Re: [RC] Horses/Outside Weather & HERD problems - Mike & Kathy Kelly
My horses only have an acre dry lot to live on, and
do have a 3-sided shelter available (several pine trees). It is cold
here in the winter at 7300 ft, but they are fat, hairy and
happy.
The best change in horsekeeping I have made (at
least so far............) is feeding them hay free choice. There is some
waste (and I do pay alot for good grass hay - $10 per bale), BUT the advantages
are huge! I'm sure that my horses are healthier (horses weren't designed
to eat 2-3 big "meals" a day), they never tear up the fence trying to get to
grass on the other side, and even the one at the bottom of the pecking order
gets plenty to eat (I always leave one more pile of hay out than
horses).
My horse would probably not be a stall weaver
had he been raised on pasture. I got him at age 8 after years of prior
owners keeping him in a stall too many hours out of the day. He was very
bored and upset being in a stall and will weave and rock for
hours.
I finally moved him to pasture 24/7 (with
adequate shelter) and he has never been happier (or dirtier!). I do board
which gives me the option of finding alot of nice pasture. This year we are
going to be buying horse property (yeah!!) so I might not have large
pasture since we have a budget.
I have found that putting endurance horses in a
"herd" type environment is tricky. I am currently moving my 2 horses to their
own pasture cause I had such feeding problems with them living in a herd of
10. Fighting over grain and hay makes it very hard for endurance horses to get
enough food from other horses that aren't fed so much. Segregating 10 horses
twice a day is almost impossible. My sweet gelding became very food aggressive
and was fighting with everyone to get his food. He lost that battle too many
times. As much as I hate moving my horses I am learning about this pasture
herd thing. Everyone says they are happier in a herd but it becomes very hard
to feed them right.
And for anyone who has boarded
horses....boarding sucks.....(can't wait to have my own place.)
