New owner! Feed help!!

Con mom

New Member
Aug 12, 2020
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Hi all
I have a 13.2 3 year old cob arriving on Saturday. I’ve been around family/friends horses all my life but this is my first owned and I’ve bought her for my horse mad daughter

I’ve got a 2 acre paddock and stable.

what is the best food routine for young cobs? Ie grazing and hay only or will I need to top up with hard feed?
shes not coming underweight but just considering she’s still growing will she need more!
Thanks in advance
 
Hi and welcome.

If there is plenty of grass i wouldnt feed anything as such. Maybe only give a small quantity to get the horse use to coming to you and for being handled and groomed having feet picked up. As long as there is a varied sward of grass the horse should hopefully get all the nutrients from the grass. You dont want to get the horse to overweight whilst there not working and only growing, as it would be bad for joints.
As the winter approaches and grass depletes i would make sure there is hay available. Perhaps give hard feed to support lack of nutrients in grass.

Even with my working horses i always reduce food through summer with the grass thats available.
 
Hi and welcome.

If there is plenty of grass i wouldnt feed anything as such. Maybe only give a small quantity to get the horse use to coming to you and for being handled and groomed having feet picked up. As long as there is a varied sward of grass the horse should hopefully get all the nutrients from the grass. You dont want to get the horse to overweight whilst there not working and only growing, as it would be bad for joints.
As the winter approaches and grass depletes i would make sure there is hay available. Perhaps give hard feed to support lack of nutrients in grass.

Even with my working horses i always reduce food through summer with the grass thats available.
 
maybe just feed a balancer for laminitics to ensure she gets all minerals and vitamins with some zero chaff so it is very low cal but fills in the gaps. you could split the paddock and keep one part as a sacrifice paddock for winter as it will churn. Is she on her own? will also depend on how much she is doing and whether she is a good doer or not as cobs tend to need their weight watching. If you want a low cal low sugar I use L Mix.
 
maybe just feed a balancer for laminitics to ensure she gets all minerals and vitamins with some zero chaff so it is very low cal but fills in the gaps. you could split the paddock and keep one part as a sacrifice paddock for winter as it will churn. Is she on her own? will also depend on how much she is doing and whether she is a good doer or not as cobs tend to need their weight watching. If you want a low cal low sugar I use L Mix.

Thank you, how much of the L Mix do you usually give?
 
Thank you, how much of the L Mix do you usually give?
just a tiny handful as i have to feed my veteran and there are long faces if he gets fed and no one else so they all get the laminitic balancer split into two tiny meals, it hardly is worth putting in the bucket but it stops mutiny. If i run out of balancer, they get a tiny handful of L Mix. I find that one of the round scoops feeds 7 so it is a piddling amount
 
just a tiny handful as i have to feed my veteran and there are long faces if he gets fed and no one else so they all get the laminitic balancer split into two tiny meals, it hardly is worth putting in the bucket but it stops mutiny. If i run out of balancer, they get a tiny handful of L Mix. I find that one of the round scoops feeds 7 so it is a piddling amount

Lol bless em! Is that twice a day?
 
Yes, Buddy the veteran get a proper feed but the others are not in work and it's just a token gesture to keep them quiet otherwise there is a militant mob of mulish donkeys
 
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I'd also look at a balancer, personally I like Top Spec Lite and it's fed at 100g per 100kg bodyweight. L Mix is a feed not a balancer, and while it is a source of vits and mins you'd probably have to feed a fair amount of it to get a good level for a growing horse and I doubt you'll want to be feeding that much to a young cob. Other than a balancer I would expect grass and hay to be enough, but as with any horse it's a case of keeping an eye on them and maybe using a weigh tape once a week to monitor any changes. If your grass is good you may find you need to reduce the area she grazes because as @chunky monkey said earlier it really isn't good for developing joints to carry excess weight.

Have fun with her, youngsters are lovely to have and teach.
 
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I'd also look at a balancer, personally I like Top Spec Lite and it's fed at 100g per 100kg bodyweight. L Mix is a feed not a balancer, and while it is a source of vits and mins you'd probably have to feed a fair amount of it to get a good level for a growing horse and I doubt you'll want to be feeding that much to a young cob. Other than a balancer I would expect grass and hay to be enough, but as with any horse it's a case of keeping an eye on them and maybe using a weigh tape once a week to monitor any changes. If your grass is good you may find you need to reduce the area she grazes because as @chunky monkey said earlier it really isn't good for developing joints to carry excess weight.

Have fun with her, youngsters are lovely to have and teach.

Thank you! Going out on Friday to stock up in preparation! What am I letting myself in for ??
 
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I have never fed my cob a mix or balancer.
I am considering a general purpose supplement as we are now on poorer grazing.
 
That's why I feed a balancer @newforest , mine is on very poor grazing, gets well soaked hay and minimal hard feed so without it he'd be lacking vits and mins. I think unless something is on good grazing - and many aren't in order to control weight - then you either feed a large enough amount of a good feed or give a balancer or vit and min supplement.
 
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I'm a lazy cob owner (by that I mean he's lazy but so am I!) He lives on fresh air and still is HUGE. I can't advise on supplements, as that's my lazy side, but I have given him a teeny bucket every time I bring him in, from day one, so coming to me is a pleasure not a chore. He comes in for that whether he's working or not. Do post photos and updates - it's an exciting time!
 
What are the current owners feeding? Having had a number of 3 year olds over the years each has had different needs. But common to all was a good vitamin supplement. I'm a huge fan of Harbro one scoop. Easy to feed and palitable. That and a bit of lo cal chaff (my reccomendation is top spec top chop lite) would be a start.
 
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