# Pasture Boarding - How do you handle feeding/need feeding solutions.



## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

I pasture board my Morgan mare at a large barn. She shares a pasture with a mini, an donkey and a Hanno.

The Hanno recently moved in as a TB was moved out. The little ones don't get fed any grain, the Hanno gets speciality grain and my mare gets alfalfa mush.

Here is the problem: My mare will gobble up her alfalfa and then bully the Hanno (or previously the TB) away from the grain. 

So the BM had this bright idea to put her in a little corral that's attached to the pasture for feeding time. The barn staff is supposed to let her out when the Hanno is done eating.

Can you guess what my new problem is? They keep forgetting to let her out. She has no water or hay in there and can barely turn around, never mind lay down in the corral.

Saturday, I went to ride her at 10am and found her desperately nickering for me in her corral.

This is the second time that I've caught them leaving her in there longer than they should have. I'm not there every day so I wouldn't be surprised if they have fogotten her on other days.

Last year she coliced twice because she was eating everyone's feed. Now I'm worried she might colic if she doesn't have access to hay or water; plus she might panic and try to jump or climb out of the corral.

WWYD? I've already addressed this with the BM and barn staff. The response was "Oh I forgot" :twisted:


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

Maybe you could feed her when you go out? That's what I do.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

gypsygirl said:


> Maybe you could feed her when you go out? That's what I do.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I can't be there every day, which is why I pay for full care pasture boarding. 

She needs to be fed 2x per day 7 days a week.


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## Reiningcatsanddogs (Oct 9, 2014)

My slow eater is the one that gets separate eating quarters, that way he takes his sweet time and my fast eaters get to go about their business as soon as they are finished. Doing it this way I only have to keep an eye out for the slow one to finish before letting him out.


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

It sounds like you need to have a serious talk with the people at this barn to come up with a solution that works. It’s absolutely unacceptable that she is being left corralled with no water or hay for hours at a time, especially a horse that has previously colicked. 

It might be time to bring some pressure on these folks – squeaky wheel gets the grease and so forth. Sit down with the barn owner. If they’re going to separate her at feeding time, she needs someone to let her out again. I would also tactfully bring up that leaving her without food or water violates your boarding contract.


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## Red Gate Farm (Aug 28, 2011)

Looks like she's without shelter in there too.


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

Yeah, the first time I caught them leaving her in the corral I called the BM/BO. He said he would take care of it. But people do forget, so I understand that, too. 

I guess I'm trying to find a solution that leaves little chance for human error.

I thought about installing a video cam to monitor her and then I can text the barn when they forget to let her out. 

They now have close to 60 horses to take care of, so little Ana just keeps falling through the cracks of the feeding system


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## IndianaJones (Aug 13, 2014)

It's a *business* transaction that you pay for. If they willingly handle your horse and place it in a situation that is without food/water or shelter, they will absolutely be liable for your horse becoming sick or injured. 

If your horse cannot pasture without being a functional member of the herd/staying healthy...then it is not the right environment for her. It usually comes down to affordability...and sometimes we as owners have to make a decision that is best for the horse.


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

Agreed IndianaJones; but you would think at a rate of $475 per month, they would manage to keep my horse fed, watered and with adequate shelter.

She gets along well with everybody but she will push the lower ranking horses around at feeding time.

Maybe the solution is to match her up with more dominant mares that will put her in her place at feeding time.

She was the bottom of the pecking order at the last two boarding places so she never had this problem.

I was just curious how other barns manage feeding time to avoid situations like this.

They do have a small private pasture available for $575 a month; but then I run the risk that they forget to feed and water her altogether since they don't always use that pasture.

I've thought about moving her again, but I don't want to run into this issue over and over again. She's a super sweet mare and babysits weanlings, watches over the mini-donkey and mini horse; but she wants everyone's food.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

frlsgirl said:


> I can't be there every day, which is why I pay for full care pasture boarding.
> 
> She needs to be fed 2x per day 7 days a week.


 The corral is fine if they forget about her for a bit but why not put in a water trough? Nothing too big so you can clean it easily.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

frlsgirl said:


> Agreed IndianaJones; but you would think at a rate of $475 per month, they would manage to keep my horse fed, watered and with adequate shelter.
> 
> She gets along well with everybody but she will push the lower ranking horses around at feeding time.
> 
> ...


So if she is at the bottom she will get run off of feed and wont get it anyway or get hurt. Any place I was ever at never fed pasture horses grain.


