UC Davis "The Horse Report" - Miniature Horses

[Hosscrazy]

The UC Davis Center for Equine Health has devoted its latest issue of The Horse Report to miniature horses:

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/docs/horsereport/pubs-Dec2012-sec.pdf

Liz N.

 

[jandjmc]

Thank you for posting the link to this report. It's interesting that they recommend feeding approximately 1.5% of body weight of hay daily. Most horse recommendations are for 2-2.5%, too much for minis. Nice overview

 

[chandab]

Further down the same paragraph it states that carting minis may need upto 3% of bw in forage per day.. I'm sure the 1.5% figure is for idle pasture pets (plus so many overfeed minis, so this may be a good place to start). [i fed my easy keeping half-Arab gelding 1.5% of bw in forage per day for most of his life (2% in really cold weather), plus minimal bagged feed til he was a senior.]

 

[JWC sr.]

Good article, thanks for posting it!!

 

[Margo_C-T]

I found the article to have some good basic information, worth making a copy of for my files...BUT, I'd have to take exception to the flat statement that miniature horses can 'pull 4 times their own weight'! Have to wonder where the heck they got THAT figure?? Taken literally, the article is saying that my 250 lb. gelding could pull 1,000 pounds??? I don't think so! Yes, a mini might, under ideal circumstances,be able to get that kind of a load to begin to roll, but actually PULL it, as in, really driving, w/o harm?? I would not dream of asking a horse I cared about to even try it. What bothers me most is that the 'uninitiated', newbie to driving, would believe it, and try it....

Margo

 

[Rhondaalaska]

When I gave my mini the 1.5 % hay she got 30lbs under weight in a month. I now free feed her hay. I will probly cut back come spring as it will not be as cold but I would not cut that much as I would hate for her to loose so much .

 

[Minimor]

Mine would be starving on 1.5% of their weight in hay! Mine get free choice hay, or some do--some are fed twice a day, and they are on average eating 2.5% of their weight in hay; a few are fat, a few are a little underweight and most are just right.

Mine would be starving on 1.5% of their weight in hay! Mine get free choice hay, or some do--some are fed twice a day, and they are on average eating 2.5% of their weight in hay; a few are fat, a few are a little underweight and most are just right.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have NO idea what mine eat- I put out as bale of hay, they eat it, I put out another one, simple as that. I do not have over weight horses (the mares are plump but they have a right to be!) as the boys chase each other round all day. They are also on grass, with a good feed each day, just the once but a huge, chaff filled, bucket of the stuff. Unless you have a specific problem that needs to be carefully handled I think all this faffing around with a cup of this and half a cup of that is basically, nonsense, sorry. I have never weighed hay in my life- except maybe to see how heavy the net is, but certainly not in order to ration a horse. I understand that people who are new to horses need guide lines, but teaching them how to look at the animal and judge it's weight and whether it is in good condition or not, is the way to go, not telling them a horse needs a certain percentage of it's body weight in feed- that is not the way to go, it is only the way to start .

 

[wingnut]

What a great document! I love how they show the miniature horses in their pics in their fuzzy state. While some of the information is a little broad, most people understand that each case requires individual requirements based on their own circumstances. I could put out an entire bale of hay for my hard keeper and she would be days eating it. She just doesn't eat a lot. My other three would have a bale of hay eaten in a matter of hours.

ETA: I'm not a fan of the comments regarding horses as guide animals.

 

[Sandee]

Sorry guys but mine seem to do just fine on 1.5 to 2% hay all the time. Variance depends on the work they do and the temperature.

 

[ohmt]

I like it, except for the information about feeding and guide horses. That really bothers me because I see a very large majority of underfed minis than overfed. Alfalfa is a great staple because I see so many with no topline and large bellies (malnutrition-needing protein). Telling people they are most likely overfeeding and shouldn't feed alfalfa is only going increase the chances of malnutritioned minis. I free feed my younguns and broodmares, and only a couple of our old style, 20+ yr old mares become overweight.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I certainly also agree w/ several points made by posters since I posted on this thread! Since every horse IS an individual, such a blanket statement about the % of body weight of forage to feed is probably unwise of USC to make. Since the AMHA was not even mentioned, methinks whoever did this write-up used only what they got from the AMHR/ASPC. Much of it WAS well-put, but IMO, not necessarily 'the gospel' or even in some areas, at all provably accurate.

