Poll Recap: Horse Feeding Frequency

How often is your horse fed hay? We posed this question to our readers in last week’s online poll. More than 2,000 people responded, and we’ve tallied the results! 

 

Of the 2,049 respondents, 698 (34%) said their horse is fed hay twice per day, while 573 (28%) said their horse is free fed and has continual access to hay. Another 334 people (16%) feed their horse hay three times per day, and 252 (12%) feed their horse hay more than three times a day. Only 92 respondents (4%) feed their horse hay once per day. The remaining 100 respondents (5%) said their horse has another hay feeding frequency.

 

Additionally, more than 190 individuals commented about their hay feeding practices:

 

Many individuals commented that their horse has access to free choice hay:

 

“My OTTB has free-choice alfalfa whenever he's in his stall and free-choice hay all winter.”

“I don't have lush pastures so my horses have free access to hay all year around.”

“My horses have free access to hay 24/7 in the winter and free access to pasture 24/7 year-round.”

“My horse has 24-hour access to a round bale. He is a hard keeper and needs hay at all times.”

“My horse has continual access to hay. He's only stalled to feed and in really bad weather.”

“We keep hay in front of them virtually 24 hours a day, even in pastures at the end of summer.”