Advise on feed

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SLG91

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Hey,
I have a couple of quick questions if anyone could help me out that would be great :) I have a 16 year old 16.2 ex race horse (Leon) and a 17 year old 14.1 Connemara cross (Pepsi).
Leon is in decent condition but Pepsi could do with loosing a bit of weight. I am feeding Pepsi 4 mug fulls of topspec lite balancer with some chop and Leon gets 2 Stubbs scoops of the Bailey's no. 15 senior mix with chop both split into 2 feeds. Leon is out grazing during the day and gets more haylage then he can eat in his net on a night. Pepsi is turned out with unlimited haylage during the day (but no grass) and in with a net full of hay on a night.
My questions are... Does that sound like a balanced diet? Or should I be adding anything else? And also my horses are turned out on a morning for me and I'm not 100% sure if they are being fed every morning so could I perhaps change it so Pepsi gets all 4 mugs of the topspec on a night with some chop and Leon gets either both scoops of Bailey's with chop or maybe half the recommended daily intake of the Bailey's with a balancer to top up the vitamins so it's not such a big meal? I'm just worried if they aren't being fed on a morning they are only getting 50% of the vits and minerals they need and with them getting older now I want to be extra sure they are getting everything they need.
Thanks.
 
I'd start again entirely. Your feeds are full of molasses, sugars and fillers. There's much better on the market these days. I'd feed speedibeet or fast fibre, plus a chaff, add micronised linseed and a good quality supplement. Brands to look at are Agrobs, simple systems, Thunderbrooks, the pure feed company. Best supplements are equimins, pro earth and forageplus.
 
Thanks for the advise I will look into that... Honestly I'm clueless with horse feed, it all just seems so complicated so I tried just to get something that said it had a complete vitamin and mineral profile. Thanks again :)
 
I agree with poppy in principle - I would rather see a simpler feed. But I'm not sure I'm entirely with them on top spec light being full of molasses, sugars and fillers. Their typical analysis certainly doesn't support that. But you are feeding a lot of it though which much be quite expensive! It would be worth weighing your "4 mug fulls" and see if you are over the manufacturers spec.

Better not to squash two feeds into one. Horses have really small stomachs. If they could even get a feed that big in most of it will pass through less digested. But more importantly you risk colic.

If they are doing OK on what you have I wouldn't worry overmuch. You could swap poppy onto hay or mixes straw / hay during the day so she isn't stuffing her face on haylage. Or - if you are able - put the haylage in lots of smaller piles so she has to walk around a bit to get to them.
 
Thanks... Just to clarify Leon doesn't currently get the Bailey's AND the top spec just the Bailey's one scoop on a morning and one scoop on a night and Pepsi just gets the top spec. I havnt weighed it but it is a half pint mug and it says a half pint mug contains approx 100g. I do keep meaning to buy some scales to weigh my measures though... Like you said it's expensive, too expensive to waste anyway lol.
There isn't much I can do about the hay situation unfortunately, it's in a feeder in the winter turn out. I have just got her back off loan though and I'm waiting for a stable to be built for her where Leon is so in a week or two she will be grazing during the day (can't wait it's been a nightmare going to two different yards after work) she doesn't need much in the way of food she could live on fresh air and still be over weight lol just something low calorie to get some vitamins and what not in her diet. I'm so happy to have her back, she has been on full loan to a girl for the last 5 years! I have wanted to take her off loan for a while but didn't have the heart to do it... In hindsight though I wish I had of done because the mess she left her feet in was shocking, literally couldn't see her shoes when her hoofs were on the floor because the hoof had grown over the shoes!! I feel awful for letting it happen I just thought I could trust her :(
 
I feed my fatty pink mash, topchop zero and a supplement from Progressive Earth. Its incredibly low calorie/sugar/starch but palatable so he eats it. I use one of the more expensive supplements but you could probably just feed the cheapest one as your horse isnt restircted forage wise like mine is.

You could feed the same to the TB but adding linseed in to increase the calories
 
FrankieCob said:
I feed my fatty pink mash, topchop zero and a supplement from Progressive Earth. Its incredibly low calorie/sugar/starch but palatable so he eats it. I use one of the more expensive supplements but you could probably just feed the cheapest one as your horse isnt restircted forage wise like mine is.

You could feed the same to the TB but adding linseed in to increase the calories
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me. I'm about to try the pink mash - when it's eventually back in stock!
 
I'm impressed with it. It swells up loads so a tiny bit dry makes something thats enough to hide bitter minerals in. I am disappointed its not really pink though!
 
It costs me less than £35 for hard feed for my Connie (she's 15, and also a good doer). She gets 1/2 scoop speedi-beet which is then soaked for 10 minutes, 1/2 mug of micronised linseed and the recommended scoop of vitamins. She's barefoot and on Equimins 75 stuff, but could easily get away with Mole Valley's own Vits and Mins which has comparable quantities of most things.

Speedi-beet - £11.65/month
Micronised Linseed - lasts 4 months in an airtight bin and cost £15.99 so probably about £4/month
Equimins Hoofmender 75 - £19.75 for 50 days - so approx £15/month

But Mole Valley's stuff is £8.99 and lasts a month.

I also have to ration the night time haylage, so weigh it out and split into two nets for her stable over night. She's on grass during the day - she's muzzled today because it's 13 degrees and a high lami risk day. If you are feeding hay, rather than haylage, you could always soak it for 4 hours per day.
 
Possibly a cheaper and lower calorie way to do it would be to go to a straight feed (ie, Thunderbrooks Herbal Chaff) and then add a balancer. It sounds like the good doer doesn't need the calories, but might need the vitamins/minerals. I'm a big fan of the ForagePlus balancer- we feed the Winter Balancer and Laminae-Plus balancers to our horses and they lick their buckets clean. :)

For the older horse, Speedi-beet with either a bit of EquiJewel or micronised linseed with a balancer would be a good calorific feed, won't load him up with sugars, and won't break your wallet either.
 
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