Correct amount to feed

[jazzy's girl]

Hi, I am fairly new to this horse owning game and am confused about feeding rations and what to feed with what.
i bought my 14HH 6 year old fell x off my instructor and continue to feed as she did, which was 6-8 large carrots for breakfast, and one scoop of speedibeet, one handfull of Alfafa original, one apple and 2 carrots for tea.
She also has a large net of haylage in the morning and one at night. At the moment she is mainly live in, just getting grazing on weekend afternoons.

I have now been told that carrots aren't the best food to give, and that in addition to speedibeet and alfa, I should be feeding hard food - cubes or similar. This seems to be extra food to me. She isn't a fat pony, but is in good condition with a shiny coat - she does seem to be lacking in energy though and isn't as sharp as I would like her, although this may just be her characet - she was only 4 when I started riding her, so may have matured and settled down a bit.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[gordysgirl]

It may well be your mare is missing some vits & mins she requires. The beet & chaff won't be providing her with all she needs especially in v small quantities. I would probably keep the evening feed the same but add a vitamin supplement to it. Many available like NAF General Supplement for example. Not too expensive & does what it says on the tin.
As for breakfast I would cut the carrots out, and replace with small handful of chaff if you think she really needs a breakfast. If she is mostly in then this will provide her with some variety from hay/haylage. Maybe one or 2 carrots as succulents.

How come she is only getting grazing at weekends?

[*Sez*]

You don't have to give any hard feed if your horse doesn't need it :)

What you're feeding seems to be a "token" fibre based feed, to me. You don't say what her body weight it, but I would estimate her at around 420KG based on her height and breeding, which works out (I think :confused: ) at around 5KG of forage and 3.5KG of compound feed per day.

What's her workload like? If she is lacking energy, then it's possible that she needs a little more energy. Light - Moderate work (i.e. regular hacking and schooling) would require approximately 10- 12MJ/KG, so you could easily get away with feeding a non-heating high fibre feed and probably find that she has a little more energy under the saddle, without becoming a handful.
Alfa-A original provides approx 10MJ/KG, I think, but you would need to be feeding more than a handful for it to have any effect, or you could feed it with some kind of balancer to ensure she is getting all the nutrients that she needs.

I do agree about the carrots, though! Carrots have quite a high sugar content, and I only feed one or two at any one time. :)

[jazzy's girl]

She weighs about 985lbs according to the weightape, we do fairly light work 1/4 hour in school or 1 - 2 hour hack, mostly at walk, with a small amount of trot and a short canter thrown in for luck.
The yard I keep her on is at a working sheep farm, and we have to cross the sheeps field to get to the horses field, The farmer is very proud of his fields so only allows us to cross with the horses if the field is dry. We have the alternative of walking the horses round to another gate by road, but this takes a good 20 minutes and when you work full time it isn't really an option until weekend. The only yard nearby that offers full winter turnout charges a lot more and the poor horses are sttod knee deep in mud!!

Will cut the carrots down as even thouh she loves them!!

[Konch]

For one moment i saw 14h and 985kg! :eek: thats a baby elephant! :D

[*Sez*]

For one moment i saw 14h and 985kg! :eek: thats a baby elephant! :D
LMAO! I saw a baby elephant recently and it was soooo cute, although I would really not appreciate him stepping on my toes! :p
I was quite impressed with my estimate, actually :D 985lbs works out around 446KG, so I wasn't too badly out :D

With the adjusted weight and light work, rather than moderate, then I'd probably go for no more than 2 - 2.5 KG of compound feed per day at around 8 - 10MJ/KG.

[jazzy's girl]

Yes, I was well impressed with your guess at her weight. I do need to get it down tho'. I certainly can't feel her ribs by running my hand "lightly over her side" - firm pressure is needed to find them at the moment. ;)

Think I'm going to add a supplement to her current diet (thanks gordysgirl) for the moment and cut out the carrots. She will hopefully be out at grass 24/7 soon, so I will start with her new diet when she is back to live in. that will give me a chance to study all the various feeds available.

Going to start increasing the workload soon too as this will increase her fitness levels and burn off more calories.

Thanks for your help, guys

[poniesrule]

I have a 14.1 fell x 21 year old mare who weighs in at 445kg, so quite similar to your pony.

She will probably be fed a feed balancer such as Baileys Lo-Cal this summer, with a double handful of hi-fi.

Balancers are good for native types as they provide all the vits and mins needed without too many calories!!

If she lacks a little sparkle,on her work days you could introduce a VERY small amount of oats to her meal to add some sparkle.

:)

[jazzy's girl]

That's great- someone with the same breed. I thought my pony was overweight, compared to yours it does look as if I need to get a few pounds off her.
Someone else has mentioned oats to pep her up a bit, but do I need to buy special oats and do they need cookin or anything. Sorry if I sound really thick.
I asked Baileys advice line and they suggested the low cal too.