Star news
How much hay does a horse eat in winter? Feeding horses. Daily diet. Possible winter problems
How much and what kind of feed is needed for a horse per day and per year? Let's calculate the diet of an average horse weighing 500 kg.
An average adult horse eats about 2 tons of oats, 4-5 tons of hay, 500 kg of bran, and a ton of carrots per year. Do not forget about the horse's need for salt; it will require approximately 13 kg per year (a little more than 1 kg per month).
For a day, a horse weighing 450-500 kg will need:
oats - 5 kg;
hay - 10-13 kg;
bran - 1-1.5 kg;
carrots - 2-3 kg.
Fodder or red beets, cabbage (in small quantities), watermelons, and apples would also be useful. It is useful to diversify the horse's diet with special vitamin and mineral supplements.
For normal functioning, horses need a highly nutritious, balanced diet.
Horse feed is divided into the following main types:
Juicy feed – vegetables, grass, silage;
Concentrated feed - wheat, oats, barley, corn;
Rough feed - straw, hay, chaff, haylage;
Remains of technical production - meal, cake, wheat bran, stillage, brewer's grain, molasses, bagasse, pulp;
Animal feed – fish and meat and bone meal;
Feed additives – vitamin preparations, microelement salts, fish oil, chalk, table salt, yeast, etc.
During the warm season grass, Compared to other types of feed, it most fully satisfies the needs of animals for nutritional components. It should form the basis of the horses' summer diet. Green food is rich in vitamins, carotene, estrogenic and aromatic substances, and minerals. The daily feeding rate of green food for mature individuals is about 60 kg of lush pasture grass. One-year-old foals should be given up to 40 kg of herbs daily. On average, it turns out that the daily portion of green food for an animal can be calculated by its weight: 10 kg of grass per 100 kg of live weight.
According to dietary properties and composition oats considered to be the best food. It is the main concentrated feed for horses. In the composition of its proteins, protein occupies more than 94%. It contains large amounts of B-vitamins and phosphorus. The maximum daily rate of feeding oats for mature non-working individuals weighing about 500 kg is 6 kg, for workers – 12 kg, for foals – up to 5 kg. The daily intake of oats is divided into three approximately equal parts (breakfast, lunch and dinner).
Hay It is better to give more often - 4-5 times a day. Rough feed - hay and spring straw - should make up at least 40% of a horse's daily diet. The best hay for horses is meadow and legume-grain hay. Depending on the type of load, type of horse and quality of feed, the daily hay requirement varies from 1.5 to 3.5 kg per 100 kg of live weight. The higher the horse's workload, the less hay he needs to feed. On average, a mature working horse is fed about 10 kg of hay per day, stallions - 16 kg, young horses - 14 kg, one-year-old foals - 8 kg, and older foals - up to 15 kg.
Straw- This is roughage. They can only partially replace hay. The most suitable straw for feeding horses is corn, oat and millet straw. But it is better to feed it along with hay. It is advisable to introduce cutting straw into the diet of horses as an additive to young, succulent grass or to “dilute” large volumes of succulent feed. The length of the straw cut should be about 1.5-3 cm. Its daily intake for working horses should not exceed 5 kg.
Chaff Only those obtained from the plant remains of awnless breads are suitable for horses: barley, oatmeal, millet, etc. It must be fed soaked for 10 hours or steamed. It is often mixed with succulent feed. Mature workhorses are given it in volumes of up to 4 kg per day.
An integral component of the horse's diet - salt, it is more convenient to serve it in the form of a lick briquette. When calculating the daily ration, it is necessary to make adjustments for the age of the horse, its size, weight, and physical activity used. Adult horses are usually given 60 g of salt per day, and young horses - 30 g.
IN mele contains about 40% calcium. The daily amount of chalk for adult horses is 70 g, and for foals - about 40 g.
An adult horse can drink up to 60-80 liters per day water(that is, 6-8 buckets!).
If you are trying to imagine what awaits you with the purchase of a horse, how high the food costs are, then this article is for you! In it we will talk about the daily diet of an average horse weighing 500 kg.
An average adult working horse eats about one and a half tons of oats, 4-5 tons of hay, 500 kg of bran, and a ton of carrots per year. In addition, you should take care of your salt supply. It will require approximately 13 kg per year (a little more than a kilogram of salt per month).
