Hay alone does not cause hay bellies. Hay bellies are often associated with teeth that need to be floated, and the horse may need a dose of worming, and they may be lacking some minerals or vitamins.. My own horse had a hay belly when i got her, and after getting her teeth done, the belly shrank on its own after about 2 weeks. She was not a svelte minx, but there was a noticeable difference. Salt water can also cause the hay belly look, but most of our horses do not live on grasses and sea weed near the ocean.
You will need to have an idea of how much your horses weigh. It does not have to scientifically accurate, just an idea. I use a weight tape from the feed store. Anyway, your horse should get around 2% of their weight in food a day. Some folks feed a little less or a little more, just depending on quality of food and the horse's own activity levels. So a 1000 lb horse would get 20lbs of food a day. That will come in the form of hay, grass and possibly grain. Many haflingers are more in the 900-100 lb range, so that would be around 18 lbs-20lbs of food a day. Remember grass weights more because of the water. The 18-20 lbs will consist mostly of forage, and some of it may consist of grain or supplements, although many people find their haflingers do not need much in the way of grain and therefore their horses get more forage and perhaps supplements to fill in any gaps.
If we just guess that your leaves of hay weigh 2 lbs each, you would be feeding around 14 lbs (7 leafs) of hay alone, plus do they get grass, grain?
Horses can get by with being fed twice a day, but it is good if they hay can last them a couple of hours. This can be done by using various slow feeders (hay bags, nets bins) that slow the horse down in how fast they eat the hay, to more closely mimic grazing, especially if they don't actually get to graze. That way you use less hay, spend less money and horses are happy because they think they have "more" hay because it takes longer to eat.
I am sure others will chime in as well.
If you have not already done so, i would get the horse's teeth checked (either dentist or vet, once a year at least), make sure your horses are on a good rotational worming schedule and evaluate your hay type, quality and feeding amount. If you do have the vet out for checking teeth, get an overall wellness exam, the vet can tell you with a medical opinion if your horse is too fat, or has a hay belly etc, and what you should do to fix any issues that are found.
Good luck
Alana
Baltimore, MD
-----Original Message-----
From: nicole rossetti nicolerossetti@yahoo.com
Sent 12/27/2009 5:54:56 PM
To: haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [haflingerfriends] Hay Question and feeding time
Hi all, I hope everyone had a fabulous Holiday!
I checked in the archives for this post butdidnt have much luck. I ap
ologize in advance if this has been on here before.
I think I am overfeeding my 3 Haflingers hay? A friend of mine came by and
said they had HUGE hay bellies. I thought they looked ok.
My question is, how much and at what times during the day do you feed your
hay to your haffies? I am also seeing (the internet) that it is best
to feed frequently and in smaller amounts to keep their guts going.
I am now feedingat 7 am, 2leafs each, again at 1-2pm, 1 leaf again at
4pm 1 leaf and again at 7pm one leaf.Is this too much? Also, the
times you feed are important to me as well. I am going away soon and wil
l have someone coming by to hay, but do they need to come 4 times a day?
Also, they are on dirt pasture during the day. Any help would be greatl
y appreciated.
Nicole Hatch
Hatch Farms
Newbury MA
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Community email addresses:
Post message: haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: haflingerfriends-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: haflingerfriends-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: haflingerfriends-owner@yahoogroups.com
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriendsYahoo! Groups Links
* To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriends/
* Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
* To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriends/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
* To change settings via email:
haflingerfriends-digest@yahoogroups.com
haflingerfriends-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
* To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
haflingerfriends-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
* Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
------------------------------------
Community email addresses:
Post message: haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: haflingerfriends-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: haflingerfriends-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: haflingerfriends-owner@yahoogroups.com
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriendsYahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriends/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriends/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
haflingerfriends-digest@yahoogroups.com
haflingerfriends-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
haflingerfriends-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
