Re: fjord ideal weight
This message is from: CHERYL GARNICA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Good point on the nutrient/dust component. Many of us at the mercy of the local feed store for hay however. Remember reading an article where a trainer said you should have your hay analyzed for nutrition content. Local feed store had a howling laugh at that one! Quality varies every load they get. Funds not endless and many of us don't have the luxury of pastures growing out own food supply or ordering from all over the continent for the primo feed, don't even know where I would begin with that., I suppose like us humans the horses diet will be better some days than others and will survive with the supplements and over all diet balances out.. I appreciate whoever wrote about the fjords being more fuel efficient. I apparantly have one that is NOT an overeater. Actually leaves food behind. Only been 2 weeks and does not appear to be losing wt. ..kind of watching it overall and sounds like I will have to make feed adjustments. Thanks to all for info. everyone...food for thought (pun inteneded!) Cheryl in Ca. Warren Stockwell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: This message is from: "Warren Stockwell" - Original Message - From: "Marsha Jo Hannah" > > CHERYL GARNICA wrote: > > > > I am a 2 week newbie fjord owner and wondered about the wt. issue. [...] > > I am going by rule of thumb and feeding by weight, meaning feed 2% > > of body wt.> > I agree that hay ought to be fed by weight. Bales come in a lot of > different sizes and densities, so it's hard to feed consistently based > on bales, or flakes, or even inches. No matter how you feed hay you need to be aware of the quality/ food value of the hay you are feeding. I cut and bale my own so I know what I have. Many horse owners don't have that luxury to know at what stage it is being cut, and when it was baled. I just did a job ( pet sitter ) where I was to feed 1 bale A.M and the bale weighed at least 45 lbs. When I opened it up I found heavy packed dusty hay with (I would bet if tested little food value). SO if fed by weight these horses wouldn't get what was expected for food. I'm glad these horses have pasture I would bet most of the hay will be left or stomped into the mud. This was cut at the right stage ( looked like it ) but most likely baled to early and to tight. Leaving moisture content to high and became dusty/ moldy. Reduced quality. weight is good but you need to know the quality of what you have no matter how you feed.
Re: fjord ideal weight
This message is from: "Warren Stockwell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - Original Message - From: "Marsha Jo Hannah" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > CHERYL GARNICA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I am a 2 week newbie fjord owner and wondered about the wt. issue. [...] > > I am going by rule of thumb and feeding by weight, meaning feed 2% > > of body wt.> > I agree that hay ought to be fed by weight. Bales come in a lot of > different sizes and densities, so it's hard to feed consistently based > on bales, or flakes, or even inches. No matter how you feed hay you need to be aware of the quality/ food value of the hay you are feeding. I cut and bale my own so I know what I have. Many horse owners don't have that luxury to know at what stage it is being cut, and when it was baled. I just did a job ( pet sitter ) where I was to feed 1 bale A.M and the bale weighed at least 45 lbs. When I opened it up I found heavy packed dusty hay with (I would bet if tested little food value). SO if fed by weight these horses wouldn't get what was expected for food. I'm glad these horses have pasture I would bet most of the hay will be left or stomped into the mud. This was cut at the right stage ( looked like it ) but most likely baled to early and to tight. Leaving moisture content to high and became dusty/ moldy. Reduced quality. weight is good but you need to know the quality of what you have no matter how you feed.
Re: fjord ideal weight
This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > CHERYL GARNICA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I am a 2 week newbie fjord owner and wondered about the wt. issue. [...] > I am going by rule of thumb and feeding by weight, meaning feed 2% > of body wt. estimated as I do with the other horses. The others > will gain or lose depending on season or activity. I will adjust > feed by about a pound depending on the gain or loss. It has worked > pretty well for me with other horses with only a few changes in > feed. In my area and probably everyone elses, the way they bale hay > can be dense feed or pretty lose so weighing is safest way to go > Cheryl in Ca. I agree that hay ought to be fed by weight. Bales come in a lot of different sizes and densities, so it's hard to feed consistently based on bales, or flakes, or even inches. However, for a maintenance ration on a lightly-used Fjord, I'd suggest 1.5% of body weight, per day, as a baseline, then adjust up/down as needed. Fjords are highly "fuel efficient", and will turn any extra calories into fat. (I once compared notes with a neighbor, and found that I was feeding 2 Fjords and a donkey on what she was pouring into 1 TB gelding!) Right now, my guys are getting grass hay at 1% of body weight per day, plus 1 hour of pasture time (for which the tubby one wears a grazing muzzle)---no grain, and just enough alfalfa hay pellets to get them to eat their supplements. They are slowly losing weight on this, whereas the above, with 2 hours of pasture led to weight gain. Think air ferns Marsha Jo HannahMurphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
Re: fjord ideal weight
This message is from: "Reena Giola" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cheryl thanks for bringing it up about the density.also the richness of the hay has to be considered. When we moved from CA to MI the hay was much richer in CA, so a very small flake was requiredwe also do it by weight.and after a while you can pretty much tell how much a flake weighs...roughlyso when in MI I didn't realize how much less the quality was..poor Gus was so hungry there as I had them feeding him a very small amount after we arrived..then after I discovered the difference he got a HUGE flake of hay, gosh sometimes it was up to 3 flakes, but loosely packed and didn't weight much, nor was the hay very rich..and believe me, he never got fat!!! so it's not just the size of the flake, it's the quality of it and the weight of it. This message is from: CHERYL GARNICA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I I am going by rule of thumb and feeding by weight, meaning feed 2% of body wt. estimated as I do with the other horses. The others will gain or lose depending on season or activity. I will adjust feed by about a pound depending on the gain or loss. It has worked pretty well for me with other horses with only a few changes in feed. In my area and probably everyone elses, the way they bale hay can be dense feed or pretty lose so weighing is safest way to go I
RE: fjord ideal weight
This message is from: CHERYL GARNICA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I am a 2 week newbie fjord owner and wondered about the wt. issue. The trusty measuring tape I think MIGHT be ballpark accurate within 100# or so, MAYBEdon't think it takes into consideration the heavier boned legs compared to other horses and who knows what is that makes fjords different! I am going by rule of thumb and feeding by weight, meaning feed 2% of body wt. estimated as I do with the other horses. The others will gain or lose depending on season or activity. I will adjust feed by about a pound depending on the gain or loss. It has worked pretty well for me with other horses with only a few changes in feed. In my area and probably everyone elses, the way they bale hay can be dense feed or pretty lose so weighing is safest way to go I have no idea what the wt. of your horse should be...after looking at fjord ads and pics for 2 years and being a fjord novice, I would say depends on the type (drafty vx. light boned) and the muscling, muscle weighs more than fat but not sure the wt. tape picks that up. I use the old eyeball approachthen pull out the wt. tape if they obviously are getting porky... Dont' know if that helps and if there is a better method, I'm interested Cheryl in Ca.
