Best (least worst) tasty feed to get vits and mins in

[Polos Mum]

Horse begrudgingly ate equimins pellets for 18 months with dengie hi- fi molasses free. Then decided they were too grim and no longer edible

After many tries gave up and bought progressive earth - pro hoof powder - he wont touch it

I've tried - soaked grass nuts, speedy beat and the Dengie above on their own and in combination - with no joy.

Even tried mixing in fresh apple and he just picked out the apple bits.

Do you good people have any recommendations of something that isn't neat sugar but might be tasty enough to tempt him into eating what is quite a large scoop fully of crunchy powder.

He does not need a single extra calorie but he's barefoot and noticing the lack of proper vits in the last 3 months.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

My extremely fussy cob will eat his progressive earth and Danilon in fast fibre. Took a while, lacing with sugar free polos etc.

 

[Surbie]

Mine has Forageplus powder and had to have it introduced sooooooo slooooooowly to get him to eat it. He has it in soaked Agrobs wiesencobs with Honeychop lite & healthy chaff (he got bored of the plain oat chaff) and a bit of micronised linseed.

He's ok with it for now, but when he gets fussy I use carrot or apple juice, very ripe pears or some very old stinky banana mushed in, grated apple (so he can't pick it out) and even baby food - the apple & pear puree. I know they aren't great, but I figure a little will at least get the stuff in him.

 

[bouncing_ball]

Beetroot powder. 25-50ml mixed in with the minerals directly, and the stirred into whole feed. Magic stuff.

 

[Brownmare]

Ok so I have the world's fussiest mare who came to me addicted to molasses as well as refusing any kind of supplement! To start with I had to add molasses back into her unmolassed sugar beet ? to get her to eat more than a mouthful of it even without supplements. I found it easiest to give her whatever junk food she was used to and add in the supplements literally a pinch at a time so she got used to the taste in the background without realising. Once she was taking a full dose (it took 5 or 6 weeks to get to this point) I then started gradually switching the feed to healthier, low sugar options.

We have had a few blips along the way where she stops eating her feeds altogether and I have resorted to mixing the minerals into a paste and syringing them into her before giving her her feed with just a pinch of minerals in and gradually syringing less each time and putting the remainder into the feed. She definitely eats her minerals better when I mix mint into it. Other favourite flavours are cinnamon, fenugreek, brewers yeast and a teeny sprinkle of oats gets her really licking the bucket out ? Base feed is a mix of purabeet, grass pellets and linseed in various proportions depending on work etc

 

[TPO]

Keyflow Pink Mash

 

[ycbm]

Saracen Re-leve was the only food that worked for my fussy easter to get his nasty minerals into him. It swells a lot, so you can feed a tiny dry weight.
.

 

[milliepops]

Re-leve has always been a reliable one for me too
Fortunately the gang that get fed now are pretty obliging but I wouldn't hesitate to use it again, it's like horse crack.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Spillers Senior Super Mash is how I always answer this question but they all seem to love it.

 

[blodwyn1]

Cush care condition works for mine, a mug full soaked with Bute is eaten readily.

 

[RHM]

Another vote for saracens, mine get that when need medication. Adding quite a bit of linseed can also be successful. Good luck - most frustrating thing when they won’t eat!

 

[criso]

Agrobs musli and grunhafer for mine but i still had to build up slowly and introduce anything new a little at a time. He doesnt mind slightly damp but he won't eat anything sloppy so mashes are no good without lots of chaff. He's not a fan of linseed either.

With him because he doesn't like anything new adding things like mint to disguise actually made the problem worse. Better to keep offering a little of the same till he realised it was safe.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Horse begrudgingly ate equimins pellets for 18 months with dengie hi- fi molasses free. Then decided they were too grim and no longer edible

After many tries gave up and bought progressive earth - pro hoof powder - he wont touch it

I've tried - soaked grass nuts, speedy beat and the Dengie above on their own and in combination - with no joy.

Even tried mixing in fresh apple and he just picked out the apple bits.

Do you good people have any recommendations of something that isn't neat sugar but might be tasty enough to tempt him into eating what is quite a large scoop fully of crunchy powder.

He does not need a single extra calorie but he's barefoot and noticing the lack of proper vits in the last 3 months.

