasn’t necessarily at the top of the totem pole. I would feed anywhere from 0.5 - 1qt of his regular grain after I rode, depending on my horse’s condition and how hard he worked. It helped keep the weight on my horse, regardless of what his (easy keeper) pasture mates were getting.

I can’t remember if you said it in one of your previous posts but are the horses separated at feeding time to ensure he’s getting his whole meal?

[streamline]

Did I read horse is out 24/7? My hard keeper lives out 24/7 and I have to feed him more because he’s walking a lot more compared to the other 4 horses I have.

This horse also doesn’t really like eating the TC senior. He goes off/on it. I’ve had the best of luck with feeding beet pulp.

I do feed 2, 70lb bales of good alfalfa/grass mix. The 4 others really could lose some weight but front pasture is bare and we are hitting winter.

When I was riding more regularly I’d feed a little more grain before I rode. I always pull him out to grain anyways because he is the lowest in the pecking order.

[grandprixer]

@Marla 100

Just some more thoughts-

If your horse is fed out in an area with a bunch of other horses and yours is low man, how do you know he’s not being run off by the other horses before he finishes his meal??? Have you ever stood there and watched how polite and mannerly the other horses are and IF your horse gets all his food?
Usually after a day or so the paddock bullies figure out how to gulp their food down fast and go eat the low man’s food.
Your horse may not be getting all that you think.

Also, my horses here in Sunny Florida told me several weeks back that the lush green pastures don’t taste as great as their nice
alfalfa hay in their stalls/shelters. The grass isn’t so attractive to them this time of year even though it LOOKS great to me.

Also you say the barn feeds quality hay, Bermuda. Around here we don’t consider Bermuda a quality hay, more like cow hay.
Many TB’s would definitely lose weight on just Bermuda. So your hay may not be as great as you think. It’s cheap though.

Is there another paddock on the property where your horse and maybe just one or 2 other quiet, submissive types could be in together? Some horses just don’t do well if they’re low man on the pole. They get run off their food everyday and start to drop weight.
Your set up at the barn may be part of the problem here and maybe your horse cannot fit into that environment.

They are separated to eat. No chance of him not finishing his meals. They’re all shut into individual stalls to eat while barn chores are done and all are released at the same time once finished with grain. If there’s still hay left they shuffle around after being released, but they usually eat most of the hay before wandering off.

[Marla_100]

@grandprixer

They are separated to eat. No chance of him not finishing his meals. They’re all shut into individual stalls to eat while barn chores are done and all are released at the same time once finished with grain. If there’s still hay left they shuffle around after being released, but they usually eat most of the hay before wandering off.

So they are separated in stalls to eat meals …then maybe your horse could be kept in for a few hours to get more hay or better hay? Then when he’s done eating he can go back out with the herd. Would that work?

[grandprixer]

@Marla 100

So they are separated in stalls to eat meals …then maybe your horse could be kept in for a few hours to get more hay or better hay? Then when he’s done eating he can go back out with the herd. Would that work?

I thought about that but I don’t think it would work well. The stalls are just dirt, so having to muck would be difficult, he’d be stalled alone for several hours at a time, we’d have to get water in there somehow, and the other horses could just eat through the bars and still steal his hay. I think he’d get too anxious being alone though.

[JB]

@grandprixer

Can shredded pulp rehydrate is 30-45 mins safely? That’s about how long it takes me to get tacked up and ride, so while I untack and clean up he could eat. But he’s choked twice on grass so I worry about that short a time.

Absolutely, especially if you start with warm water, and especially if you use enough water. Excess can be drained if needed

If they should be good, would a pound of pulp after each ride with a cup of canola oil be a good place to start?

1lb of shreds, soaked, is a LOT of volume, and while it would mix with a cup of oil, he may not like how greasy it is. I would start with 1/4-1/2c, working up to all that of course

[Marla_100]

@grandprixer

I thought about that but I don’t think it would work well. The stalls are just dirt, so having to muck would be difficult, he’d be stalled alone for several hours at a time, we’d have to get water in there somehow, and the other horses could just eat through the bars and still steal his hay. I think he’d get too anxious being alone though.

ah, maybe the piggy horses are eating through the bars and stealing his grain…??? Hay can be put on floor.
A new muck bucket on the floor of stall is fine half filled with water. Is there a hose?
You may have to buy a couple bales of bedding for the floors and if you’re out there 5 days/week, just clean it yourself.

[grandprixer]

@JB

Absolutely, especially if you start with warm water, and especially if you use enough water. Excess can be drained if needed

1lb of shreds, soaked, is a LOT of volume, and while it would mix with a cup of oil, he may not like how greasy it is. I would start with 1/4-1/2c, working up to all that of course

Ok! I’m guessing you mean 1/4-1/2c unsoaked? I’ll try oil on the pulp first, if he won’t eat it I’ll add it to his grain.

Edit - and by c, do you mean cups like for baking?

[grandprixer]

@Marla 100

ah, maybe the piggy horses are eating through the bars and stealing his grain…??? Hay can be put on floor.
A new muck bucket on the floor of stall is fine half filled with water. Is there a hose?
You may have to buy a couple bales of bedding for the floors and if you’re out there 5 days/week, just clean it yourself.

They can’t get the grain, it’s in a bucket. But the hay goes in a manger on the wall that can be reached by desperate ponies. He won’t eat hay off the floor either lol he just pees in it.

[Marla_100]

@grandprixer

They can’t get the grain, it’s in a bucket. But the hay goes in a manger on the wall that can be reached by desperate ponies. He won’t eat hay off the floor either lol he just pees in it.

Well a 2nd new muck bucket will hold the hay just fine. Or maybe a nice vinyl rectangular storage box will also hold it off the floor.

[JB]

@grandprixer

Ok! I’m guessing you mean 1/4-1/2c unsoaked? I’ll try oil on the pulp first, if he won’t eat it I’ll add it to his grain.

Edit - and by c, do you mean cups like for baking?

The 1/4-1/2c was in reference to the oil, not the beet pulp. And yes, actual measuring cup.