If we reduce the time interval from a year to a day, then an average horse weighing 450-500 kg will need:
- oats - 5 kg;
- hay - 10-13 kg;
- bran - 1-1.5 kg;
- carrots - 2-3 kg.
It is necessary that the horse always has access to table salt (it is more convenient to serve it in the form of a lick briquette). Of course, when calculating the daily ration, it is necessary to make adjustments for the age of the horse, its size, weight, and physical activity used.
Compliance with the rules of feeding and watering is very important to maintain the health and strength of your animal. However, do not forget to monitor other factors: daily cleaning, timely forging, and the condition of the ammunition. The horse will require a lot of your time, attention and knowledge, but will be able to repay you handsomely.
The horse is a herbivore, adapted for long periods of time on pasture. Its feeding should correspond as much as possible to its morphological characteristics and be of high quality and easily digestible. Let's look at the basic rules:
1. Regularity. This is one of the main rules of animal nutrition. In this case, food juices will be produced at a certain time, and food will be easily digested. Feeding “as necessary” often causes diseases of the stomach and intestines.
2. Rest after feeding. Ideally, rest should last at least an hour and a half before and after meals.
3. Sequence and distribution of feed. First they feed hay (straw), then succulent feed and grain. It is better to give half of the daily amount of roughage at night, the second half is divided equally into morning and afternoon feeding.
4. Water. The animal should be given water at least three times a day. The daily need for water is 35-45 liters. Please note that in the hot season it increases by one and a half to two times. Never give cold water to a sweaty and tired horse!
5. Hygiene. It is important to keep feeders clean and use high quality feed.
Choosing feed for a horse
A horse is an animal for which the quality and composition of its feed is extremely important. Its range has recently expanded significantly, but many owners prefer to use traditional feed: hay, silage, oats, straw. For feeding horses, grass granules, root vegetable processing products, briquettes, mixed feed, vitamin mixtures, etc. are produced. Each owner decides for himself whether they should be included in the horse’s daily diet.Of the roughage feeds, it is considered the best meadow and cereal-legume hay. High quality hay is an excellent source of nutrients. Feed of this type in small volumes (up to 10 kg) is fed without preliminary cutting. If there is more hay or straw, it is recommended to cut them up and mix them with concentrated feed (oats, wheat, peas, cake, etc.)
In winter, hay makes up up to 50% of a horse's daily diet. These products should not be overused if the horse is a working horse.
Some horse owners use hay from different fields for feeding. This allows you to diversify the composition of herbs.
Chaff It is superior to straw in the content of useful substances. It is fed moistened or steamed or mixed with other succulent foods.
The best concentrated feedstuff is oats. It can be included in the daily diet without mixing. Oatmeal feed is quickly digested, has a beneficial effect on digestion, and contains a lot of protein and B vitamins. Animals with good teeth can be fed whole grains; horses with bad teeth and young animals are given crushed or flattened oats. Other types of feed grains must be crushed. Barley, rye, wheat, and corn are well suited for feeding horses.
The preferred legume for horses is peas or vetch. Such feed should be given only in crushed, flattened or ground (coarse) form, but not more than 2 kg. per day.Juicy feed ( tubers and root vegetables) perfectly complement the diet, they contain up to 90% water, little protein, but enough vitamins, microelements and fiber. For feeding, carrots, sugar beets (especially useful for working horses and lactating mares), and potatoes are used. They are pre-washed and crushed, sometimes mixed with other feed. Potatoes can be steamed or boiled. Feeding horses with sprouted, low-quality potatoes is not allowed.
Horses are also well suited for this type of feed: sugar beet molasses. This product goes well with roughage, increasing its taste. Working horses are given molasses (no more than 1.5 kg), after diluting it with 4-5 liters of water.
Often used from succulent feed corn or sunflower silage. It should be given to the horse mixed with hay.
Good to use in winter and early spring haylage. This is green grass preserved with carbon dioxide. In terms of nutritional value, haylage is comparable to hay and is close to green grass in terms of sugar content. Haylage is readily eaten by animals and in winter can replace half the daily requirement of hay.
