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  Discussion on How long is too long between feeding?
Author Message
Member:
kaylab

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 10:27 am:

I usually feed at 7am and 5 or 6pm. If I'm running late in the evening, I get very stressed and worried about colic.

How late is dangerous? 2.4-3 hours later than usual feed time is when I start to get very stressed and I don't know if I'm being overly reactive or not.

p.s. I know that 3 meals/day (or more) would be better, but that's not an option for me as I work in the day time.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 11:27 am:

Kayla,

If your horses are fed, grain and hay twice a day. Then a 12 hour schedule between meals is not all that uncommon. In fact, that's what I do with my race horses. Since they are all on different training and jogging schedules its difficult to feed them all a midday meal, just to get it into them. They are fed breakfast at 5:15 and dinner, between 5:00 and 6 pm. I have been late occasionally and other than being mad at me for not feeding them, I have had no bad experiences with slight changes in schedules.

So stop stressing:-)
Rachelle

PS. In big race horse barns, the horses get fed sometimes 3 times a day between 6am and 4pm( this is the standard time most people go back to feed their horses, so they can either go home or go race). I think this is not such a good thing, since then the horses have a big gap from 4pm until 6 am the next day and they have eaten several meals in a very short space of time during the day to convenience the caretakers, not the horses.
Member:
kaylab

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 12:53 pm:

It's not the spread between feedings, it's more that I worry about going off their schedule.

But it sounds like you think I'm being too stressy?
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 1:14 pm:

Kayla, some of us intentionally vary our feeding times precisely so that the horses will not expect a specific arrival time for their feed pans but instead will be happy at whatever time they see us rather than milling around and being stressed. This has always worked just great with my horses, though I am told that some individuals may be touchier about having their food at an exact time.

Also, I give enough hay in enough locations so that my horses do not run out.
Member:
pattyb

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 1:22 pm:

Although I'm presently pacing the floor waiting for blood work results, my current feeding schedule is 8:30-5:00-9:30. The early and late feedings include hay, the 5:00 feeding is more of a bribe to get them in willingly from the pasture...but that may all change if something shows up on the blood work, to include insulin resistance.

PS: If we having extreme cold weather, I will add a hay feeding mid day and sometimes late at night before I go to bed...but allll hay is put in a hay net for hosing to get more water into them when it's cold out.

PS #2: Somtimes I am concerned about the time span at night that they are without hay, as it relates to possibly causing an ulcer but, if I fed enough to keep them busy all night, they would turn into butterballs.
Member:
canter

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 4:12 pm:

Kayla, when you say "feeding" are you talking about grain/pelleted feeds, not including forage, or do you mean the horses aren't getting anything at all in between meals?

Everything I've read states that regular meals are the best. However, when I moved my mare to her current boarding situation 4+ years ago, they told me that they are not that routine about feeding the horses...feeding times may vary by an hour or two. The reason given was that many of them were show horses and showing can disrupt schedules, horses stress out, etc. I didn't like this situation, but because the barn was wonderful in every other way, and because the horses are on good pasture in summer and are thrown hay throughout the day in the winter or when the pastures are eaten down, I decided to board there anyway. It did worry me, particularly since my mare was coming from a barn that fed like clockwork.

Long story short, my mare adjusted just fine, nobody gets crazy at feeding time (slightly expectant, but not wild, just as Vicki says above) and it became a non- issue for me. And when I do take my mare to a show or clinic, she is very patient about her meals.
Member:
stek

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 6:16 pm:

I agree with Vicki, and have done it both ways. Overall though I prefer a somewhat varied feeding schedule.

I worked for a big ranch that kept horses all in stalls or on dry pens, and fed like clockwork at 7am, noon and 4pm. If dinner was a half an hour late, I could expect a horse or two out of a hundred to start looking colicky. These horses would also gorge and clean up every scrap of hay by about an hour after each feeding. There were lots of other reasons for colic at this particular ranch but I contribute at least some of it to stress about meals.

Personally, I feed meals (hay and concentrate) between 7 and 8:30 am and dinner between 4 and 6pm, and when I am around I feed a lighter breakfast and give lunch too. In the summer, dinner gets fed later, between 6 and 8 depending on my schedule. I think some variety is better than keeping to an exact clock. My horses are also out to pasture all day, and even in the winter when things get sparse they can always find a few bites to nibble here or there, which makes everything a lot easier.

When a horse has to be confined to a stall or drylot and has no access to natural forage, I like to feed enough grass hay so that there is still a bit left over from the last feeding at the next one. Free choice hay has to be gradually introduced, but most horses will learn to self-limit and stop eating when they are full. In fact, I usually do a horse-check before bedtime and there is usually still lots of hay uneaten, and the horses are napping. So I know they are eating through the night rather than just at 'mealtime'. There are of course the piggies that will eat every scrap in front of them no matter what, and they just have to tough it out and wait till the next feeding.

I'm curious what you are feeding, and if free-choice would work for your horses? You might try adding some lower quality stemmy hay to their feedings just so they have something to chew on between meals.
Member:
ajudson1

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 7:20 pm:

My horses feeding schedule varies with the season. Right now they get morning hay around 8:30-9 a.m., small amount of grain w/supplements, another flake of hay, around 1-3, depending on my schedule. Evening feeding of hay is right before dark, around 5:30 right now. If I am working with a horse, or trimming hooves, the mid day feeding might be earlier and whoever is stalled gets more hay.

I might put some pellets and vitamins on the snow covered ground some days, skip the vitamins all together now & then; put out extra hay for extra long periods I'll be away. Right now they are getting double hay at night. Why? 1) It's pretty cold right now. And 2) The kids don't have school next week and I don't plan on being up early!

My horses never stress over feeding time, no colics, everyone is fat and sassy.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 - 11:41 am:

I would not worry about being as much as 6 hours off schedule as long as the starchy (grains mainly) portion of the concentrate are not over 2 lbs per 1000 lb bodyweight. It is not the increased time to feeding that is a concern but that by being so late on one end puts the late feeding close to the next one. Two heavy starch meals close together may have some ill effects.
DrO
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 - 8:20 pm:

Dr. O is the voice of reason.

In the morning, my feeding time may be anywhere between 5:00 and 9:30 AM.

As I feed twice daily, my second feeding may be at 3:30 or 4:00 or as late as 7:30 PM.

I do try to pay attention to having a reasonable amount of time between the two feedings and adjust in that regard.
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