# do you still feed in summer?



## impresario08 (27 May 2015)

The horse I might be getting is out on good grass and is a little bit podgy as he's not in work either (owner has no time at the moment)

Normally I've fed through the summer as I've always had typical poor-doer TB's. 

Do you personally continue to feed in the summer if they're a good weight and on good grass?


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## webble (27 May 2015)

I feed a light balancer and keep an eye on the grazing


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## The Fuzzy Furry (27 May 2015)

My current 2 get 'a something' in the bottom of a bucket twice daily, one is a muppet to catch sometimes but always comes for bucket so hence me carrying on 
TF doesn't need any feeding all yr round, but her desert spoonful equivalent of hi-fi lite and 5 or 6 pony nuts drizzled on it is her twice daily delight, prior to muzzle going on/off.


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## PorkChop (27 May 2015)

I don't if they are only in light work - mine are fed twice a day atm.

Four year old gets one mug of Lucie nuts plus supplement - older two who are competing get four mugs plus supplements.  One is on Red Grass Nuts and one is on Turbo in an attempt to whizz her up.

They are worked six days a week and the older two are competing every week.

So they are not fed very much, out at night, in daytime with a little day - they all hold their weight a little too well!


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## lelabell (27 May 2015)

I have to feed my ISH boy this summer as he broke his knee in September so he needs to get a joint supplement every day. He is fed a lite balancer, joint supplement, garlic and agnus castus. He is on decent grass so he is looking a bit podgy at the moment but he needs the supplements.


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## paulineh (27 May 2015)

I have 3 competing so they are fed twice a day. My other 2 are both semi retired but need supplements so they have a token feed once a day.

I think if your horse does not need it don't feed it. God made them to eat grass etc so that is what they should have.


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## Moomin1 (27 May 2015)

Nothing. And she's on very limited grazing too.


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## Exploding Chestnuts (28 May 2015)

paulineh said:



			I have 3 competing so they are fed twice a day. My other 2 are both semi retired but need supplements so they have a token feed once a day.

I think if your horse does not need it don't feed it. God made them to eat grass etc so that is what they should have.
		
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Actually God made them to browse on herbs, stalky grasses and shrubs over sparse grasslands and steppes, covering maybe 30 miles per day and living in large herds, it was man who decided first to eat them, and then to tame them to become beasts of burden. Any "fields" are man made, and are "improved", most of the grass species we have now are not natural, this is the main reason moorland  ponies easily get fat and laminitic.
I feed a small mineral mix all year round as the hooves grow all year round and it makes the skin, hair, and hooves better. I only did this when I got interested in barefoot riding. Before that I did not feed if they were out on good old fashioned pasture. I always let them browse hedgerows in winter to make sure they get some herbs and so on.


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## impresario08 (28 May 2015)

thanks all for the replies so far


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## marmalade88 (28 May 2015)

Yes, conditioning feed and a good gp supplement as he's still having less hard feed then the recommended dose. He tends to get fizzy but the weight melts off him when doing fast work. He's in moderate work (i.e 5 days a week, 3x 2 hour hacks on undulating/hills mostly at trot, and 2x 1hour schooling sessions mostly in trot).


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## Follysmum (28 May 2015)

Small feed with vits & mins in summer, strip graze from spring to winter as grass very rich so hay feed also.


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## Mrs G (28 May 2015)

Yes I still feed, but much smaller feeds and really just enough to get his supplements in to him, I also cut down his hay ration by about half as he's stabled less (but hes still got enough to be ad lib while in).  He's always been a good doer and I do try to keep his weight on an even keel and I would always cut down on his 'bucket' feed and increase his excercise rather than skimp on his forage/hay x


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## budley95 (28 May 2015)

Mine gets a balancer all year round, so yes I feed in the summer. Lo -cal balancer for a podgy one is all I would feed in the summer!


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## impresario08 (31 May 2015)

thanks all


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## chestnut cob (31 May 2015)

Moomin1 said:



			Nothing. And she's on very limited grazing too.
		
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Same here. In winter he gets just haylage and now grass with no extras. Once my transport is sorted in June (been without since before Xmas) he should be eventing on the above too. Hard feed really razzes him up and makes him silly. He does far better with none at all!


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## Gentle_Warrior (31 May 2015)

Bonkers2 said:



			Actually God made them to browse on herbs, stalky grasses and shrubs over sparse grasslands and steppes, covering maybe 30 miles per day and living in large herds, it was man who decided first to eat them, and then to tame them to become beasts of burden. Any "fields" are man made, and are "improved", most of the grass species we have now are not natural, this is the main reason moorland  ponies easily get fat and laminitic.
I feed a small mineral mix all year round as the hooves grow all year round and it makes the skin, hair, and hooves better. I only did this when I got interested in barefoot riding. Before that I did not feed if they were out on good old fashioned pasture. I always let them browse hedgerows in winter to make sure they get some herbs and so on.
		
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What mineral mix do you feed?


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## MillionDollar (31 May 2015)

Only a pelleted balancer, that's it!


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## My Little Ponio (31 May 2015)

My boy gets a token feed with vitamins & minerals all year around - he's in light work (a mixture of hacking, groundwork & schooling) & is partly stabled all year around.


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## fredflop (7 June 2015)

Yes gets a balancer then feed made up with what I think is appropriate


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## skint1 (7 June 2015)

I tend to give my horses 2 meals a day all year round, the amount varies, this time of year it is literally just a bit in a bucket to carry supplements.