Have you tried
https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Day-Fee...keywords=carrot+express&qid=1631771195&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Day-Fee...1&keywords=my+day+feeds&qid=1631771820&sr=8-2

 

[PapaverFollis]

Currently using Dengie Healthy Hooves, Spillers Speedy Mash Fibre and Mollichaff Veteran to get minerals into my three. One type of feed each, not all three! I'm even using the molassed Healthy Hooves ?. Sugar and starch still less than 10% and I add a scoop of Top Chop zero to "dilute" it. I just got so fed up of messing around adding all kinds of things to very "not bad" feeds to get them to eat. They have to have a big old chunk of nasty tasting copper and zinc so I came to the conclusion that the benefits of the minerals outweigh the disadvantages of a bit more sugar than the barest minimum.

I wouldn't recommend Mollichaff generally but the old lady eating that is 26 and can have pudding for main course if she wants.

 

[Polos Mum]

Thanks all - I will cut right down the quantities for now and give some of these a go. Annoying as he's not had a proper amount for ages now.

 

[laura_nash]

I'm using TopSpec high fibre mash. I started using it because it was basically all I could get, but mine think it is the best thing they've ever had and will eat anything with it. I make it with a lot more water, more 5:1 than 2:1, to reduce the amount of actual stuff they get, which works fine just needs to soak a bit longer.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Try some peppermint essence it doesn't contain sugar but is strong in flavour and smell mine will eat most things in there feed if I add it.

 

[GreyDot]

My older boy, who usually eats anything, will not touch Keyflow Pink Mash.
Saracen Recovery Mash gets eaten every time, even with danilon in it or antibiotics. Smells lovely too.

 

[bouncing_ball]

Have you tried
https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Day-Fee...keywords=carrot+express&qid=1631771195&sr=8-5

https://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Day-Fee...1&keywords=my+day+feeds&qid=1631771820&sr=8-2

Has anyone found them to be stater than fresh carrot / apple for getting horses to eat minerals in feed.

 

[Loubidy]

Thunderbrooks muesli for mine - loves the taste

 

[canteron]

Fast fibre makes a lovely soup so the vitamins and minerals don’t get lost and seems palatable - then an array of chopped goodies (mint, apple, polo, carrot, herby chaff) swopped regularly to keep the taste buds confused?!

 

[Annagain]

Duplicate post

 

[Annagain]

I'm another one who finds Re-leve good.

Another trick is to keep the feed dry if possible as it's often when it gets wet that the taste leeches into other food and 'contaminates' it. Re-leve isn't always the best for feeding dry as it can cause choke but a very small amount should be ok. When I need to get drugs into them, I tend to go for a small handful of Re-leve, no more than two or three mouthfuls and the drug, nothing else. It works really well, it's almost like it's gone before they have time to realise there's something in it.

 

[Burnttoast]

Another one for beetroot powder here. It also contributes a few useful extra phytonutrients to the diet (and stains everything a fetching shade of pink ?)

 

[NinjaPony]

I once fed the Dengie hi-fi senior to my Connie, which is alfalfa and chopped grass with a light molasses coating and he went nuts for it. It’s a lovey soft chaff which smells great. Unfortunately he also went behaviourally nuts, I had to take him off it as it turned out that molasses in general blew his brains…. Most horses are fine with a bit of molasses though! Needs must and all that. I feed the same powder to my Welsh A in the hifi molasses free but thankfully he is essentially a pony shaped dustbin so has never rejected a meal in his life…

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Has anyone found them to be stater than fresh carrot / apple for getting horses to eat minerals in feed.

they smell really strong of carrots bit like cooked carrots but dry like corn flakes

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I also like Dengie grass nuts made into a sloppy mash mine go crazy for them. They smell yummy and lovely sweet smell , fed dry or wet https://www.dengie.com/horse-feeds/grass-range/grass-pellets/

 

[GoldenWillow]

I've used NAF mint when I needed something to persuade cob to eat antibiotics. It was either that or a mix full of molasses which was the only other thing that would persuade him and which I really wanted to avoid having to feed for obvious reasons.

https://www.viovet.co.uk/NAF-Mint-f...MIl5Oqv5yE8wIVl-vtCh3KMwtxEAAYASAAEgIvbfD_BwE

 

[conniegirl]

Veteran vitality for my lad.

 

[rabatsa]

Mine get ¼ cup of sugar beet shreds, a small splash of water, enough to damp but not soak. The powder supplement will then stick to the sugar beet and not the bowl. All gone in a mouthful and a lick.

I have found that the less feed the better for drugs/supplements and a lot less wastage.