Hay Update

Well, Hunger Works

I did as I'd planned and skimped on the other "style" of hay when the Boys decided to leave piles of good hay uneaten.

Apparently, I forced them to finally clean their plates....well mostly. There was still some hay dragged about the stalls, but it really wasn't much. As I said, I know it was perfectly good hay, just not, apparently to their liking at the moment.

As we all know, when it's cold out, hay is a really important part of the horse's diet. That and a good supply of fresh water are all a horse really needs to stay warm and fed.

My Boys do get both hay and grain three times a day, however. Toby, being older, does need that extra supplementation of some denser nutrition. He gets Purina Healthy Edge which has Amplify in it.  Tucker and Chance get a smaller portion of Healthy Edge and a scoop of Hay Stretcher pellets. Everyone gets a serving of alfalfa cubes in the morning as well.

The water trough has an electric heater and I also regularly soak the grain with hot water during the colder weather. This way, I know each horse is getting at least some water. In general, all three Boys are good drinkers, though, so I don't have to worry about that too much.

They also have plenty of shelter options. There is a run in roof on each side of the barn and the stall doors to the outside are always open so they can get inside for more protection. The is also a run in shed in the riding arena available all the time, and my property has lines of trees along the pasture and the other end of the riding arena.

Still, the Boys often hang out outside, unsheltered when the weather is bad. I'm not sure why that is, but one of my riding instructors suggested that horses prefer to be out in the open when the weather is bad so they can keep on the lookout for predators and be free of the noise of wind/rain etc. on the barn roofs and walls.

Personally, I think they like to stand outside, heads lowered, looking miserable so passing motorists will see them and feel sorry for them.

I keep expecting a call from animal control about how I'm neglecting them.

Yeah, fed three times a day.