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## xpkEcho (22 June 2015)

My welsh cob who's in little to no work and lives out 24/7 doesn't get fed in summer. My hanoverian mare is in daily work but slowly moving towards retirement, goes out for most of the day (7-15) and is fed a few handfuls twice a day. So in total, nah, not really. Mostly just token feeding the mare as everybody else on my yard thinks they still need to give their horse bucketloads of nuts even though they're in light work, and they all get fed at the same time. But my chubby cob is sadly mistaken if she thinks she's getting any!


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## Mystified (26 June 2015)

Hi I still feed mine during the summer but half their normal feed which is just 1/2 scoop of Baileys lite chaff and lo-cal balancer as they are on restricted grazing and soaked hay all year round and need supplements/meds.


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## Nudibranch (27 June 2015)

Bonkers2 said:



			Actually God made them to browse on herbs, stalky grasses and shrubs over sparse grasslands and steppes, covering maybe 30 miles per day and living in large herds, it was man who decided first to eat them, and then to tame them to become beasts of burden. Any "fields" are man made, and are "improved", most of the grass species we have now are not natural, this is the main reason moorland  ponies easily get fat and laminitic.
I feed a small mineral mix all year round as the hooves grow all year round and it makes the skin, hair, and hooves better. I only did this when I got interested in barefoot riding. Before that I did not feed if they were out on good old fashioned pasture. I always let them browse hedgerows in winter to make sure they get some herbs and so on.
		
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This. I also happen to know the land here is magnesium and copper deficient. We are very lucky; mine are on old pasture which has a stream running through. I did a quick count one day and stopped at 35 different species of plant. Even so they still get a level scoop of Pro Balance and some linseed each day. It seems to work for us - I must post some pictures of the new TB for example- you can see a massive change in the hoof angle and quality growing down since he's been here.


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## Cortez (29 June 2015)

I don't even feed mine in winter...........


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## 3OldPonies (29 June 2015)

The two oldies still get two feeds a day, albeit in reduced quantities.  My grazing isn't great and once the condition goes on an oldie it is really difficult to get it back again.  They get cushcare, hi-fi molasses free and a bit of fast fibre.


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## Jazmyn101 (29 June 2015)

I feed the same in winter as I do in summer, my mare gets ad lib hay at night when she is in , her 'hard feed' is 1 scoop of hi-fi molasses free, a 3/4 cup of topspec cool balancer, garlic and magnesium twice a day. The grazing isn't great but she doesn't need lush grazing.


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## ILuvCowparsely (29 June 2015)

impresario08 said:



			The horse I might be getting is out on good grass and is a little bit podgy as he's not in work either (owner has no time at the moment)

Normally I've fed through the summer as I've always had typical poor-doer TB's. 

Do you personally continue to feed in the summer if they're a good weight and on good grass?
		
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ours get one meal a day, they are out at night and come in and have their breakfast, soon their supplements will have their morning ones only


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## NZJenny (29 June 2015)

Yes - they graze the same patch of grass 24/7. and have done for the last 15 years.  So am conscious that a bit of variety in their diet is a good thing, but it's nothing fancy.

If they are getting fat, then it's the grass that gets limited.


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## Achinghips (17 July 2015)

Just a light balancer consistently every day all year around. Grass modified in summer according to porkiness.


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## The Snowman (17 July 2015)

Mine has probably been fed more so far this summer than he did in winter, but I think as I ride slightly more in summer and he is fit he needs about the same all year around. I only feed mine half scoop chaff, 2 cups of high fibre cubes, a pinch of burdock root and a tablespoon of salt. I will be upping that to a full scoop of chaff in winter. He is out 24/7 at the moment with plenty of fresh, new grass too.


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## MotherOfChickens (17 July 2015)

yes, but they only get timothy chop and high fibre nuggets if I am feeling generous  one feed a day with some salt and some pro hoof. I strongly believe in feeding some sort of hay daily year round. Also lucky enough to have fields that have not been fertilised in many years. A couple are muzzled on and off.


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## mynutmeg (19 July 2015)

I have a rather obese cob (who is actually rather fit underneath it but just can't shift the podge grrr) she gets a bucket with a scoop of TopChop lite so no molasses or sugar etc and blue chip's lami light balancer as well as salt. Makes sure she gets her vitamins and minerals as she's on fairly restricted grazing in the summer.


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## Spreebok (19 July 2015)

Yeah, cob gets a small scoop of Healthy Hooves Molassess Free most days (but she's out 24/7 so not every day), and this is mostly just to carry her supplement powders in and re-enforce that coming in is a good thing!


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## rara007 (20 July 2015)

Only the ones that come in, and only a scoop of loCal and plain chaff.  Our fields have v little grass deliberaty (yard of ponies, cobs and a cobX!) so the ones in proper work I feel happier supplementing.


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## horsebenny (20 July 2015)

Yes. I lost a lovely mare to grass sickness last year so my new boy comes in to give him time off the grass and has haylage, a small feed with supplements and probiotics to be on the safe side.


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## Horselover2345 (23 July 2015)

I like to keep feeding throughout the year. Even a small Bran mash or soaked couple of handfulls of allround. I find that it keeps their coats shiny and they dont get too much of a shock when it comes to winter and they are on larger feeds again. It also makes brining my horses in easier as they know there is something small to look forwards too even though the grass is so fresh out.


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