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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] Pounds of Hay - Dawn Carrie

<<I'm not sure how much of that is inborn and how much is due to horses being raised on inadequate forage, but what I glean from the folks who ought to know is that limiting forage to youngsters has a tendency to cause horses to grow up without adequately developing their hindguts, and hence having inadequate limits on what they will eat. >>
 
That's an interesting observation, Heidi.  Of the 4 horses my husband and I ride, 3 are absolute hoovers at rides.  My husband rides two Paso Finos.  One was raised on a huge pasture, so no shortage of forage there.  The other was raised in a large dry lot situation, but with 24/7 access to round bales of good hay.  I ride two Arabs.  My younger gelding is downright scary with the amount of hay he can put away at a ride.  He spent his first 2+ year growing up on open range.  My other gelding grew up on dry lot, a flake or so of good hay per horse fed I think 3 times per day.  The rest of the time they didn't have anything to munch on.  Don't get me wrong, all the horses were nice and plump, got grain twice a day and were well cared for, just didn't have free access to forage.  This gelding is the lightest eater of the 4. In fact, the lightest eater of all 7 of our horses (the other 3 also grew up with free access for forage).  He's also the hardest to keep weight on, regardless of the amount of work he's doing, since he just isn't a huge hay eater.  He's getting better at eating during rides (a few 100s have taught him he'd better start eating early, this ride may last for a while <G>).  But he's just not a ravenous hay burner.
 
Just our 4 rat study...
Dawn Carrie, Texas

 
On 2/6/08, heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I'm not sure how much of that is inborn and how much is due to horses being raised on inadequate forage, but what I glean from the folks who ought to know is that limiting forage to youngsters has a tendency to cause horses to grow up without adequately developing their hindguts, and hence having inadequate limits on what they will eat.  That certainly fits what I've seen in practice, in endurance, and in having raised horses myself.


Replies
RE: [RC] [RC] Pounds of Hay, heidi