new horse's feed

[K&K]

i have a question similar to lucy j's.

i have until may 1 to figure this out, but i suppose i should be prepared ....

my new horse has been on a flake of timothy in the morning and a flake of timothy at night for about 5 years. she's been used as a broodmare for that time, but i'll be riding her (not hard) every two days about, just that for at least the first month or so. she's an extremely easy keeper ... is there any point in altering her feed schedule if she's going to be worked lightly like this? basically she's a pleasure & trail horse.

in the summer the horses at the boarding stable are turned out in a big grass field. should i alter her feed again for that?

also, timothy hay is very expensive here, so would it hurt her to switch to local hay?

thank you very much!

[Aly]

It won't hurt to swithch her onto local hay as long as you
- introduce her to the new hay by mixing it with the old over a period of a few days.
- make sure the local hay is of high quality, not dusty or mouldy etc.

Being a brood mare for so long the horse will be unfit, and whilst you will only be working her lightly, if she sweats profusely, or if the weather conditions are hot, I would advise an electrolyte suppliment. However I think you should find no need to significantly alter the amounts of hay you are feeding her, nor should you have to introduce hard feed. Keep an eye out on her weight, and energy levels, and adjust if and when you notice a difference.

Cheers!

[Lucy J]

I wouldn't think an electrolyte addition would really be nesesarry, I would supplement feed with salt and a low energy/high fibre mix if she is losing condition.

[ros]

I remember Ponyvet wasn't particularly in favour of the use of electrolytes except in quite specific circumstances. They shouldn't really be necessary if you're careful about how much work you give your mare initially.

I think the main thing to remember is as Aly says - she's been a broodmare, so her riding muscles won't have seen the light of day for quite a while! Just keep it all very short and easy at first, and build her up very slowly and gradually so that those muscles don't get tired or sore, and she should be fine. If she's working a bit harder than she's used to, she'll probably be a bit more hungry, but most horses do perfectly fine on just fibre so a bit more hay should do the trick. She'll let you know herself, I expect, if she wants more, and if you don't push her too hard too quickly she's unlikely to lose a lot of condition suddenly, so you should have time to gauge her changing needs and adjust her feed accordingly.

Good luck!