does she need a hard feed?

[CurlyWurlyRach]

My YO says Curls wont need anything exept hay when she moves...but the guy i ordered my straw from says 'course she will! wont live on fresh air love!'
so i though 'aha! ill turn to my trusty NR buddies' ;)

Curly is large atm...(ok ok shes fat)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/lord_w_rox/whatsinthesepockets.jpg

she'll be out durning the day on ok grass and in at night with something called medow hay (may be haylage actually...i went to pieces on the phone to the feed merchant and cant remember :o) and shes not in ridden work but we'll be doing groundowrk and lots of lungeing/free schooling to help her shift the pounds and gain some muscle.
She will be rugged but probably not clipped (see how we go as shes not good with clippers).
Last winter she was unrugged and unclipped and unfed and out 24/7 and lost condition.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/lord_w_rox/Winter05.jpg

she doesnt need anymore energy really, shes sluggish sometimes now but its her unfitness thats the cause of that.

does she really *need* feed? shes out 24/7 now and notfed and she seems to be doing fine - the straw man just got me thinking...:confused:

[Herbie's mummy]

She does not need hard feed as such but mabey a bit of hi fi light or something, just so she has something in a bucket like every one else.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

sort of a token feed herbies mummy?
handful or so to keep her quiet? (she gets half a scoop of beet when the others get fed if shes had to come in for the night currently)

[chewitmonster]

I think play it by ear. If she starts to lose a bit of condition then give her some feed. You are changing a lot (not a bad thing) like rugging her which will mean she won't use as much of her fat reserve keeping warm. Keeping her in at night will mean you can judge the amount of hay she needs to keep herself going over night. As you are bringing her in however a bit of breccy/dinner might not go amiss but I think if she is fine at the moment then don't panic. She'll show you if she needs some grub :)

[Pink's lady]

no she doesn't need a hard feed! She's not exactly fading away to nothing;)

In fact, if this was spring, you'd need to be thinking about restricting her grazing but she fine now since it's going into winter.

However if the grazing isn't very varied you could do with feeding a good general supplement. Just add a handful of Hi-Fi lite to mix it in. NAFF General Supplement is good and not expensive. Or TLC. Most feed stores sell them. Means she's getting everything she needs but, unless you feed her the whole tub in one go, she won't be over dosed.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

in curlys opinion, a moment spent not eating is a wasted moment :rolleyes: so im sure she will tell me chewitmonster!

[BeachRiding]

I wouldn't give her any feed. No horse really NEEDs grain. The only reason willie gets grain is because he is a hard keeper, but then he only needs a very little amount.

Gitcha is on zero grain.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

unless you feed her the whole tub in one go, she won't be over dosed.


hehe, just got a mental image of funnelling supplement down her neck :o
is the Feel good 30 everyday one any good?

[Herbie's mummy]

sort of a token feed herbies mummy?
handful or so to keep her quiet? (she gets half a scoop of beet when the others get fed if shes had to come in for the night currently)

Ye basicly, lol and if she has hay at night she will be fine and should not loose so mucg condition as she will be coming in any way:)
xx

[CurlyWurlyRach]

right so onto my (long) shopping list goes :-
1 bag of hi-fi lite
some form of supplement (reccomendations?)

do i have to start giving her it as soon as she arrives as the soonest i can really get to the feed store is saturday and she could arrive any time after Wednesday.
she'll be ok till then right? then i can start her on it and her work progrmme together.
she wont be doing anything this week apart from chilling anyways.

[chewitmonster]

Yep she'll be fine till Saturday :) xxx

[CurlyWurlyRach]

im totally new to feed here (you can probably tell :o) but does Hi-Fi keep well? I have a round scoop thing that i got labelled 'average feed scoop' at robinsons, one scoop of hi-fi lite a day with a scoop of supplement (feel good 30?) in it every morning before she is turned out ... or is it better to feed at night aftr shes been worked and is settled for the night?

sorry about all the questions but once i know, i know :o

also, what do you store hi-fi in? cn it just stay in the bag it comes in on top of a pallet (so off the ground)

[millie n pride]

also, what do you store hi-fi in? cn it just stay in the bag it comes in on top of a pallet (so off the ground)

It would be best in a bin really, so that no little mice can get to it! :)

[CurlyWurlyRach]

It would be best in a bin really, so that no little mice can get to it! :)


eeek! mice! :eek:

:o
i dont have a bin... ah well, one more thing to put on the list!

[millie n pride]

and i'd probably feed at night :) but if all the other horses were being fed on a morning, you could give her a bit then too. Pride has 2 feeds a day of the same thing in winter, to keep him going and all the other horses on the yard have two and i don't want him to feel left out :p

[Pink's lady]

Not used Feel Good 30 but it'll be fine. Make sure you get the general one - the 'Everyday Vitamins and Minerals' one.

And yes, a bin to out the Hi-Fi in would be best but not essential. You could do with buying a couple anyways - have a look in B&Q or Homebase etc for normal plastic rubbish bins. They're about £5 each.

As long as the Hi-Fi's dry it will keep almost indefinitly.

one scoop of hi-fi lite a day with a scoop of supplement (feel good 30?) in it every morning before she is turned out ... or is it better to feed at night aftr shes been worked and is settled for the night?

