How much hay should be reduced for each hour of turnout time?

[rgsiiiya]

I like to turn the minis out a lot this time of year now that the hay has browned and the sugar content is low.

but how much baled hay should I reduce for each hour they are turned out.

Note that they are turned out into the same area where we harvest the hay from, so it is effectively the same stuff they eat baled.

 

[candycar]

I read somewhere that a horse can eat about 3/4 lb of pasture in a hour. I don't think dead pasture has the same nutrition as hay though.

When I turn mine out I reduce their hay by about 3/4 per hour they are out. My pasture never gets all brown though, there is always green grass in there. Since I have one prone to laminitis and one very fat mule, mine only get about an hour in the spring/summer and 1.5 hr in the fall and winter. When I first started letting them out, they got 2 hrs per meal, that was too much. It's very restrictive but our pasture is pretty rich and I don't want anymore laminitis bouts.
I hope you get a good answer, I have often wondered if I'm being too restrictive.