Feeding suggestions for easy keeper

[spots1]

Hi all,

I have a new rescue I am fostering. He has a monster hay belly! Apparently for the last two years he was kept on very lush pasture, then had leg surgery, and was put back out in the field. Never got any exercise.

I had him checked out by the vet and had blood work done etc, and he is healthy other than his weight.

He gets 1/2 lb am only of a mineral/vitamin grain supplement that is low starch/sugar/calorie/fat etc. He gets one flake of hay three times a day in his stall, and then he is turned out for the evening. I do take him out to the ring for lunging exercise every other day.

Any suggestions? Is he getting too much hay or not enough? I know it's good for them to always have forage.

[JB]

Too much hay or not enough? Can't possibly answer that without 1) knowing what he should weight and 2) how much the flakes weigh and 3) how much grass he's getting ;)

[rustyspurranch]

I would ensure that the horse is not bloated... Make sure if he is a rescue that you deworm your horse first. As for feeding your rescue horse, if he is a easy keeper, than yes that is more than enough. The rule, "feed little and often." is something i learned in pony club and stick by that rule. BUT.... becareful lunging a unfit horse.... lunging is 4 times hard than normal activitiy and puts a lot of wear and tear on a unfit horse, so realize that 15 minutes of lunging is equal to a hour of intense work in the ring.

[jaimebaker]

If the horse is only get 1/2 of a ration balancer, he isn't getting the correct amount of vitamins anyway unless it says that the horse should only get 1/2 lb a day (never seen one under 1lb a day).

For my easy keepers I feed 2 cups of soaked beet pulp (after soaking) and a vitamin supp. The BP is just used to get vitamins in them. As for the grass belly, I have a gelding that had horrendous grass belly and was developing sway back. I put him on Uckele's Tri Amino and watched the back begin to lift along with the grass belly. Saw the change within a couple of weeks and he was out of work the whole time. I have been out of it for 2 weeks and I'm watching that belly come back. Often the grass belly is caused by the quality of protein lacking. Amount doesn't matter as much as quality when it comes to grass belly.

[edhjmh]

There is a difference between hay belly and overweight. A horse can have a huge hay belly and still be undernourished. It has to do with quality of the fiber, not protein. If the fiber is poor, such as really long pasture or stemmy hay, the large intestine retains the fiber longer. Feeding better hay will correct that. I have an easy keeper that I feed Triple Crown Lite to balance vitamins and minerals while feeding very little.

[tcnhorsefeed]

TC Lite is wonderful for easy keeper horses, ponies and even miniture horses. It is low in fat, low in NSC (starches and sugars), very nutrient dense so only a small amount needs to be fed and your horse or ponies vit/min needs will be met. The Feeding recommendation of lite is 1 lb per 500 lb of body weight..that's just 2 pounds a day for a 1000lb horse!