Re: feeding schedules

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

With all respect to Bob, I disagree very slightly---well, really just
have a comment to add.  Knowing your horse is certainly good advice. 
Bob's horses are out in enormous pasture, so from their point of view,
it's ALWAYS mealtime---they just have to reach a nose down and decide
what they want right that moment.  Unfortunately, most of us aren't that
lucky, even if our horses don't live in a 12 x 12' box stall, so meal
time is just that, when someone provides the food.  

I agree that mealtime for the stall-bound horse is also entertainment,
but it's just not that difficult to provide enough low-energy hay so
they too can always have something to pick at.  I do disagree that
missing a meal or two wouldn't hurt them---horse's digestive systems are
evolved and designed for a steady, ongoing input of roughage, and gaps
in that flow do have some pretty significant effects on microbial
populations, fluid shifts and gut motility, just to rattle off a few. 
Not life-threatening, but also not healthy.  Rather than having two (or
even three) Major Events in the form of concentrated meals, I still
think providing some clean straw or grass hay to munch on at all times
is a good idea, not only mentally, but physiologically as well.

Just adding in a friendly two cents, as usual.

Robert Morris wrote:
> 
> Once again "it all depends" How you keep your horses and how they are used.
> Mine? Just got back from evening feeding. Had to go up in the hills and beg
> them to come for supper. This morning they did not even look up at me when
> I called. I will not be here for the next five days and they will not even
> miss me or the food.
> 
> Now if they were stall bound they most likely would have been off the walls
> if I was a quarter hour late. It is my belief that it is not the food that
> is so important, face it, they most likely could miss a few meals and be
> the better for it. It is the attention and break from Boredom that the
> stall horse really craves and gets upset if it is not there on schedule.
> 
> So I say again, it all depends! Know your horse!! The person on line or
> 1,000 miles away can never know your horse like you do/should.
> 
> Bob Morris
> Morris Endurance Enterprises
> Boise, ID
> 
> ----------
> > From: Horsestwo <Horsestwo@aol.com>
> > To: ridecamp@endurance.net
> > Subject: feeding schedules
> > Date: Tuesday, May 12, 1998 1:18 PM
> >
> > I have a question for the vets and tech types.  How important is being
> prompt
> > when feeding i.e. scheduling the times?  I had read years ago that
> besides
> > helping with anxiety, feeding on a set schedule increased the utilization
> of
> > the feed.  Since then I have had to try to explain to friends and family
> why
> > it was important that I be at home to feed my horses.  I try to feed
> within a
> > one hour window but that is as close as I can come.  If it doesn't matter
> that
> > much it wouldn't change my schedule too much but at least I wouldn't have
> the
> > guilt trip!  I know that when at a ride the schedule is disrupted but the
> > horse has to learn to eat when food is in front of him.  I'm concerned
> about
> > the home schedule, day in and day out.
> >
> > Melanie in AZ  "The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's
> ears"
> > Arabian proverb
> >