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Help with grazing size (beginner horse owner)

2K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  Liligirl 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi I am hoping to get some advice. Warning "wall of text"

I am very new to the horse world. I have had my 22 year old standardbred for about 2 months now. I pay to graze him at a property, my concern is over his paddock size. For the first month of grazing him at this property he had about 2 acres of paddock to graze in with 3 other horses. He seemed to be doing well and put on alittle weight.

However then the manager moved them. For the past month he has been grazing with 3 other boys in a paddock about 20x30 meters, so just to be clear that is 4 adult boys in that size grazing. I raised some concern over the state of the paddock with the manager as it was almost completely mud. She manages it with a 'strip' like grazing, opening up about a meter in width a day.

She told me last night that they had been moved into a new paddock, I was quite relieved. Then this morning I go to check on my boy and feed him and she has moved them into a area that is about 10x20 meters. In one night they have striped the grass bare and my boy acted like he was starving when I was trying to lead him up to the arena. He has never fought me for anything in the two months that i have owned him but this morning he fought me to get to the grass along the runway.

Also please note that for the past month I have had problems keeping weight on him. The manager keeps telling me I need to feed him more and telling me to buy him new products to add to his feed, which I do. He is getting about 4-5 big feeds a week and still not putting on weight.

Anyway a question from a very worried beginner. Is this grazing size too small for him and his mates or am I just being a overly concerned new mum.
 
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#2 ·
His grazing area is way too small. Honestly, the entire time he's been there it's been too small. You can't stuff him full of grain, feed him little bits otherwise and keep weight on him. If there's no pasture then feed them hay - free choice amounts.

Congrats on the new horse :)
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#6 · (Edited)
Thank you so much for the replies :) I have organised to go see a new property today.
so glad I read this at the end....move him!! 1st of all if you are counting on the pasture to do a lot of the nutrition it should be a minimum of 1 acre/horse. However I will say that mine only go out 1/2 of the day, are fed in the barn with hay & grain 2x.day & still manage to clear out 8 acres by mid summer(that is 6 horses). 2nd ...that many horses in that small of an area rotated to even smaller areas is very dangerous! The horses quickly form a dominance hierarchy and the more dominant ones are going to eat what ever is available at the expense of the more submissive ones. Depending on where he fit in the hierarchy...he may have not been allowed to eat!!
 
#5 ·
A 22 year old standardbread is most likely going to be a hard keeper under the best of circumstances. 4-5 feedings a week is not near enough either. He should be getting fed 2x a day every day.

Glad you are getting on this quickly, before the old boy looses too much weight, it is often difficult to get weight back on older standardbreads.
 
#8 ·
Way too small and not getting enough food!

every horse should have at LEAST one acre to themselves, and be fed twice a day regardless of condition.. IMOP.

Horses need to eat, and if they have trouble with weight then they need to eat more more and more.

Let us know how the new property is :)
 
#10 ·
The grazing I looked at looks good each paddock is about 4 acres and I can choose to only have him grazed with one other. Down side is that it is about a 10 min walk to the paddocks with no storage. I don't get home from work til dark and in winter it will be a very muddy walk. Will check out a few more place first. But if no luck then looks like I will be getting in more exercise over winter :)
 
#11 ·
maybe if its the only thing available..they would let you put some sort of weather proof trunk like those made for out door storage outside but near the paddock..many have a lock capable lid..it would save hauling things back & forth..and you could keep some emergency stuff in there too

but as far as good news for your boy..it sounds awesome!!
 
#13 ·
That is certainly way too small, as others have said. And you mentioned that you were giving him 4-5 big feedings a week. If this is just grain, then this isn't very healthy. And I would try to add wet beet pulp or alfalfa cubes to gain some weight. I too have a Standardbred, who's 15, and a steady big blob of beet pulp a week managed to make her gain weight...she's fat now.
 
#14 ·
I too have a Standardbred, who's 15, and a steady big blob of beet pulp a week managed to make her gain weight...she's fat now.
He is on quite a few different things, I wont pretend I understand at this early stage what they all do.

He is on a moist grass feed + gum nuts + speedibeet + 2 different types of supplements (to help his old man joints :) ) and also a digestive. I'm going in on the weekend to get a fibre additive for him also? I got told that, that might also help him but on weight.

Can you add to many things into a horses feed?
 
#17 ·
I had his teeth done when I first got him :)

He always eats all of his bucket of feed. I have a few more grazing places to look at this weekend. And my partner is going to help out and feed him the two days that I can't get up to him. So now he will be getting a hard feed 7 days a week.

Having a horse has been a big learning curve. When I got him I thought he would just be a weekend activity lol luckily I do enjoy it so much even when I'm just popping in to feed him.
 
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