Whether your horse is fat from summer grass, drops weight as the temperatures fall, is a veteran with poor dentition or is competing on the winter circuit, all of these things make a massive difference to what and how much should be inside their feed bucket. As owners, we often feel like we’d need to be fully qualified nutritionists to get to the bottom of this puzzling conundrum but thankfully, help is on hand! Here to get you the answers you’ve been searching for, we’ve been at our Rochdale Superstore asking the most common winter feeding questions to Caroline Dickens the North West Regional Feed Advisor from Baileys Horse Feeds. Keep reading to see if we’ve answered yours!
Your Winter Feeding Questions Answered
Keeping our horses the right weight and ensuring that they’re getting all of the nutrients they need over winter is no easy task, right? In no small part this is because no two horses are the same! Just like us, every horse is an indervidual with different requirements. Here we're going to be looking at some of the most common situations that us horse owners are faced with...
How To Shed Excess Summer Weight
This is one of the most common questions asked to the Baileys feed line. So, you’re not alone! Gaining weight from simply looking at grass, all too often good doers pile on the pounds over the summer months, especially on high quality grass. Thankfully, the colder months ahead are a great chance to rectify this before the springtime. When it comes to ‘dieting’ we often think the key is restriction. While this is in some ways true, we want to be restricting calories but still ensuring that our horses have plenty to eat! After-all, they’re designed to be eating for 16-18 hours every day.
The first step you should take is to weigh your horse or pony using a weigh tape or weigh bridge. If using a tape, it’s best to add 30kg-50kg to the number, to account for their body shape.
As a rule, we should always be aiming to feed no less than 1.5% of their weight per day. The majority of this amount should be made up of forage. Where possible, select a fibrous hay. When filling nets, always weigh them out to avoid over feeding. After weighing, soak your nets for 12 hours in clean fresh water. When it comes to feeding time, try to be inventive! Making your horse work a little harder for their food can help it last much longer. To do this hang multiple hay nets around the stable or use a Hayball.
When feeding soaked hay in this way, a good quality Lo-Cal Balancer is really important. This isn’t about providing calories, but ensuring they’re not missing out on any essential nutrients. Because of this, it’s really important to feed the recommended amounts. To increase chew time and help your horse feel full, their feed can be bulked out with a Light Chaff.
Weight Managment Feeds
Baileys No. 14 Low Cal Balancer
Baileys Light Chaff 15kg
Don’t forget though, the weight of any hard feed must be deducted for their 1.5% allowance for effective weight loss!
How To Feed For Performance Without Weight Gain
It’s not just leisure horses and ponies prone to weight gain! In fact, even our hard working and competition horses can be good-doers. So, how do we limit their intake without them becoming lazy or lack lustre under saddle? In truth, we often think the culprit is energy, but if your horse is maintaining weight, this may not be the case! When they gain weight easily, we generally reduce their feed to combat this. However, while it does inevitably reduce their calorie intake, it can also leave them deficient in important vitamins and minerals. So, don’t be tempted to cut out their hard feed. The best approach is to feed soaked hay in the correct amounts alongside a low calorie nutrient dense balancer like Performance Balancer. This can be topped up with Light Chaff, or a highly digestible fibre such as speedi-beet.
Performance Feeds
Baileys No. 19 Performance Balancer
Speedi-Beet 20kg
How To Help My Horse Maintain or Gain Weight
Whether you’re horse is a veteran that struggles to maintain weight or a notoriously poor doer, winter can be a real challenge. Thankfully though, there’s a few easy things you can do to keep your horse in top condition. The first thing to remember is that not all forage types were created equal. When choosing hay, try to pick something soft and dry with fine storks. This is likely to be low in moisture and highly digestible. Not only will this mean your horse gets less water and more nutrients from their forage, but it’s easier to process. The next thing to think about is their meals.
Energy and calories are the same thing! When we’re trying to encourage weight gain, it’s important to feed calorie dense feed like Top Line Conditioning Cubes. If your horse can become fresh or sharp, this can seem scary. Don’t worry though, not all high calorie feeds will send your horse loopy! Choosing something slow release will still provide the same amount of energy, just not all at once in a great big burst! For this, opt for a feed from the Ease & Excel range.
Weight Gain Feeds
No.4 Top Line Conditioning Cubes
No.21 Ease & Excel
How To Feed Horses With Poor Dentition
As our horses get older, their teeth can begin to decay and may require removal. This can make chewing a real challenge, meaning ensuring they receive the right nutrition is an uphill struggle. Luckily, while false teeth aren’t an option for our equine friends, there’s still plenty we can do to help them stay healthy and happy! One of the first signs that your horse is struggling to eat their feed is actually found on the floor. Commonly, as they begin to struggle chewing they start to drop their food. Answering our questions about why they're losing weight, the more food is on the floor, the less calories they're getting.
The key to feeding horses with poor teeth is to remember that fibre in the right quantities is vital. Consider replacing some of their daily recommended forage with a soaked partial hay replacer such as Baileys Fibre Plus Nuggets. This will provide fibre, but is low in calories. So, it should be combined with a nutrient rich higher calorie product, like soaked Ease & Excel Cubes.
The nutritional value of your horse's feed is found in the dry matter, not the water you add. With this in mind, always weigh it before soaking to ensure that they receive the correct amount. Where possible, split their meals into small portions throughout the day to promote natural grazing.
Easy To Eat Feeds
Baileys Fibre Plus Nuggets 20kg
No.24 Ease & Excel Cubes 20kg
How To Prevent and Manage Ulcers
First things first, ulcers are not a new issue. Horses and ponies have always been able to get them, but over recent years we've started to scope for them. So, while it may seem like it's getting more common, that's not really the case. A huge win for horse welfare, being able to identify ulcers means we're able to manage the condition properly. For more information about EGUS, head over to our dedicated blog.
One of the primary ways we manage ulcers is to alter our horse's diet. When you're looking for an ulcer safe feed, you should be asking yourself:
- Is the feed low in sugar and starch?
- Is the feed high in fibre?
- Does the feed contain ingredients to promote good gut health?
- Is the feed EGUS approved?
- Does the feed contain the correct level of energy for your horse's body condition?
For horse’s prone to weight loss, we’d recommend Ease & Excel (no21). High in fibre and oil with added ingredients to promote a healthy gut, it’s BETA EGUS approved. To help your horse maintain their current weight, opt for the Ease & Excel Cubes, these contain less oil for a lower calorie content. For those who could gain weight on fresh air, opt for high fibre Meadow Sweet with Turmeric.
Ulcer Feeds
No.21 Ease & Excel
No.24 Ease & Excel Cubes 20kg
No.8 Meadow Sweet with Turmeric 15kg
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can do this via the comments or give our customer service team a call on 01706507555. You can also contact Caroline from Baileys directly for tailored expert advice on 07801022722. You can shop all of the products in this blog and many more at www.naylors.com or in-store. Don’t forget, if you make a purchase share your pictures with us in the comments or include #NaylorsSnapAndShare on your social posts for the chance to win a Naylors gift card!
