question for those whose horses are kept on drylot

[kdtexas]

Do your horses routinely go 7-8 hours without any grazing during the day and then again after you go to bed until you wake the next morning? What are ya'll doing for those on drylots?

I guess those that put their horses up in a stall at night would probably have the same delay also?

Aren't their digestive systems designed to really be grazing 20 or so hours out of each 24 hour period?

I don't leave free choice hay out all the time as my filly is kinda a little overweight and she and the 13 yr old gelding aren't real active in playing and running for exercise.

Maybe I should leave the hay out 24/7?

The vet was just here for annual vaccines and said they are in good body condition as long as filly doesn't gain anymore weight and could stand to lose a little.Mostly she has a belly; not any fat pockets. They are wormed regularly also.

 

[Dee]

All of my guys are on a dry lot. There is no grass, but lots of trees.

They get their hay and grain twice a day.

It is good for horses to graze so I spread their hay around a very large area.

Dee

 

[CAM]

Mine are on free choice hay, grazing throughout the day which is more natural, and do fine with their weight. In the past when they weren't on free choice hay I would feed 3-4 times a day, though that is not always possible for many folks that work away from home. I never cut them back in the winter because our winters can get very cold here and that helps them keep their body temperature up.

 

[susanne]

Ours get "virtual" free choice hay...in other words, we feed enough hay that there is always some on the ground, night and day. They do not have problems with their weight...in fact, once we started doing this and added beet pulp, they developed healthier eating habits, grazing throughout the day rather than bolting it at each feeding. (They also get LMF feed and BOSS.)

 

[CAM]

Yes, I forgot to add that ours also get grain and free choice minerals in the way of a protein tub as well as a mineral salt w/selenium and they have salt blocks. We add Mare Plus for pregnant and lactating mares as well as Grow Colt for the babes (no, not a typo :bgrin)

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have a question about dry lots that has always fascinated me.

If you have access to grazing (ie you have pasture) and you are using the hay to simulate grazing- why do you not let them graze???

 

[backwoodsnanny]

I dont know about the rest but I dont have grazing enough for 11 horses we are clearing land every year but dont have grazing enough. Soo we do put out hay in many piles so they have to move from pile to pile to eat. Ours stay heavier than I would like but will be changing that with a different feeding program as Spring approaches. If I had grazing I would have them out on grazing through the day and in at night.

 

[Jill]

Ours are dry lotted and they are fed 2x a day and we split it up approximately 12 hours. They get breakfast around 4:30am, and dinner around 4:30pm. Each meal is a small amount of complete feed pellets and some soft orchard grass hay.

I'd like to split it up more and using the complete pellets, we could separate the time between pellets and hay by as much as we'd want, but it's hard to find the time to do this consistently. We do it when we can, but it's more typical that they are fed as I said above.

 

[auledasacres]

WE also feed 12 hours a part. We were having problems with wood chewing, very badly. When we switched to the 12 hours a part it stopped all the chewing. We have a small pasture that we use in the summer but all the horses are rotated to there on a every other day basis.

Traci

 

[mountain_waif]

....

 

[capall beag]

Mine are on a dry lot. It is plenty big and there are lots of trees. I feed mine twice a day but I feed a complete feed and additional grain and then beetpulp and hay. I notice that mine nibble on their hay all day. By morning all the hay is gone but I would say for most of the day they have hay to graze on.

In answer to Jane's Q, It is too much of a pain to graze mine, or depend on it. In New England, Nov-May there is no grass really and then you get the spring grass and it is so rich they can only be on limited times because they will devour every blade because they are not used to it!!!!!!!! Then comes summer and sometimes it is so dry it all turns brown

:

:

For me I just cannot rely on good grazing so I use the dry lots!

I have small areas my horses can graze for a couple of hours a day when we have good grass but I do find that when I turn them out they make glutens out of themselves

:

I love the change in seasons here but it is far from ideal for grazing the minis!

