Forage cost

[Jessey]

How much does your horse cost you in hay per week? what type of bales do you use? how much grass time do they get in addition? is it good/poor grass? (Maybe only applicable in winter for some)

This was asked elsewhere and I'm interested

Jess is 580kg and the boys 150kg-ish so I have assumed she eats 2/3 and they eat 1/6 each. They don't get grazing for most of the year (just pickings) so it's probably double what most spend on hay.

I currently buy a full 6 string hesston every 4 weeks for £85; £21.25/week for all, £14/week for Jess
Small bales around here are £5.50 each; they eat 1 a day so £38.5/week for all, £25.66/week for Jess
But thinking back when I was buying 5ft rounds for £45 each they lasted 2.5 weeks so £18/week for all, £12/week for Jess

I'm going to have to go back to weighing my hay, they are eating me out of house and home!

 

[carthorse]

Little Un is a 14.2ish welsh cob, on my weightape he's usually between 380 & 390kg. He's on poor grazing, which I'm very grateful to my YO for as I can't manage him on good grass, out all the time in the summer an in at night in the winter. I buy small bale hay at £4.50 a bale, it's meadow hay an nice stuff which doesn't seem overly rich though I soak it well anyway.

In the summer we use about a bale and a half a week, sometimes a bit less, so £6.75. In the winter that can go up to 3 bales a week, so £13.50. I don't doubt that I could reduce my winter costs by upping his very small bucket feeds, or even lightly soaking it so he gets more out of it, but he's happier with plenty of hay to munch on.

 

[Jessey]

I don't doubt that I could reduce my winter costs by upping his very small bucket feeds, or even lightly soaking it so he gets more out of it, but he's happier with plenty of hay to munch on.

I would always prefer to give more hay and less in a bucket, I specifically look for hay with a lower nutritional profile so they can all afford to eat more of it. When I had to go on haylage it was a nightmare as the 12 hour ration would be gone in 2 hours then there would be upsets.

 

[Trewsers]

We budget £375 per month for hayledge. Nets back to £30 per horse per week. Zi has access to grazing overnight and during the day partially. It really is weather dependant up here, Chloe will not go out for grass - even the richest paddock won't tempt her on a bleak wet day. Storm has limited grazing, mostly in hand (I walk her for an hour before breakfast and then she goes into a small paddock for a couple of hours) rest of the time she wanders the hardcore yard. Our forage bill is probably a lot more than it should be for three horses but they are "special needs" and despite having plenty of grazing - they don't always use it. We are lucky and get either good local hayledge / hay - or get it shipped up from south. It really is nice quality too.

Additionally, everyone gets a bucket of Allen and Paige Fast Fibre at night - more so in winter - Zi lives out overnight unless the weather is really foul. So I like him to have his dish of "readibreak" beforehand......................................


In the past I've bought things like Redi graze and have used Healthy Hooves when her teeth were bad and hay was in short supply - they don't work out too bad cost wise, but you have to keep on feeding little and often - and I didn't fancy setting my alarm clock to feed her during the night so ended up chopping up hayledge into smaller lengths.............................
Edited to add: Zi is 640 (he is just a tad over 17hh warmblood) - Chloe is 525 (she is 15.2hh cob) and Storm on a good day when I tell her to suck her belly in is about 520 (she's just over 15hh)

 

[Jessey]

We budget £375 per month for hayledge. Nets back to £30 per horse per week. Zi has access to grazing overnight and during the day partially. It really is weather dependant up here, Chloe will not go out for grass - even the richest paddock won't tempt her on a bleak wet day. Storm has limited grazing, mostly in hand (I walk her for an hour before breakfast and then she goes into a small paddock for a couple of hours) rest of the time she wanders the hardcore yard. Our forage bill is probably a lot more than it should be for three horses but they are "special needs" and despite having plenty of grazing - they don't always use it. We are lucky and get either good local hayledge / hay - or get it shipped up from south. It really is nice quality too.

Additionally, everyone gets a bucket of Allen and Paige Fast Fibre at night - more so in winter - Zi lives out overnight unless the weather is really foul. So I like him to have his dish of "readibreak" beforehand......................................

In the past I've bought things like Redi graze and have used Healthy Hooves when her teeth were bad and hay was in short supply - they don't work out too bad cost wise, but you have to keep on feeding little and often - and I didn't fancy setting my alarm clock to feed her during the night so ended up chopping up hayledge into smaller lengths.............................

Your mob really fell on their feet with you and Mr T, nothing is too much for them

 

[Toz]

I’ve used some serious hay this summer! Torro got laminitis so I took the 2 ponies and barney ( he’s had it in the past) off their field. They now all go out overnight on a very bare paddock again with hay. They are on a field that should have been rested for the other two but of course couldn’t be so they are on hay 24/7 also.
We make 6 string hestons and previously they have lasted about a month.
So as not to use up my winter supply early I’ve been buying in. Again 6 string big bales but they are kind of half height and very loose. I pay £20 and they have been lasting 1-2 weeks.
Im not sure who eats the most but suspect it’s tiny Torro

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

Mine are out 24/7. Over the summer they had no hay at all. Since it's started to get colder at night Mattie needs some extra, and I'm running at about one to one and a half flakes/sections/slices/biscuits of small bale a day at the moment to keep him happy. In the winter if the grass has gone it can be up to half a bale a day. I pay £4 a small bale (I can't store large bales or get them delivered to my field) for nice local hay. I think there are 8 - 10 flakes in a bale.

Mattie also gets one big feed a day of Veteran Vitality with grass mash and forage balancer.

 

[chunky monkey]

I use the small bales. They are out 24/7 with access to grass all the time although in winter it is sparse as we have cattle and sheep on as well. We didnt cut our field for hay this year as we had the cows on till late spring so needed to give the field a rest. Sometimes you can take too much out the ground with intense grazing and hay removal. Our fields are meadow grass with lots of flora and fauna. But slow growing being on the hills. The boys currently have loads of grass to eat, although I am strip grazing them a bit of fresh each day. Some cows are coming in onto the fields soon to calve so then I will have less grass. Hoping not to start feeding hay till December to the horses but then it will be right through till end of April/May.
I will use approximately a small bale a day between the two of them over the winter. If it snows they'll get more if needed if there not eating I reduce. I have a couple of thousand in the barn so they wont starve. I estimate about 150 in total for the horses over winter.