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

I think we have found a solution. We are moving Ana to a different pasture with two other mares. One mare, does not get any grain and the other mare gets only a little bit of grain. That mare happens to be a boss mare, so if Ana tries to steal her grain, she will get put in her place. While the boss mare is eating her grain, Ana should be able to eat all of her alfalfa mush without getting bullied away.

They are going to test them out tomorrow; hopefully everyone will get along. 

Fingers crossed!


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

It sounds like your horse is ... a perfectly normal horse!  I am glad you (hopefully) have a solution that will work. I will very shortly be standing over my horse while he eats (quickly, if I am lucky) to chase the other pastured horses off so they don't shove him off and eat his food. There's really no good way to feed different horses different things without separating them at feed time. Indeed, if it weren't for the forgetting about her part, that little corral would be perfect!


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

frlsgirl said:


> Agreed IndianaJones; but you would think at a rate of $475 per month, they would manage to keep my horse fed, watered and with adequate shelter.
> 
> She gets along well with everybody but she will push the lower ranking horses around at feeding time.
> 
> ...


The problem isn't your mare, it's the management & staff. If the staff doesn't do as told, after the first "I forgot" then the BO needs to do something to make them remember. By having you move your horse the BO is basically saying it's OK for the staff to be slackers. I'd wonder what else they were forgetting to do.
Moving your horse to another pasture shows the BO has no control over the staff (or maybe they are friends).
I hope it goes well in the new pasture arrangement but unless the horse that gets nothing stays away & the other one & yours finishes at the exact same time I'd worry that your horse wouldn't be getting what she's supposed to get. How would you know?
I'd find a way to be there at feeding time to see for myself what is going on as that barn has already proven that the needs of the staff come before the horses.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

Wow. That is a lot of money for pasture board!

My horse is out 24/7 with five other horses on 38 acres. However, they are brought into their stall twice a day for feeding, and then put out again. If the weather is particularly crappy, they are left in for the night with hay, water, and bedding. Cost, $250.

Granted there is nothing fancy; no indoor, no outdoor, just a 1/4 mile track and some decent trails.

The one thing I would be concerned about is how fast the new alpha mare eats her handful, and how fast yours eats her mash. A handful of grain is gonna be gone faster than the mash yours gets. I would worry my horse would then start bolting down the mash and choking.


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## DomiStLaurent (Aug 20, 2012)

I have no idea how you have maintained such a calm demeanor with the BM/Staff. I WOULD HAVE LOST IT. :-x 
First of all, they don't need to separate her, they can simply tie her up to the fence where HER feed is, and once the Hano is done eating she can be unhooked, that's how we do it where my horse is.

And also, if they do decide to forget about her, it's a slip loop thus she can just pull herself off if she really decides it's necessary. I would start to tell them you're not going to pay for FULL CARE when your horse just gets left elsewhere with no food and water. It's time to let them know you mean business and it will no longer be tolerated. 



UGH I'm irritated for you. WHO FORGETS ABOUT A BOARDER'S HORSE?! :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:


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## DomiStLaurent (Aug 20, 2012)

Also $475 for pasture board?! I live in NJ and I pay $350 for full care pasture board. 
Did you sign a contract when you boarded there? If so, just start dropping the word 'lawyer' because they're not following the contract just to get them nervous.


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

I hear you...all of you.

The reason it's so expensive is mostly because of all the amenities. 

Also, they have about 30 horses plus ponies on pasture board and the remaining 28 or so on stall board. 

So it's a very large barn and they have to stick to standardized systems in order to get everyone taken care of.

When I moved her there a year ago, things were a lot better because they only had about 30 horses. Now that they are significantly bigger, they have lost touch/control of what's happening.

I never liked that Ana got put in the retirement pasture with the elderly TB gelding, the mini gelding and the donkey. I always wanted her with other mares.

I'm ticked off, believe me, but I'm trying to choose my battles. There are other things that have happened there that I'm not happy about, but I can't move barns every time something goes wrong. I've only had Ana for 14 months and this is my second barn (believe me the first barn was way worse).

I have another local barn in mind in case we continue to have serious problems.

Thanks everyone


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

I hear you about the amenities. I moved my from a place *with* amenities, but care was meh, to where I am currently. He is happier and I'm not worried about health, feeding, and bullying issues.

Still take dressage lessons out in the open which means I have to check the weather constantly to make sure there will not be a down pour in the middle of the lesson.

And the trails are nice!

I hope all goes well!


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

Ana loves the new arrangement. Unfortunately, she has asserted herself as the lead mare so now they are taking the other mare out of there. So it will just be Ana and the mare that doesn't eat grain.


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