Almost worse is that a prestigious institution such as USC Davis seems to have 'drunk the KoolAid' in suggesting, if not outright offering, their support for using miniature horses as guide animals! With what we presume to be their knowledge of horses, one would think they would KNOW better....!Perhaps, although they 'study' aspects of equines, they don't really actually 'understand the nature' of them....

Margo

 

[horsehug]

I disagreed with the part about guide animals as well. And I also looked for them to mention AMHA as well and they did not.

Susan O.

 

[Charlotte]

Thank you Liz N for posting this link.

There is quite a bit of good information in the article, but also a lot that is quite misleading. I just hope everyone who reads it will understand that this is just one person's opinion and some of those opinions may not be the best idea for all situations.

 

[supaspot]

my minis would be seriously hungry if I made a flake last for 6 feedings !!! an interesting read though

 

[chandab]

my minis would be seriously hungry if I made a flake last for 6 feedings !!! an interesting read though

So would mine. That's why we really need to talk in pounds (kg) and not flakes or cups. Bales vary so much in weight, size of flakes and number of flakes per bale. Most of my minis are B-size, so do eat more than smaller minis. I have a chubbo that gets 1 flake AM and 2 flakes PM, and that's probably a good 10# of hay per day (others get varying amounts depending on what they need). [i do have a slight-built 31" senior stallion that weighs 175#, he gets 1.25# senior, 1/3# beet pulp, and 3# chopped grass mix hay daily, he doesn't always finish up his hay, but its always available to him.] And, now that most are on round bales, I just fill their feeders up, especially with winter and really cold temps. We dropped 10 degrees today, and should drop another 15-20 by tomorrow. Predicted high today of 24 (we were warmer), predicted high tomorrow of 2.

 

[wildoak]

Pretty good article overall.. my horses too would not be happy with 1/6 flake of hay lol. It was an overview of general information and I think they covered a good many bases. Most people should realize there are individual differences in everything from horses to hay bale sizes. The only thing I really take issue with is the comment they can pull 4 times their weight! Maybe in a log pulling contest lol, heaving and straining.. can't imagine asking a horse to consistently pull that much though.

Jan

 

[supaspot]

Pretty good article overall.. my horses too would not be happy with 1/6 flake of hay lol. It was an overview of general information and I think they covered a good many bases. Most people should realize there are individual differences in everything from horses to hay bale sizes. The only thing I really take issue with is the comment they can pull 4 times their weight! Maybe in a log pulling contest lol, heaving and straining.. can't imagine asking a horse to consistently pull that much though.

Jan

I did see a video on you tube last year of minis in a weight pulling competition , I dont know how much weight they pulled but I found it distressing to watch

 

[Sandee]

Don't know where the 1/6 of flake got started but 1 1/2 to 2% in hay of a 250 mini would be 3 3/4 to 5 lbs a day (I was originally told you then deduct the weight of any grain or supplement) I weigh all my hay ( ok I'm a bit nutty there). Most flakes here weigh between 2 & 4 lbs depending on the quality. Grass is lighter than alfalfa. Oh, and my horses always need a little "worked" off of them in spring.

Perhaps I should add that mine are inside most of the time. They only go outside for a few hours.

 

[chandab]

We had a blizzard today, still going; I put out 2 whole bales of hay today for 7 adults and 3 babies (I wasn't going to even try to pull hay off a round bale in this wind); these are smaller bales (my FIL puts up about 50# bales), but that's still about 100# of hay for 7 adults and 3 weanlings. Two more horses got 2 flakes each this morning (last of their square bales), then their feeders filled off a round bale for supper. Three in another barn got 4-6 flakes this morning and 3 more flakes tonight (one feeder was still full from this morning).