Green food used in the warm season. To avoid digestive upset, the horse is gradually transferred to grass feed; first, it is better to feed freshly cut grass without taking the animal out to pasture. Do not feed stale green matter and grass with frost.
A source of protein, phosphorus and B vitamins are bran. This is a good feed for all age groups of horses. The daily norm of wheat and rye bran for horses is up to 4 kg.
Compound feed for feeding horses are factory mixtures consisting of several components that are combined depending on the age group. Divided into:
- full-feed
- concentrates
- feed additives.
Good energy supplement for working horses – dried pulp. It is pre-soaked in water in a ratio of 1:4.
If there is a lack of protein, sick and weakened horses and young animals are given animal feed ( meat and bone meal, fish meal, skim milk, etc.). They are necessary for a balanced diet, taking into account the average daily needs of the horse.
Sources of vitamins and microelements in a horse’s diet include:
- salt (30-60 grams per day)
- chalk (up to 60 grams per day)
- bone flour. Added only in case of lack of calcium and phosphorus in the diet (up to 110 g per day)
- dicalcium phosphate (for calcium and phosphorus deficiency) and disodium phosphate (for phosphorus deficiency)
- fish fat
- ordinary yeast
- premixes for horses. A mixture of vitamins and microelements to enrich diets.
Approximate daily diet
An average adult horse eats about 2 tons of oats, 5 tons of hay, half a ton of bran, 1 ton of succulent feed, 13 kg per year. salt. Thus, the approximate daily ration of a horse weighing 500-600 kg is:- 10-15 kg. hay
- 5 kg concentrated feed
- 1-1.5 kg. bran
- 2-3 kg of succulent food.
Feeding working horses
The daily feed requirement for working horses is determined depending on the body weight and the amount of work the horse does (light, medium and heavy work).Horses' daily diet includes roughage, concentrated and succulent feed. Yeast and premixes are suitable additives. The harder the work, the less roughage is given, and the component of concentrates reaches 70%.
The approximate feeding ration for working horses is 7 kg. hay, 7 kg. haylage, 5 kg. silage, 5 kg. oats, 50 g additives (premix), 40 g salt.
Approximate structure of the diet of working horses
| rude | juicy | concentrates |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Work performed | % daily feed requirement |
||
| 50-60 | |||
Feeding sport horses
Feeding of such horses depends on the body weight of the animal and the sporting period (rest, preparation, competitions). The basis of nutrition for sports horses is concentrates, hay, carrots and premixes. Feed must be of good quality and easily digestible. An approximate diet consists of 7 kg of hay (cereals and legumes), 1 kg. corn, 1 kg grass flour, 400-500g. molasses, 100 g premix, 60 g salt. During the competition period, the amount of molasses and concentrated feed is increased.Feeding mares
Feeding pregnant and lactating mares has its own characteristics. An approximate diet is: hay (grain and legumes, 3.5-4 kg per 100 kg of live weight), a mixture of concentrated feed (40% oats, 35% barley, 25% corn), 1 kg of cake, 5-7 kg of carrots and beets, 3-4 kg of silage. In the last weeks of pregnancy, the amount of roughage and succulent food is reduced, and silage and legumes are replaced with other food or excluded from the diet.Feeding foals
Early foals receive the necessary substances from their mother's milk. At this time, the need for minerals arises, so the foal should have free access to a feeder with salt. The turning point is weaning from the mother. The diet includes hay, flattened oats, wheat bran, and cakes. It is useful to give molasses, sprouted oat grains, and carrots. As the foal grows, its diet is changed to meet its nutritional requirements.The horse's diet is selected individually depending on living conditions and climate, type of activity and load, breed and age of the animal. Common to all types of horses is the need for plant foods. It is obvious that a balanced, well-composed diet is the key to the health and beauty of the animal, maintaining long-term performance and productivity. We will talk further in the article about what products must be included in the diet of horses of different ages.
What do wild horses eat?
Freedom-loving, unbridled animals in the wild spend almost all their time in search of food, covering vast distances. Despite the large size of horses, their stomachs are relatively small in size, so horses cannot eat huge portions at a time - that’s why they eat on the “little but often” principle. 
