I've always had enough hay set out as to have my horses be able to nibble
at something all day. I just think it's just plain safer for keeping a
more even weight in the intestines and (I'm hoping) less chance for a twist in
them. I don't think horses are very well designed to eat a meal in the
morning of about 2 hours and nothing until that evening. I know it's
not good for my BIG dogs so we feed 3 small meals a day to them for the
same reason.
Tammy Robinson (16,000 AERC miles) Trail-Rite
Products 18171 Lost Creek Road Saugus, CA 91390 661/513-9269
office 661/713-3912 cell 661/513-9206 fax www.trail-rite.com
In a message dated 2/6/2008 11:11:22 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> I
thought that "adequate" intake was about 2% of body weight. Since
> he is 840 lbs, that is about 16.8 - 17 lbs, which is about what
he > normally seems to eat, including supplements. So -- I
thought he was > doing OK in that respect. However,
it sounds as if other folks > horses eat a whole lot more than 2%
body weight of hay. So -- is the > 2% figure wrong, or on
the low end, or ??
That's maintenance. Work or lactation takes a
lot more. Figure an intake of 3-4% of body weight for heavy work or for
lactation, preferably on the high side of that for lactation, and wherever
within that range meets the level of work being
asked.
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