Horse Supplies, Basics water and food.

OK... for the first post of horse supplies, lets keep it SIMPLE (it is NOT but I'll try)
Basic 5 day of feed is 80lbs! now I start counting grams, oz, and lbs for poor Navarre!


Water... While I will be having to beg for water at LEAST three times a day... I also had to have containers to put it in!   Horses are not going to drink from a faucet!

I have two folding / collapsing "kitchen sinks"

Theses things are so well made I will be able to hang one from the HIGH LINE (what I will tie the horses up on for the night) with out any issues for the horses.  They will be able to drink from it, but not get their feet in them if need be. !   this is thinking out of the box.  I have not seen a horse product made for this, or like this! IF anyone else has let me know so I can compare prices and quality to pass on the knowledge! 

These things are incredible as they can hold up to 20 liters of water for each horse. They weigh next to nothing and fold down to a 6 inch round one inch thick object.  ( so this covers the water containers) These things are available as camping sinks! and work perfectly as the water allows them to hold themselves open wider than a normal horse bucket!

Food... 
I will be required to carry 8lbs of feed for each horse as a BASIC ( basic is not going to be enough) for each day.
This is the base line of their requirements and will be increased or decreased (not likely) based on their needs, the weather, and HELP from people as I go along my route.  WHY 16lbs and How did I come up with 8lbs, for each horse?

Navarre ...
rice bran and hay extender with liquid rice bran oil, his vitamin E, his fly control ( I use it for my estate I'm not going to cause fly issues for people for next spring!)  his daily vitamin as his rice bran does not have enough for him. AND an apple electrolyte to keep him drinking! as he hates to drink cold water and colics on me every winter! only one of the FEW medical issues I have with this horse.

Sweet Pea gets the same amount of rice bran, hay extender but then gets low carb feed on top of that!   She literally gets TWICE as much food as Navarre.  I have her on CHEAP corn oil! as this oil burns hotter for the winter ( she NEVER gets a good winter coat)  she gets 1/2 the vitamins of Navarre as her feed as a better amount, BUT I do give her Vitamin E and Fly control.    Don't get me wrong I would love to leave out the rice bran for her but it is working so well ... I just do not want to change ANYTHING!   This is the first year she has not needed a QUILTED coat for the first cold rain / snow.  To me this is a big deal as I am not home to take the coat off as the day warms up.

I have two SMALL kitchen sinks to put the feed in so I don't loose it on the ground if it is wet, muddy, or deep with snow!

A horse getting TOO hot is as much of an issue as it being too cold.  They both cause Colic!

NOW! WE all KNOW horses need hay! well I can't carry a bail of hay a day... ( this is where I REALLY need the help!  If I can get people to bring me hay as much as possible on the road, drop some off ahead of me... what ever! it would help Navarre not carry so much and I would not have to worry about water so much, yes they still need water but hay creates saliva...pellet / compressed hay needs WATER for it to be processed in the gut properly! )   so I have to replace this with a hay stretcher!  Having said that I will need two more bags a day of the hay stretcher so each horse gets a little mid day to keep their gut going and gets one mid night to keep it going all night as well.  ISSUES>>> hay stretcher requires the horse to drink more water than normal SO I will have to have access to water that is NOT frozen for their late feeding!

Getting into the horses and their needs is where my story gets complicated.  I know what I need! I know what I can do.  Theses guys are at my mercy and are my number one concern!

So bottom line...
Water containers... DONE! now I just have to beg for water to put in them!
Feed... Four BAGS of feed each day each bag almost 1lb plus each, Navarre's are a little less, and Sweet Pea's a little more! but oz per oz it levels out to 2lbs each bag each feeding... 4 feedings a day times two horses .... is 16lbs for ONE day of basic feed only.

I will be preparing all the feed in my house, keeping it in a dry metal can and packing it into RIVER bags equal of each other and then putting it on Navarre.  so 16 times 5 is... 80lbs for only 5 days of the trip! 40 on each side of the "mule pack" That alone is a lot for me to get off and on him every day!

MY WISH is to have two flakes of hay per horse per night! but that is asking A LOT of anyone supporting me.  So I am at the mercy of nature.  
Sweet Pea will be allowed to eat grass along the way! Which will add to her roughage... But Navarre can not have grass unless it is BROWN like hay! and only very little at that point!

Navarre is PPSM... EPSM... ( like being Diabetic...) and can not have ANY grass/ sugar, Apples, Carrots, Peppermint! etc... HE is my problem horse!