Chewing food slowly allows you to feel full for a long time. Forbs and shrubs form the basis of the diet of wild animals. In summer, horses feed on the fleshy stems of meadow and steppe grasses, in winter they extract grass from under the snow, and can be content with twigs of bushes and even tree bark. Sometimes they can get root vegetables.
Did you know?Wild horses spend 85% of their time eating grass, which means they chew about 20 hours a day.
What to feed a horse at home
The diet of a domesticated animal also consists of plant foods, but differs in the amount of food and compliance with a fixed feeding regimen. Since domestic horses usually endure much more intense workloads than their wild counterparts, their diet must be appropriate. To provide the animal with all the necessary nutrients, the diet must include three main groups of products: roughage and succulent feed, as well as grain mixtures. Animal products occupy a small part of the diet. 
For each individual individual, the ratio is selected individually, based on many factors, but, in general, the diet should look like this:
- 60–80% - roughage and succulent feed;
- 20–40% - grain mixtures.
Important!If the animal’s body does not receive enough coarse and succulent food along with exceeding the permissible amount of grain, a severe disruption of metabolic processes may occur, fraught with dangerous pathologies.
Roughage
Consist of the following products:
- Haylage (dried grass). A very healthy and nutritious product that horses eat with great pleasure. The daily norm for an adult is 8 kg.
- Straw. It is difficult to digest by the horse’s body and contains few nutrients, so it should be used in limited quantities (no more than 5 kg per day per adult horse). The best types are corn and oat straw.
- Hay. An important product in winter, the amount in the diet reaches 50%. Can be meadow or sown. The daily dose for an adult horse is 20 kg per 500 kg of animal weight. With intense physical activity, the proportion of hay decreases, and the proportion of oats increases.
Juicy feed
Juicy feeds include those with a water content of 70–90%. The succulent feed category consists of vegetables (mainly root vegetables), green fresh grass and silage.
The most useful and popular vegetables are:
- Carrot. A valuable source of carotene, it can be fed raw or boiled. Young animals require up to 2 kg per day, adults - up to 3 kg.
- Fodder beets. It is better to feed raw in an amount of 4 kg for young animals and 12 kg for adults.
- Sugar beets. It is fed unprocessed, young animals are allowed to receive 4 kg per day, adults - 7 kg.
- Potato. It is advisable to give boiled in quantities of 5 kg and 15 kg for young and adult individuals, respectively.
Another juicy product, silage, is nutritious and rich in vitamins. It is best to use corn silage in an amount of 5–15 kg, depending on the age of the animal (the older, the higher the norm). Green food, as the name suggests, is a mixture of various herbs. It is a staple food for horses in the wild as well as domesticated animals. It is the richest source of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. An adult should receive up to 60 kg of green food per day, young animals - up to 40 kg.
Concentrated feed
They should be present in the diet of horses in limited quantities, but they cannot be avoided when fattening meat horses and during intense physical activity. Grain mixtures are a kind of “fuel” for animals. Mainly the following crops are used:
Important!The horse’s digestive system is extremely sensitive to low-quality feed: products with signs of rotting, souring, mold and other defects immediately affect the animal’s digestion. It is unacceptable to use them in the diet!
Animal feed
They must be present in the animal’s diet in very limited quantities to replenish protein and mineral reserves. Basically, farmers use skim milk and fishmeal in quantities of up to 300 g per day per adult animal.
What not to feed a horse
Products from the following list cannot be fed to horses, otherwise they can cause painful conditions of varying degrees of complexity from simple bloating and fermentation to intestinal blockage and liver inflammation. Prohibited animal products:
Most horses (except Arabian varieties) are not adapted to digest wheat, so it is not present in their diet. Remember that you need to feed corn and barley in limited quantities and do not exceed the dosage. Rules for watering animals
At first glance, there can be no difficulties in the drinking technique. But if you don’t know the basic rules, you can make serious mistakes that will affect the health of the animal. In most cases, this is due to drinking at the wrong time. So, when drinking, you need to follow these recommendations:
- It is strictly forbidden to give the horse water within 2 hours after eating, so as not to cause gastric dilatation and colic.
- You can give your horse water 30 minutes before meals.
- It is not recommended to give water to a hot animal for 30 minutes after active physical work. During this time, the animal should cool down and completely restore breathing.
- The number of waterings per day is 3–4 times.