ONe scoop would be fine - just make sure you dampen it before feeding her it. I would feed it at night because it will give her something to do - she'll not be pleased about being stabled;) Make sure he has loads and loads of hay to keep her occupied and a small holed hay net to slow her munching.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

right, i think im getting this now :o
one scoop dampened hi-fi lite and supplement (and possibly a carrot in there ;))- chuck 'em in a bucket and bung it in the stable last thing at night.
Curly tends to get annoyed with small haynets and rip them open so ive got a hay rack on order (should arrive Friday).
one scoop will look lost at the bottom of my bucket!

feeding one scoop a day, how long will a bag last? also, how much approx is a bag?

[Pink's lady]

ooo, not sure about the carrot - that's being very generous;) A bag of hi-fi on one scoop a day will last at least a month.

Personally I don't like hayracks because they are eating from above which isn't good for their neck or respiration. I would just feed hay in a clear corner of the stable if you're not going to use a haynet. You could maybe give her some loose hay so she fills up a but then a small holed hay net (hung as low as possible without getting her feet caught in it) to keep her occupied for the rest of the night.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

thats an interesting point about the hay rack actually...thinking about it i bet the dust/seeds will fall in her face...bit akward trying to have your dinner if it keeps leaking onto your head!

one bag will last a month?! exellent :D three cheers for Hi-Fi lite ;)

[Herbie's mummy]

LOL!!!
oh and if all the horses get fed in the morning then feed her then as well, literally a small handful :D she so she gets involved, and feed just before you leave the yard:)
xxx

[CurlyWurlyRach]

just browising the Rideaway catalogue and ive found the Feel Good 30 everyday supp. and an Equivite Origional one, cant see the NAF one :confused:
which is best (equivite is cheaper ;))?

[Pink's lady]

This (http://www.naf-uk.com/gensupplement.html)is the NAF one.

To be honest it doesn't really matter so you'd be best finding the cheapest deal you can. Have a look around and work out how much it'll cost daily (some need to be feed a huge amount, others just a small scoop) and see if it might be cheaper getting it off the internet (plus p&p)

[Tangle]

What kind of bucket is it? If it's got a metal handle I wouldn't leave it with her overnight, just in case. Depends on your yard, but our YO found if she left buckets in she started getting rats :eek: - so there's a strict policy whereby empty buckets are hooked out of stables and washed straight away.

Can't see the NAF one at Rideaway (weird given how many NAF products they have :confused: ) but here it is at TDS: General Purpose Supplement (http://www.tds-saddlers.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?PCLinkID=2237). We've had Fat Mare on it since we got her - just be warned that Madam seems to think it's even better than carrots or mints! If you leave the open tub near Curly she might just try and eat it all at once :D

I doubt there's a huge difference between the brands, though, so whatever you can get hold of easily should be OK. When you get yourself sorted you might want to look at getting a BIG tub - the standard NAF size is 1.5kg (25 days worth), but you can get tubs upto 20kg. Bigger upfront investment but the per scoop price comes way down.

[Pink's lady]

What kind of bucket is it? If it's got a metal handle I wouldn't leave it with her overnight, just in case.

Me or Curly? Mine are all squashable Trub-trug ones that they can jump and down on as much as they want with no problems. Other than me getting cross;)

But that's a good point - Rach you'll need to buy a flexible bucket with nothing she can get caught on. Same for a water bucket. They're fairly cheap and don't crack even when they squish them. And they come in loads of colours;)

[Herbie's mummy]

i have rubber squishy ones too:) i love them

[Tangle]

Me or Curly?
I meant Curly - if you get to take your dinner to bed in a bucket, who am I to comment :p:D?

[CurlyWurlyRach]

dinner in bed... i tried that once and woke up with food stuck to my leg :confused: maybe it helps if its in a bucket to reduce spillage ;)

i have some flexi-buckets but they have a metal handle. One feed bucket and two water ones (in mint green :D got thoroghly overexited in robinsons when i spotted them :rolleyes: mum tried her darn best to force the sparkled pink ones on me but i put my foot down with a firm hand! :p)

[Pink's lady]

I meant Curly - if you get to take your dinner to bed in a bucket, who am I to comment ?

Not quite what I meant:p

Rach - you should really take the handles off the buckets before you leave her with them over night. All she needs to do is put her foot through the metal loop and painc.

[CurlyWurlyRach]

will the water buckets be ok with the handles left on? (even if i face the handles into the wall?).
shes likely to attack the feed bucket when it has the cheek to be empty so i'll pull the handle off now! (got a mental image of her with a mint green bucket on her head....)

[Pink's lady]

will the water buckets be ok with the handles left on?

Not ideal but yes. I'd love to see you trying to carry it without the handle;)

[Herbie's mummy]

haha lol you would spill it every where!! arrhhh
I would get a rubber one, there dead cheap and if you get a big one you only need one unlike two plastic water buckets.

[Floob]

One bag of hi-fi lite lasts quite a long time

This is how we store our feed
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/floobaloob/Every%20thing%20else/IMG_7652.jpg

Thsi was just after we tidied everything up, so it is a bit more of a mess. Luckily the mice don't seem to find chaff type feeds very attractive

[mogadoga]

I echo others. A handful/small scoop of hi fi light/happy hoof/ safe and sound with a GP suppliment. Keep her busy and the supliment meets all requirements.

But play it by 'ear' with other stuff as looking it her she probably doesnt need it. :D

[CurlyWurlyRach]

But play it by 'ear' with other stuff as looking it her she probably doesnt need it. :D

Too true unfortunatly!
Its all going to be quite a culture shock to curly 'Work?! whats the meaning of this?! I dont like my human...can i get a refund? shes mean to me...'