As usual feed advice..!

[sh90]

hi guys,

with all the questions regarding feed I thought id jump on the band wagon as it is a mine field.

long story short I now have two going into winter. both horse are currently on hifi and solution mash and both love it and both in light work id say. I went on the solution mash as its good for sugar/starch intolerant horses. my pony went nuts on topspec when I tried a balancer and feel it was due to those contents. I must say my horse looks well and so does my new one (only had him a week though).

But I was just wondering although solution mash if full of vits/min etc are they getting enough. I probably don't feed the recommended as he is a good/ok doer (if that makes sense). with two I cant afford to spend loads every month on all sorts so just want a simple feeding regime if they are not getting enough from this. he was on purabeet last winter I loved it but its difficult to get hold of and then dilemma what to put with it.

any help/new knowledge would be much appreciated

 

[JenHunt]

if they look and feel well then I wouldn't change anything!

if you wanted to give them more for condition then speedibeet or fibrebeet/alfabeet would give them more fibre to digest and keep them warm, so helping keep weight on. If you wanted to give them more for energy then consider full fat micronized linseed (helps with condition too but not as well as fibre).

As for vits and mins... if they look and feel ok then you're probably ok. If you're worried then try naf pink powder or naf gp supplement as a reasonable and not hugely expensive way of being sure they're getting all they need.

 

[sh90]

thanx hun, they definitely don't need anymore energy. iv heard good things about linseed and friend feeds it but its one of them is it needed-plus could it send him loopy (the intolerant one). was considering adding alfa or fibre as an option- may give it ago

 

[TGM]

If you are worried about vit/mins you could give a powdered vit/min supplement (if you don't want to use a balancer) - if you are feeding half the recommended rate of solution mash then you would feed half the recommended dose of supplement, if you are feeding a quarter of the recommended rate of solution mash then you would give threequarters of the dose of supplement. But if they look well, and are on good quality forage and decent grazing then you might find you can do without extra supplementation.

 

[JenHunt]

thanx hun, they definitely don't need anymore energy. iv heard good things about linseed and friend feeds it but its one of them is it needed-plus could it send him loopy (the intolerant one). was considering adding alfa or fibre as an option- may give it ago

linseed shouldn't send him loopy - it's got very little starch, it's just high oil for the energy. My Ron is very starch sensitive, but he gets alfalfa chaff, speedibeet and linseed meal and is perfect on it. As you say though, if he's got enough energy and condition then there's probably no need to feed it at the moment.

alfalfa is a good option, just make sure you go for alfa oil or alfa lite to avoid the molasses!