- The water temperature should be room temperature.
At one time, a horse can drink a volume of water several times greater than the volume of its stomach (its capacity is 15 liters), all because almost all the liquid immediately leaves the stomach and moves to the intestines. A horse's need for water depends on a large number of factors: time of year and temperature, load, type of food. In winter, an animal can drink 30–60 liters of water; in the hot season, especially during intense exercise, the need for fluid increases to 80 liters or more. It is also important to consider what you feed your horses with.
In nature, horses lower their heads low to the ground to drink, with their necks fully extended. If you use automatic drinkers in a stable and place them too high, the drinking process becomes inconvenient and contrary to the physiology of these animals, so you need to place the drinkers as low to the ground as possible.
Did you know?A horse's stomach, unlike a human's, is not capable of stretching and changing volume depending on the amount of food.
Approximate daily ration and feeding norms
As we have already indicated, it is advisable to prepare a diet for each specific individual individually, taking into account its physiological characteristics, the amount and type of load, and other factors. But as a basis, you can take ready-made calculations developed by experienced livestock specialists and intended for an average animal weighing 500–550 kg.
For stallions
The quantity and variety of products in the diet of producers largely depends on the period of sexual activity, as well as on the breed (heavyweight or riding horse).
| Component | Horse breed (up to 600 kg) | Heavy breed (over 600 kg) | ||
| Pre-mating/breeding period | Rest period | Pre-mating/breeding period | Rest period | |
| Hay | 9 kg | - | 12 kg | - |
| Withered grass | - | 20 kg | - | 25 kg |
| Oats | 3 kg | 4 kg | ||
| Barley | 1.5 kg | 3 kg | ||
| Carrot | 3 kg | - | ||
| Bran | 1 kg | |||
| Cake | 1 kg | - | 1 kg | - |
| Salt | 33 g | 30 g | 45 g | 40 g |
| Premix | 150 g | 100 g | ||
| Chicken eggs | 4–5 pcs. | - | - | - |
For mares
Pregnant mares must spend at least 6 hours a day grazing freely.
| Product | Horse breeds (up to 550 kg) | Heavyweights (up to 600 kg) | ||||
| Single | Foal | Lactating | Single | Foal | Lactating | |
| Hay | 8 kg | 9 kg | 10 kg | 8 kg | 10 kg | |
| Straw | - | 2 kg | - | 2 kg | ||
| Oats | 2 kg | 3 kg | ||||
| Corn | - | 1 kg | 2 kg | - | 1 kg | 2 kg |
| Barley | 1 kg | 1.5 kg | 1 kg | 2 kg | ||
| Cake | 0.5 kg | - | 1 kg | 0.5 kg | - | 1 kg |
| Bran | 1 kg | - | 1 kg | |||
| Salt | 27 g | 33 g | 40 g | 29 g | 36 g | 43 g |
| Premix | 100 g | 200 g | 400 g | 500 g | ||
For young animals
Until 2 months of age, the foal feeds on its mother's milk. Next, you can gradually introduce rolled oats, hay, cake, molasses, bran and carrots. The table shows dietary standards for foals of different ages and weights (f.m. - live weight).
| Product | Age | |||
| 0.5–1 year (body weight 250 kg) | 1–1.5 years (body weight 350 kg) | 1.5–2 years (body weight 400 kg) | 2–3 years (body weight 500 kg) | |
| Cereal-legume hay | 4.5 kg | 6 kg | 8 kg | |
| Oats | 3 kg | 4 kg | 3 kg | |
| Bran | 0.5 kg | 1 kg | 0.5 kg | 1 kg |
| Corn | - | 1 kg | 2 kg | |
| Soybean meal | 500 g | - | ||
| Carrot | 2 kg | |||
| Molasses | - | 400 g | - | |
| Lysine | 5 g | 8 g | 7 g | - |
| Salt | 18 g | 22 g | 24 g | 25 g |
| Premix | 100 g | 200 g | ||
| ICF, supplement | 50 g | - | ||
In addition to regular foods, your diet can also include vitamin-mineral complexes, supplements with amino acids, probiotics and digestive stimulants. If the animal’s diet is prepared correctly, and feeding is carried out according to all the rules, then your pet’s body will work as efficiently and harmoniously as possible, and the horse will feel healthy, cheerful and energetic.
