Our pasture boarded horses did not get hay this spring when they had abundant grass, they did great. I have no idea how many lbs of grass they ate, but they all got fat and had to be taken in actually. Most of our horses are currently on 16 hours pasture and they get 1 flake of hay and no grain unless they need a little to mix with supplements. There is abundant pasture here and 1/2 the pasture is always resting with the t/o switched every week or so, depending on grass conditions.
I've supplemented good grass with hay in the past because of the horses getting the squits. I actually had a pony start to lose weight because she was stuffing herself with more grass than she could digest, and it was so rich that it was literally coming out the other end as slush. A slice of hay in the morning and evening sorted her out nicely.
As to how well your horse will do on it, I'd say best thing is to wait and see. I have no idea of what poundage a horse will eat in a day, and no, they won't manage the 2% themselves - the majority of horses will eat as much as they can, which is an instinctive drive to put on weight whilst food is plentiful. If Gali starts to drop weight or get poopy, add a bit of hay to put the weight back or dry him up. If he doesn't, don't stress, and be glad you have good grass - we're scrabbling for the bare minimum at the moment!
If the grass is "good grass", chances are that it has higher values (digestible raw protein etc) than most "good hay". Thus, additional hay has not been necessary; in fact, the grass has been a bit much for some horses who gain weight easily.
I have two retired horses on grass (roughly five-seven acres/horse- with creek and trees, but mostly open land) and they have done brilliantly with just a little supplemental hay in the form of a round bale now and then when it snows. One's an average keeper and the other was always a hard keeper stabled. He ate more than any other horse in a thirty horse stable of hunters/dressage/eventers. The vet checks them going into winter to assure their weight will carry them through, they lose weight in winter, but not to where you'd go "too skinny"- their ribs are visible at certain angles and they look "lean". They keep their muscle from going up and down the hills. In the spring they drop their coats and plump up all shiny. These guys always had terrible teeth, too, lol. But now they only ever need points knocked off- no wave mouths! I've moved them to a new place with the same conditions, but they offer free choice round bales year around and I'm a bit worried that my average keeper will get too fat.
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If grass is good then they are usually fine with it. Just have to watch the pasture conditions-because the "good grass" window isn't always a big one
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As to how well your horse will do on it, I'd say best thing is to wait and see. I have no idea of what poundage a horse will eat in a day, and no, they won't manage the 2% themselves - the majority of horses will eat as much as they can, which is an instinctive drive to put on weight whilst food is plentiful. If Gali starts to drop weight or get poopy, add a bit of hay to put the weight back or dry him up. If he doesn't, don't stress, and be glad you have good grass - we're scrabbling for the bare minimum at the moment!
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