Feeding

[Sefroniaau]

I have always kept my horses in paddocks that are full of grass so hard feed and hay are not needed. But i am about to move my horse to a paddock that has Little to no grass. So what should i feed him. He is 14.3hh and the weather rages between 0-40C but is usualy about 15-25C. so he dosent realy need to keep warm. I ride him 3-4 times a week. and work him quite hard. We event and pony club. He is not very high strung or nervy.
How much hay and hard food shoul I give him.
Thanks for any help :) :) :eek:

[lamprellsarah]

you still wouldn't need a awful lot, properly a flake of hay a day, when the weathers like that for ours they don't get any hay or hard feed, even if they are with little grass they have no problems keeping weight on! he may not even want it!!
if you wanted to give him a bit more energy yet not get him too fat you could give him a higher energy cereal and some chaff!!
i would recommand making sure he is getting vitamins and minerals from what he is getting and if not giving him some extra!!!
i would just give him 1kg of cereal and 1 kg of chaff a day and monitor his weight and everything!!

[ponyvet]

If he is currently on grass then just give him hay. You could cause all sorts of problems by giving him a dramatic change in diet, like starting to feed cereals, at the same time as moving him.

He should get enough vitamins and minerals from the hay as long as you buy good quality. I don't know about Australia but over here the feed companies will do an analysis of your hay so either you can have that done, or buy your hay from someone else who has it analysed first.

If you are going to start feeding him concentrates go for a low energy mix, and feed him a little of that with maybe some chaff as well (to pad it out a bit). That too should provide him with plenty of vitamins and minerals since if you buy a ready made feed it should be well balanced.