Going to the Ratma stables the other day for a far from pleasant reason (information that the horses there were so emaciated that their ribs showed through as if on an X-ray was posted on the city forum, a similar appeal was received by the editor), I remembered how some other six or seven years ago, townspeople could admire the most beautiful sport - equestrianism. Jumping and dressage competitions were held here, and multi-kilometer runs were also held...
Ancient Russians loved horses excessively, and descendants must justify their choice
(“Weekly for Horse Hunters,” 1823).
In the field behind the stable, on the fresh grass, turned green after the snow had melted, horses were grazing, very thin, especially the red stallions that were closest to us. A little further away, with its tail raised, a foal galloped merrily near its mother mare. He was born, says the owner of grazing horses, Elena Saraeva (pictured), on the night of May 8-9, that is, he is only a week old. The stallion has not yet been given a name, but it will most likely be associated with a significant event.
The baby's muscle mass is fine, and his mood is cheerful - he runs around and plays under the close supervision of his mother. The mare did not let our editorial team get close to her: as soon as we tried to get closer, she turned around, covering the foal, and took him away.
Horse menu this winter
Along with the foal, Elena has six horse heads on her peasant farm (this is the legal status). Our first question to her: Why are the horses so thin?
– This year we had a problem with hay; there wasn’t enough of it. Usually in April the horses are already out on fresh grass, but, you know, there was still snow until the end of April. In all the farms, it turned out that they miscalculated a little. We traveled all over: Kimry district, Taldomsky, Dmitrovsky - everyone was holding hay for the calves, no one knew when the grazing season would begin. Plus, hay has skyrocketed in price (if in winter we charged 5 thousand rubles per ton, now it is already 7 thousand - this is from nearby regions, delivery from the Moscow region is 15 thousand), and they carry a large tonnage - at least 10 tons , we don’t need so much, and we don’t have such funds.
– How much hay does a horse need per year?
– On average, per year – from October to May – one horse eats 5 tons of hay.
– Is hay their main food?
– Yes, this is roughage (fiber), and in winter it is not replaceable for the horse’s digestion, but oats are concentrated, and you can’t feed them a lot.
– In the villages, in my opinion, they feed horses oats...
– You know, our gray horse Veresk is from the village, so he practically did not know oats - he grew up mainly on straw.
– Was there no hay at all this winter?
– It was until February, then we had to replace the hay with grass meal, but horses don’t really eat it. We have no problems with oats, we ordered five tons this year, it’s there, plus bran and feed. Now that the grass has grown, the horses no longer eat hay, and we only feed them oats in the evening.
– How often should horses be fed?
– In winter, three times a day, oats every six hours. They don’t need hay to constantly lie in the feeders; for example, Gray, if he hasn’t eaten the hay, pushes it down to his feet and doesn’t pick it up from there. The regime is this: we arrived in the morning, gave them water, gave them oats, put hay in the pen, the animals walk and eat hay, then we turn them in, give them some more water in the afternoon, give them oats in the evening as well, but in the stall. In the summer we feed them, let them go out to pasture, they graze until the evening, and in the evening we drive them in and give them oats. Now they started giving them porridge instead of oats so that they gain weight faster.
“People who have seen horses in this condition are very concerned. Maybe the hay can be replenished with something, like carrots, for example?
– No, unfortunately, only grass flour. But the horses are not accustomed to it, they eat it reluctantly, and besides, it is very expensive: our bag costs 1 thousand rubles.
– When they began to lose weight, did this condition bother you? Did the vet examine them?
– Of course, this worried me, I called the veterinarian Olga Loginova (we work with the city veterinary station), she examined them. Conclusion - the horses are healthy, but they are underweight. Thinness is fixable, come back in a couple of weeks and see for yourself what miracles fresh grass can do.
Naturally, we accepted the invitation and in two weeks we will once again visit the peasant farm of Elena Saraeva, we hope that then the ribs will not be visible through the horse’s sides.
Not hungry - sick
In addition to Elena’s six horses, including a newborn stallion, there are three more horses in the Ratma stable. Honestly, when I saw them, my heart sank.
