Barefoot feeding

Identityincrisis

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Hi All,

Sorry I know this has been asked many times before but I have a terrible memory!

Please can you recommend me a 'carrier' feed I can use to put my forage balancer in? I want a high fibre, low sugar & starch feed but I am wary of trusting the feed company's ingredient lists.

My boy is currently on the TopSpec Lite but isn't doing very well despite being barefoot since the beginning of winter (he was fine during winter) but despite restricted grazing he is foot sore......my farrier just tells me he's doing ok for a barefoot TB :rolleyes:

All advice gratefully received :)
 
I think the OP means the top chop lite not the top spec balancer which is a sugar free chaff like the Dengie Hifi Molasses free however some people find alfalfa doesn't work for them, mine was OK but I fed the alfalfa pellets which don't have additives.

Fast Fibre is a good starting point, very safe feed but the DE is quite low, worked wonders for people whose horses needed to lose weight.

Currently I feed my tb unmolassed sugarbeet, coolstance copra and bran, with oats as an option if he's in harder work. I personally prefer to feed straights as it's easier to adjust ratios depending on time of year, work load etc but alot of people would find that too much faff in which case Fast Fibre is probably the safest complete feed and a good starting point.

However if your tb has become a bit footsore this summer, I would look at the grass which has been lethal this year. For mine even turning out at 4pm rather than 7pm is making a difference.
 
Thanks for your replies, i think fast fibre it is! He's a very good doer so no fear of weight loss! I bring him in at 7am and he usually goes back out about 6:30 / 7 pm as i know the grass can have a big effect on their footyness.
 
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