1. Stats of pony/horse (including breed, age, height)
-34 year old 15.3H TB gelding
-26 year old 15.1H TB mare
-15 year old 16.1H WB cross mare
-2 standard donkeys, one is 8 years old, the other is in his 20s
2. What horse is used for (i.e light riding, heavy competing, etc)
Nothing. :lol: The WB mare does low level eventing and dressage, although she has been on hiatus. The young donkey is learning to drive, but she is also on hiatus
3. Living arrangements (tell us a bit about the pasture available, how much grass is available? is it shared with other horses etc)
All live together on 24/7 turnout on a 10+ acre grassy pasture
4. What do you feed? AND WHY!
Everyone receives a ration balancer for essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. The amount varies dependent on size, demands, and what other feed products they are receiving.
Everyone gets whole flax because I see a noticeable positive difference in their coat and skin, with a significant decrease in skin issues like rain rot when feeding it (almost never happens). The receive anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1 cup daily depending on size.
The seniors eat insane quantities of Triple Crown Senior because they are both hard keepers with compromised dentition.
The seniors also receive about 1/2 pound a day of a high calorie fat supplement to further boost calories.
Most importantly, everyone has free choice forage. Grass in growing season (the donkeys and WB are muzzled), free choice grass hay in the winter.
Alfalfa cubes and/or chopped forage are used as needed to supplement the seniors because of their compromised dentition.
5. How often do you feed? (i.e do you miss certain days of the week when the horse is not in work due to work/study engagements, do you feed and morning/night, just morning/night or just when in work??
AM & PM every single day; in the winter, the eldest senior gets a third meal late at night.
6. What do you believe is the most important thing to remember when working out the feeding regime of a horse - i.e. protein/fat ratios etc…
FORAGE. Forage first. Even if you don’t test your forage quality or care what’s in it, horses need access to about 2% of their body weight (give or take) in forage for GI health and mental health. While “free choice” isn’t always necessary or doable, horses should never be going for long periods of time without access to forage.
Once you have the appropriate amount of forage, you need to make sure your horses have the right quantities of quality protein in their diet. Forage is highly variable in protein content, so I find the easiest way to ensure this is through a feed product. Ration balancers work well because they have high concentrations of the essential amino acids without having to feed a lot of supplemental calories.
Vitamins and minerals are very important, but between forage and a quality feed, generally they will be covered sufficiently. If you know a particular nutrient is out of whack in your area, then address it on a case by case basis.
That doesn’t mean don’t ever feed anything that isn’t hay (obviously, says the person who included a custom supplement on her feed routine), but it’s a good thing to remember when looking at your feed regimen.
