OP, more info please? Is horse losing weight?
Well, there is good news. I was frantic when my BO texted me saying that I needed to pay more and further texts for clarification did not help…and then I didn’t hear back from her. But I spoke with her when I went to the barn this evening and I think all is well. I have to say, I really dislike it when people try to discuss things like this over text–please call me or talk to me in person!
My horse is in ideal condition but loses weight easily and is ulcer prone. Because he is ulcer prone, I keep a small hole hay net in his stall to keep hay in front of him for when he finishes his AM/PM hay. The small hole hay net prevents waste in our case. And yes, when I moved my horse I discussed feed/hay with the BO and all was fine. But now that it’s winter and we’ve had some really bad weather and ice storms, the horses have been stuck inside a lot due to the ice and she thought my horse had been getting much more hay than the barn’s other hard keepers.
As it turns out, it doesn’t look like my horse is getting more hay than what the other hard keepers receive. 
So apparently, now, there is no problem. I think I will still try and get a bale or two of hay in case things change again. But let this be a lesson that it really helps to talk to a person face-to-face. :yes:
(As an aside, my horse gets a ration balancer, Omegatin fat supplement, and oil / cool calories. I also bring him alfalfa cubes when they are stuck in their stalls due to bad weather and have no access to grass…so he’s getting fat in his diet to keep up his weight. I was just worried about his roughage. Here’s a picture from about a month ago.). Thanks for the advice, everyone!
[QUOTE=Dressage.For.Life.;7958463]
I have to say, I really dislike it when people try to discuss things like this over text–please call me or talk to me in person![/QUOTE]
Then why did you not call them when the text conversation was not going how you wanted it to?
Your picture link should be:
http://i975.photobucket.com/albums/ae237/awilsonwright/121_zps7814990a.png
Cutie!
Something I think some people forget, is the 1.5%-2% of body weight for forage is TOTAL forage so any pasture grazing should be accounted for when considering this number too. I do agree an ulcer prone horse or for that matter most any horse should have hay in front of them the majority of the time in ideal world but soo many horses are too fat this is not always possible. Not to mention even if forage is in front of horse at all times most research does say they take a break and I see this all the time pasture boarded horses and stalled horses in the very late hours of night and/or very early morning hours before sunrise.
[QUOTE=Tee;7958081]
She has basic boarding plans, and then if you want the barn to provide hay, you pay by the flake. So much per flake per month. The cost is refigured when new hay comes in, but since she buys in bulk, it’s cheaper than the feed stores most times.[/QUOTE]
My only concern with this is when horses are given hay in the pasture… how do you determine who has eaten what? if you’re in a single horse per pasture or they only hay them in stalls situation this works and I like it. My horse lives out 24/7 with a pasture mate so this wouldn’t work there. Also wouldn’t work for barns that feed square bales in the pasture. I like the basic premise of this idea though…
You have to just realize that if you want your horse to have a lot of hay 24/7, you have to pay extra. And don’t even think that you can board where you pay a flat fee plus you pay for your own grain and hay. BTDT. BO was feeding her horses the grain and hay that my friend and I bought for our horses. And had been doing it for years to others when we moved to her barn and I caught on within a short time. We moved. BO was mad that I objected as no one else had ever notice. I told all the other boarders what was going on when we left. Their horses were eating pine needles as not enough grass in pastures and not enough hay was fed to their horses. I just pay the extra money or buy the extra hay and then check on the amount given/left often.
[QUOTE=FirstChance;7959625]
My only concern with this is when horses are given hay in the pasture… how do you determine who has eaten what? if you’re in a single horse per pasture or they only hay them in stalls situation this works and I like it. My horse lives out 24/7 with a pasture mate so this wouldn’t work there. Also wouldn’t work for barns that feed square bales in the pasture. I like the basic premise of this idea though…[/QUOTE]
We have stalls with attached paddocks, so no issues with who gets what.
[QUOTE=Dressage.For.Life.;7957934]
What do you do when your barn doesn’t supply enough hay? Do you pay extra to get additional hay from the barn? Do you buy your own hay? And if so, where do you buy it (feed store, directly from farmer)?
I’m just struggling to wrap my mind around needing to buy additional hay for my horse after moving to a barn that promised no nickel and diming and convinced me that my hard keeper wouldn’t be a problem, stating that all the horses got whatever they needed :no:
I’m weary of blindly paying a surcharge for “extra hay” so I’m curious as to if this has worked for others. I can go out and buy my own hay but I’m afraid it will be hard to find good quality locally and I only have a car to transport it. TIA.[/QUOTE]
Unless you’re in a positive DIVE, where the board is under $250 per month, I’d say if you like the place offer to supplement the hay on your nickel, and if they don’t like that MOVE. If the place is not charging rock-bottom board, they should be able to afford to properly hay your horse.
Hay–good quality and all they need–should be Priority One for any REPUTABLE, profitable stable. If they’re shorting you on that, I shudder to think what other corners they’d be willing to cut. Me? I’d be hooking up the trailer.
There aren’t many barns in my area but they’re all like this. This place is at least $75/month more than other barns near me at $450/mo. The last barn I was at, had poor pastures, arenas that were often not harrowed unless I did it, etc. I supplemented some hay there, had to feed a ton of hay cubes, and had to pay a boatload on feed because they didn’t supply anything my horse could have (all sweet feed based) and yet I still had to pay for the feed they supplied. Oh, and I had to buy extra bedding there, too!