 

[Sonya]

Mine are basically in a dry lot because I don't have enough grass to cover them for feeding. I feed hay twice daily. I feed in the am around 8-9 and the hay last until around 5pm. They get locked in around 9pm and get hay again, which is gone by the time I let them out in the morning. Mine are fat, so I don't give free choice. Sometimes due to my work schedule, the times differ by an hour or two, but are always about 12hrs apart. I have four minis on about an acre and they destroyed the grass. There is enough room for them to run and play but not enough for total grazing. I would definately prefer them to have access to grass 24/7 and when we move in a couple years, hopefully they will.

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]Mine are all on dry lot. The broodmares can go in and out at will. They are fed only a 12% complete feed. They have pellets in their buckets almost all day.... it is as if they graze their buckets. By evening they are empty and ready to refill. The show horses are stalled at night and different times durring the day. They are fed a 10%fat 10% protein sweet feed, beet pulp, flax, boss. and alfalfa forage twice a day. The mares close to foaling get the complete feed and alfalfa forage for better milk production. All get mineralized salt. My vets feel that the way I feed has prevented ulcers and colic here at our farm. Feed is always the same quality and concentration and fed at the same time every day. we only had 1 wood chewer and she was an import from another farm where she had developed that problem already.[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[Cathy_H]

I feed hay 3- 4 times a day to dry lotted horses - morning, afternoon (or 3 hours pasture), & 10:30 night check... If temp is below 20 I add one or two extra feedings of hay... We also feed a complete feed twice a day.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

The only time I have mine on a dry lot is when my broodmares are closer to foal. I do have some fescue in my pastures so thats the only reason. She gets 3 helpings of flakes of hay, morning, noon, and night. Once she foals its back out to this newly made pen where it has never been used or mowed as of yet this year. She will enjoy that

:

 

[MBennettp]

Mine are on dry lot only until I can get more pasture cleared and fenced but they have free choice grass hay. The yearlings get beet pulp and Equine Jr. twice a day. The shetland gets Omolene 200 twice a day. They have free choice minerals, salt, and a pasture block also. The amount of hay that they consume in a day is minimal but it gives them something to chew.

Mary

 

[LilSapphire]

To answer rabbitfizz's question, mine is on a dry lot b.c of founder. She doesn't need the grass I have.

Jessica

 

[Margaret]

Although I have ample pasture, dry lotting has helped me to control intake, which ultimatly allows me to control weight as well. With one horse on dry lot, I like to feed hay, (smaller portions) 2 x a day, and allow some grazing 1 to 2 hours on short pasture, (mid-day) with other horses. This way she also gets her daily socialization with the others that can stay on pasture 24-7.

 

[k9mini2]

In answer to rabbitfiz question about why we dry lot. We have fescue in our area and although we have pasture which is supposed to be free of fescue, it could have some. So we dry lot our mares to keep the off of the fescue. As most of you probably know fescue has a fungus that grows on it and causes mares to have aa thick placenta and the foal can't get out and suffocates. Also it causes many mares not to produce milk and so even if the baby gets out of the sac it would have to be bottle fed.

So even though we have plenty of pasture, dry lot is our only choice for boodmares 3 months prior to foaling.

We are giving them free choice hay and some grain, but I have to watch them that they don't get to fat because as you probably know an overly fat mare can have more foaling complications than a mare in good weight.

 

[Laura]

We found that for MOST of our drylot horses, once they were provided with free choice hay, they stoped bolting their hay/feed. Some it took a few days to slow down, some a bit longer. We do have a few older mares who will eat EVERYHING you give them, but they are the exception, not the rule.

We do use a wide variety of hay feeders also, to reduce waste. The best way we've found is a standard calf bunk feeder, with cut pieces of hog or cattle panel slid down inside along the bunk. That way large hunks of hay can't be pulled out at once. They have to nibble, not gobble.