Any particular logic to this feed advice?

Ambers Echo

Ambers Echo

Still wittering on
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I've been at camp for a couple of days and a Top Spec rep was there with a weighbridge. I was interested in having Amber weighed which also meant dietary advice/

I am currently feeding:
Ease and Excel
Speedibeet
Micronised Linseed.

Plus adlib haylage when in, unrestricted scrubby grazing when out.

She is looking fantastic, is an ideal weight and has energy to burn even at the latter stages of an XC course without being spooky. So I have not made any changes for about a year now apart from tweaking the amounts depending on time of year and workload.

I have been advised to change onto:

Topchop Zero
Cool Balancer
Cool condition cubes

Rep said that I was giving her too much bucket feed so this gave her the calories without the volume. Plus she was probably lacking vits and mins as I am not feeding a balancer. Also I am not giving a feed tgat builds muscle.

I am feediung within recommended amounts, Ease&Excel has plenty of vits and mins. And I thought work built muscle?

Any thoughts?
 
I know that the rep is there to sell Topspec but I thought she might try and find a like-for-like diet: Eg their new Fibre and Linseed Mash to replace the speedibeet and linseed, another alfa based chop with outshine/protexin etc. Not just change everything!! I am worrying that what I am on is somehow inappropriate now!
 
If it ain't broke don't fix it
Of course they would suggest a change as they want extra sales, very hard for them to be objective I suppose. I think the balancer and the cubes on top of the top chop is quite a bit at this time of year.
 
Ambers Echo said:
I know that the rep is there to sell Topspec but I thought she might try and find a like-for-like diet: Eg their new Fibre and Linseed Mash to replace the speedibeet and linseed, another alfa based chop with outshine/protexin etc. Not just change everything!! I am worrying that what I am on is somehow inappropriate now!
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Who makes Ease and Excel, I've not heard of it. Could you ask them what they would suggest, most feed companies have an advice line.
 
Sounds like bunkum to me. Stick with what is working for you and Amber. I wouldn't be in a hurry to try Topspec again after what it did to the old guy... those stable boards where expensive to replace.

And yes, work builds muscle. Mine is building plenty of muscle on a forage only diet right now.
 
Ambers Echo said:
Topchop Zero
Cool Balancer
Cool condition cubes

Rep said that I was giving her too much bucket feed so this gave her the calories without the volume.

?
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Surely Top Chop zero is about maximum volume and minimal calories and not exactly a source of protein.

I've used their weighbridges at camps because I wanted to know how much he weighs but find them a bit pushy. Then I had reason to be at Horsepital a few days later and their weighbridge was off too.
 
I'm not a fan of top spec - I've never had good results with it and the analysis isn't as comprehensive as I prefer.

I too would go with the "if it 'aint broke don't fix it" Your feed solution clearly ticks all your boxes. I would stay as you are.
 
Total BS. Sounds like a cookie cutter answer to me - the standard recommendation of their own product line, without really considering the horse in front of them or knowing the competitor's feeds well enough to know what they provide. Clearly, they did not know that E&E is a fortified feed with 13% protein, so if fed at recommended amounts will (likely) cover exactly what a balancer would provide otherwise (couldn't find the full analysis online, so guessing here). Maybe worth double checking on the white label that this is really the case.
As for lack of volume - just how? Soaked beet certainly has volume and is a fibre feed. Plus, ad-lib forage.
 
Topchop zero is designed for fatties like mine, so you can hide stuff in a bucket feed without actually getting many calories into them. I doubt I would feed it if I was out eventing!

On the muscle front the rep is probably referring to the amino acid profile of the feeds. Linseed has a pretty good profile anyway I think, but having just looked at the Ease & Excel link then the aim of that is to give you a balanced feed so if you're feeding that at recommended quantities then it should give what you need.

Why change what is working??
 
Topchop zero is a bonkers recommendation if the rep says you need to feed to build muscle.

I wouldn't change anything - the horse in front of you looks great, so what you're feeding is working!
 
On the basis of her reasoning topchop zero is a pointless addition.

I wouldn't take advice off any feed rep, I would be even less likely to take advice off a top spec one :p
 
I had a Baileys rep do the same with my horse at one camp.

He was fed on low/no sugar and low starch, mainly chaff with a powder balancer. Told her he cannot handle sugar and loses the plot.

The feeds she recommended (when I looked them up) were choc-full of sugar and starch. Glad I didn't just change!

Agree with the others, if it ain't broke, don't fix. Amber looks fab in all your pics and videos, so you must be doing it right!
 
Ambers Echo said:
She is looking fantastic, is an ideal weight and has energy to burn even at the latter stages of an XC course without being spooky. So I have not made any changes for about a year now apart from tweaking the amounts depending on time of year and workload.
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If it aint broke, don't fix it!! If she is looking and performing well, then there is no need to change.
 
You have not mentioned the cost of the feed ration - is the recommendation more or less expensive? I don't know how much of the chaff is being recommended, but one reason some people like a chaff is because it encourages chewing and salivation, and saliva neutralises stomach acids which is a contributor to ulcers. The balancer is, as I am sure you know, is about ensuring that micro-nutrients such as minerals and vitamins reach the daily recommended amount. Without looking at quantities etc, the suggested ration appears to be lower on calories than the current ration (which is what the rep said), and probably lower cost, but comfortably meeting the nutrition needs of your horse. For example, linseed provides calories through its high oil content, and Ease and Excel also provides a significant amount of oil. Ideally a horse has ad lib amounts of high fibre hay, grass or haylage and this meets the bulk of their calorie and protein needs. Unless your horse needs the calories, this would appear to be sensible advice based on the information that we have.

What you could do is to contact other feed companies and see what their recommendation is.
 
ester said:
On the basis of her reasoning topchop zero is a pointless addition.

I wouldn't take advice off any feed rep, I would be even less likely to take advice off a top spec one :p
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Indeed! What's wrong with volume anyway - volume is good, if the horse is doing well on it and getting what it needs. As for the rest... :rolleyes3:
 
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