BO texted me this morning wanting to change things up again so we had another conversation today when I was at the barn. It looks like things are all OK again now (until the next time they’re not). This barn is by far the best one in my area so I kind of need to make this work. We’re going to see how much “extra” hay my horse gets in the next week and then go from there.
OP, some barn owners do get themselves into tough spots and start to worry… Yours sounds like a “worrier” but as long as you keep the lines of communication open, you should be OK… sounds like a reasonably BO just trying to figure things out. If (s)he’s charging that much more and keeping the stalls filled, (s)he’s doing something right!
My last barn was a bit stingy with hay and charged extra to put hay in a net, and then would only do it once a day. New barn is very generous (probably 25 pounds per day at least, and more in the winter, in 5 feedings), to the point where in the warmer season I have to tell them to feed my mare one flake instead of two at all the “two flake” feedings except night, or she gets too fat. Now that it’s cold she’s getting probably 30 pounds and gets an extra flake at night if it’s really cold since she is outside. They will feed extra, to a point, without charging for it, and will put hay in nets if you ask.
There was a barn where I had to buy my own but that was because they were feeding a very rich hay (we used to joke we wanted to make ourselves salads from it!) This was not good for a Morgan – my farrier thought she was developing mild laminits – so I bought my own and stored it in an old horse trailer, and brought in two bales at a time, labeled, so the barn workers wouldn’t have to drag it out of the trailer. The BO even gave me a $60/month discount, which nearly covered the cost of buying my own. But I would not necessarily expect a BO to do that.
[QUOTE=Lady Eboshi;7960189]
Hay–good quality and all they need–should be Priority One for any REPUTABLE, profitable stable. If they’re shorting you on that, I shudder to think what other corners they’d be willing to cut. Me? I’d be hooking up the trailer.[/QUOTE]
I couldn’t agree more. The problem is, for probably about 75% of boarding stables… it’s not.
When I was boarding my horses, I had serious problems with lack of hay at most places. It’s not like I’m some fanatical person who expects my horses to have piles and piles of wasted hay 24/7. But when I have 1100lb horses, I expect a barn should feed them 2% of their body weight in hay when they aren’t getting grass pasture. In many of the barn owners’ defense, I think they truly believe they are feeding “enough” hay when they toss all of the horses 2-3 thin flakes AM & PM. Most of them have never bothered to weigh those flakes and realize how significantly they are short-changing the horses.
To the OP- I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I’ve SO been there. You’re completely right about the “things are okay until they are not” situation. Personally, I’ve found that even if the barn owner is willing to agree to feed more hay, either included in the cost of board or for an additional fee, more often then not, everyone falls back into old habits. :ambivalence:
Thanks, guys! Quietann, you are right in that BO is very much a “worrier”. But she always has the horse’s best interests in mind. It just means that she thinks about everything–like being worried if the hay at the bottom of my horse’s hay net has been in there too long. :lol:
And you are also correct in that the barn is always full. The majority of the boarders have been there for several years and I was lucky a stall opened up for my gelding. I feel confident that the wonderful people who work at the barn and take care of feeding will give my horse the agreed upon amount of hay, whether it is hay from the barn or hay I buy elsewhere. 
This is why I weigh all the hay for each horse. Most boarding barns around me feed a couple flakes 2-3 times per day. Those boarders have complained about their horses losing weight over the winter the past 2 years. All my horses have gained weight! When boarders move into my barn I tell them I base their ration on forage first! The horses get 1st cut square bales in turnout in the winter and 2nd cut squares in hay nets when they’re in. I only have 12 stalls though so I can take the extra time it takes to weigh out each horse’s hay. That might be very impractical if you have 30 horses. My board is also $50+ higher than other barns with comparable facilities. Feeding a forage first diet is more expensive than just giving them the cheap local mill mix to the tune of 2 large coffee cans per day. (I weigh my grain too so this just kills me!)
Do you have a trailer to keep a bale or two in?
I would look in the Great Falls area What discipline do you and your horse do?
Usually you buy your own hay and ask them to feed it.
[QUOTE=Schatzi09;7960561]
This is why I weigh all the hay for each horse. Most boarding barns around me feed a couple flakes 2-3 times per day. …[/QUOTE] I haven’t boarded for a long time, but when I did and when I go into boarding barns now, I do not see enough hay given and the quality is never to my standard. You are correct. 2-3 flakes, regardless of weight, would be what they get 2-3 time a day. Probably 15 pounds a day if they are lucky and the quality has been very poor, even in expensive barns. For one thing, barns with a lot of horses can’t buy enough good hay for the year. Come Winter, the pickins get slim for finding hay, so they take what they can get and are stingy about feeding it. Sadly, many boarders don’t even know how much hay their horses get, don’t know or care about the quality either. 2-3 flakes at last feeding at 5pm and then nothing until morning. Not acceptable. I’m a fanatic about finding good hay, and even though I’m willing to pay extravant prices for quality, it is hard to find.
[QUOTE=Carol Ames;8360631]
I would look in the Great Falls area What discipline do you and your horse do?[/QUOTE]
OP is in Indiana, GF is a two or three day drive. plus this thread is almost a year old. problem must be long solved one way or the other.
This thread confuses me.
