[sher327]

Alright, just had a brief conversation with a man who has a place to board my horses only 5 mins from me! His grandson was crying in the background so he has to call me back but this is the info I have so far and I want opinions/advice before he calls back.

OK, my boys would be in a 3 acre lot together, heavey woven wire barbless fencing, lean toos for shelter, water access with heaters. 100x200 outdoor lighted arena. There are 20 acres of riding area on the property, and access to ride out from there to more.

As for feed, he says he grows his own hay which he feeds to all the horses(his riding horses and his high dollar showing paints) he said its alfalfa hay(sp?) and he feeds the pasture horses 1/4 bale twice daily which he says is roughly 30 lbs a day. Says he likes to keep constant food in front of them but does not grain unless you want it( I don't).

That was as far as we got before the baby had a crying attack LOL Will find out money etc when he calls back BUT I want to know about the feed thing because I'm bad with that! Does those amounts sound right? What about the type of hay etc??

COme on guys, I trust your thoughts!! Any comments good or bad so far or good questions for me to ask about the feed etc? I'm really excited about this prospect but not if it's not a good place healthy and safe wise for my guys!

[Paint_luver]

Alfalfa is very rich, and is probably not the most practical choice for your horses. Sounds like a nice area though, although I'm not overly fond of barbed wire, it could be worse...

Why are you thinking of moving them? (just curious!)

[reinerdude22]

its barbless wire not barbed

[CrazyHorse]

It sounds like a really good place for them! 5 minutes away! That would be wonderful for you & them. Let us know as soon as you talk to him again. I truly hope it's as good as it sounds!

[SkyeTiger]

Ok well that sounds really cool. No indoor? That's still ok though at least you have somewhere to ride. I love trails. AWESOME! hehe 30 lbs. of hay is right but alfalfa is not a great hay to feed. It's toooooo concentrated. I'm sure if you bought your own hay he wouldn't mind. I hope that I helped some. Let me kow what you think!

[Paint_luver]

Originally Posted by reinerdude22

its barbless wire not barbed

Oh, thanks for pointing that out! Guess I need to get my eyes checked.

[sher327]

an indoor would be nice and he may very well have one but we didn't get that far for the baby bawling LOL

Hannah- I love where I board but it is very inconvenient as far as location and if they were closer to me I could see them more often and ride more often too. Not to mention I could simply check in on them everyday and right now I can't because of where they are located, I just don't have the time every day to spend an hour just driving

Can anyone tell me more about the alfalfa hay? What you mean by too concentrated etc? Yes I'm a hay moron so I really need to know what they may be eating! Remember, I hve 2 easy keepers,one a pony and one who had a case of laminitis a few years back so their feed is a BIG deal to me.

[SkyeTiger]

Alfalfa hay just gives them to much nutrients. Also way to much sugar and it's bad for their system. They can't burn all of that and sometimes it makes them hyper and unpredictable. My vet told me this so I am not just making it up. lol hehe

[Paint_luver]

That's too bad Sher, I know how that goes boarding. I wish I could board that close too!

Alfalfa hay is very rich and is really more than most horses needs. It tends to be used (at least in my experience) for horses that are lacking some nutrition and need some better feed to possibly get some weight back on. In my experience, it makes horses more hot too, and is just too much than the average horse needs. Did he say if it was a pure alfalfa or an alfalfa mix? A mix may not be too bad, but I think for your horses' needs a good grass hay would be better. Also, I really don't know this, (so don't quote me on this or yell at me if I'm wrong!) but I can't imagine alfalfa would be particularly good for a horse that has had a past case of Laminitis.

[Dawn]

30 lbs of alfalfa a day? Is that per horse? Most horses will not need to eat 30 lbs of any hay per day. The problem with feeding that much alfalfa is the high protein content. It has basically the same calories as any other hay (grass or legume), the difference is the protein. An average grass hay will have 8-10% protein. 'Most' adult non to very light working horses can do fine eating around 2.5% of their body weight in this type of hay per day (both calorie and protein wise) without any grain. Alfalfa though will have 16-19% protein but the same amount of calories. To keep your horse from getting too much protein, you would have to cut back the amount of hay available. Then though, you've also cut back the calories and would need to supplement with grain.