A mare, a stallion and a foal belonging to a private owner, Svetlana Plekhanova, were locked in a warm, damp room while their brothers grazed on the spring grass.
You only had to look once into the sad eyes of the white mare Zina to never forget them. It is clear that the horse is suffering from a serious illness. The stallion doesn't look his best, and it looks like he also has health problems...
Their thinness is not due to lack of nutrition, Svetlana explains, they do not gain muscle mass because they are sick.
– Have you purchased sick horses? – we asked.
– The mare was given to me a year ago, then I didn’t know that she had a chronic disease - emphysema, I bought a stallion for her, and apparently, after racing, he had problems with the spine, he often falls.
- So you need to treat if you are sick, it’s a pity to see how they suffer. Did the vet examine them?
– Yes, I invited a veterinarian from Moscow, he prescribed treatment: IVs, injections. As of May 16, the course of treatment was completed. It remains to be seen how the body will recover. Now they receive good nutrition: oats, porridge, plus vitamins...
“Won’t they recover faster if they graze on the grass during the day rather than sit in a damp room?”
– The horses walk, but, based on the specifics of the disease, I let them out every night and early in the morning, until the heat rises. During the day you can only walk in cloudy weather. The rest of the time, the fumes rising from the ground are destructive for unhealthy horses.
- But the foal is healthy, could he walk during the day?
– The baby is seven months old, fortunately, he is healthy and I am sure he will be healthy. It's bad to walk alone. At night they graze together,” answered Svetlana Plekhanova.
By the way, Svetlana is a livestock specialist by training, a specialist in horse reproduction, that is, a professional and, I think, she knows what needs to be done so as not to completely destroy the horses.
Without water and light
In parallel with the above-described problem regarding the healthy nutrition of horses, we looked inside the stable, which at one time was not only the pride of the owner of the building (JINR), but also the city as a whole, and became acquainted with another one. We'll talk about it in more detail later, for now we'll just outline it.
The stable currently produces a depressing impression, some of the premises of which are rented by Elena Saraeva. “As soon as the Akhal-Teke people of Tito Pontecorvo moved to Svyatiye,” she says, “they immediately dug up an electric cable here - there has been no light for a long time. We’ve been standing for seven years, and there’s been no light for seven years. We start the horses in the evening, by candlelight; at one time there was a generator, but now there is no generator. We manage with flashlights.
After one of the homeless people climbed into the basement and removed the plug from the hot water pipe (the geyser was flowing for three days), the water was also turned off. I put the horses here because it’s a pity to see the stable falling apart, because I used to work here.”
Inspecting the premises of the stables, which fall into disrepair and destruction from year to year, I thought: why not make a children’s equestrian club here. It would pay off, Elena believes, by keeping the horses stationed, which would be of interest to everyone, because there is very good pasture here. If everything is restored, then people will come here, because staying closer to Moscow costs 15 thousand rubles and more, but here we have 8-10 thousand plus pasture.
The layout of the stable building is very interesting: on the ground floor there are four rows of stalls, an arena for driving in young animals, on the second floor there are living quarters for staff, a fireplace room with a kitchen and a bathroom. There is a basement. Once upon a time there was a table tennis table. Fenced area of 2 hectares. The stable accommodates more than 30 horse heads. By the way, at one time there were 200 Tekins standing here (in the arena, several heads in stalls, in the aisles, in the hayloft).
– I have repeatedly written letters to the owner of the building (JINR) with a request to give it to a children’s equestrian club: this complex should work for the city. But, alas, the issue has not been resolved today. And now I am receiving letters demanding that I vacate the stables by July 3,” concluded Elena Saraeva.
By the way, last year Elena, the mother of four girls who also love horses and help at the stables, completed coaching courses at the St. Petersburg Academy of Agribusiness and Management, in addition, she received a judge’s certificate, and there she also completed practice judging equestrian competitions, judged show jumping , and dressage, and even a separate pony class.
I would like to conclude with the words of Tatyana Ryabova, a senior researcher at the All-Russian Research Institute of Horse Breeding, said in 2005, when the first horse race took place in our city: “It is very pleasant that in Dubna the interest of young people in horses is not lost. I hope that the initiative of such competitions will continue.”...
Tatiana Kryukova
F photo by Yuri Tarakanov
