Grass livery - hay feeding

[4rylou]

Just reassure me...ponies 14.2 and 12.3 share a field with my friends 2 horses of a simular size. We are on grass livery but have no grass so are feeding hay. Ive got a round bale, which im feeding twice a day, however my friend seems to think they only need feeding once a day so doesnt want to go in the morning, so i am going twice a day as she wont do the mornings but we go to ride in the evenings so are goinv anyway...its slightly pissing me off..
Two questions - reassure me that im not going overbored and they do need feeding twice a day? and secondly im considering splitting tbe field in two and putting the round bale in the field, im just worried that it will not last anytime at all and they will just trample in it, i juzt like to know that they have something in the cold..

Really depends on the ponies. Are they good doers? What's their body score at the moment? Are they rugged and do they have shelter? What's the temperature where you are at the moment? Do they have literally no grass? I like horses on grass livery to be checked twice a day because once a day means they've got 23 hours to get themselves into trouble/get ill.

Can’t you leave a bale in metal thing in the field for them to eat as and when?

I top the field hay feeder up once every couple of days otherwise they pull it all out and poo on it. They get a bit of hay in their stables overnight too but out in the field once they've run out of hay they go and look for a blade of grass here and there in the field. None of them are thin (in fact the porky pony needs to lose a bit of weight!) I would only be feeding hay twice a day if they are so mucky with it you can give them a big lot in the morning. I do like to see my horses twice a day though, but if it's not always possible it doesn't do them any harm if someone checks their rugs/feed/water once a day. There are lots of wintering-out polo ponies near us who only get checked 3 or 4 times a week and they seem fine.

See if they start dropping too much condition. If not in much work one haynet a day plus hard feed and grass would probably do.

If they are tidy eaters a ring feeder and bale should be fine, though some will just eat constantly until it is all gone, and some will pull it out and make a mess.

I have 2 out at grass 24/7 and they are really not eating much hay at all at the moment and will often leave bits of hay in the bottom of their nets and go off picking at the grass. Personally I would have said there wasn't a blade of grass to be had but as they are often to be seen "grazing" - then there must be!

There is a field shelter and a lot of natural shelter, plus the oldie is rugged overnight or if the weather is wet. They also get small feeds night and morning.

I would rather use condition as a measure of how much they need but agree that horses in a field ought to be checked twice a day.