Best wet feed...

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Aleka81

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Hi
My horse has recently had an accident that means all feeds must be wet/sloppy mash type, so no nuts, mix etc. sugar beet is a no go as this sends him loopy and while he's on box rest for a month this isn't ideal...,
Was thinking of fast fibre...anyone else got any other ideas?
 
I use equilibra balancer and it's really tiny little pellets, like hundreds and thousands. When I wet the feed it turns into mush. Might work? My horse loves it and does v well on it. She only has that and Alfa oil plus her haylage and grazing ( not much of that in the mud pit!)
 
Calm & Condition is a very small pellet and mushes down very quickly when soaked if you need something a bit "more" than Fast Fibre.
 
Spillers High Fibre Cubes can be soaked with luke warm water for about 15 - 20 mins and they turn into a soft mash. You need about 1.5 parts water to 1 part cubes. You can add a little oil to the mash if you need to up the energy level a little.
 
I assume you mean sugar beet nuts which are molassed [loopiness], you can soak very wet and wash away the molasses to provide fibre, but you then need to add minerals to the diet.
Fast fibre is based on non molassed sugar beet, and for long term, I would get some non molassed chaff [non alfa for box rest] and use this to make feed interesting and keep the gut filled.
You don't say how you are dealing with hay for example....
Watch out for some of these mashes as they are not designed for box rest but for fattening.
I dont think Calm and condition suits all horses, certainly not on box rest.
Dont forget to add a bit of salt.
All nuts can be fed wet, but they are often molassed, and you should avoid anything molassed.
Main thing on box rest is to keep the gut moving, so lots of small feeds spread over 24 hours. I wonder if the forage feed blocks [chopped hay and straw] would work if soaked, they are designed to allow the horse to chew them but if soaked and made up in to a mash would they be useful?
 
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For long term box rest speedi beet and chopped straw with a mineral and vit supp if straw if too fibrous I would use chopped dried grass or chopped Timothy hay .
Fast fibre is just unmolassed sugar beet mixed with fibre and bits and bobs .
Soaked grass nuts would be good.
It does depend on if the horse is fat or slim .
I avoid feeding made up by complaint things like fast fibre I like to see what my horses feed is made up of.
A lot of ready mash products would not be suitable for box rest situations .
Although feeding bran is not popular now if the horse is not young sloppy bran may be a good thing to add to the mix .
I would also feed some linseed .
 
joulsey said:
I'm curious as to know what accident means he has to have wet feed?
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Lol. Good question! Oh and no to calm and condition as it sends him loopy even in full work. He has a broken jaw. He has eaten for ten days normally nuts mix and hay as the broken jaw was undiagnosed by X-ray by my vets. But after a CT scan yesterday at the RVC it was diagnosed so they have suggested wet feeds. They are astounded how well he has eaten with his injuries but want to make his feeds as easy as possible to eat!
 
Aleka81 said:
Lol. Good question! Oh and no to calm and condition as it sends him loopy even in full work. He has a broken jaw. He has eaten for ten days normally nuts mix and hay as the broken jaw was undiagnosed by X-ray by my vets. But after a CT scan yesterday at the RVC it was diagnosed so they have suggested wet feeds. They are astounded how well he has eaten with his injuries but want to make his feeds as easy as possible to eat!
Click to expand...

Poor boy! I would feed fast fibre and micronized linseed, non heating and low in any nasty sugars and should keep condition on him whilst hes on box rest
 
Simple Systems Lucie Nuts or Grass Nuts - I have fed these for a few years now.

You can essentially soak any nut to make into a mash though.
 
Lots of good feeds mentioned above which you might want to look into switching to in any case, but if he's on nuts at the moment personally I'd just soak those.
 
Oh my goodness, poor soul.
I can't add anything but mention what has been written above:

Soaked Blue Bag Grass Pellets from Simple System.
Soaked Spillers High Fibre Nuts - they are only 4.5% sugar.
Speedi beet - You could rinse it a few times and further reduce sugar content.

Most feed "nuts" can be soaked to a nice mash. Avoid conditioning ones, so he doesn't get too porky on this box rest.
What is he like with alfalfa? Simple System's have Lucie Fibre Cubes that can be soaked.

Hope he makes a speedy recovery.
 
HBB said:
Oh my goodness, poor soul.
I can't add anything but mention what has been written above:

Soaked Blue Bag Grass Pellets from Simple System.
Soaked Spillers High Fibre Nuts - they are only 4.5% sugar.
Speedi beet - You could rinse it a few times and further reduce sugar content.

Most feed "nuts" can be soaked to a nice mash. Avoid conditioning ones, so he doesn't get too porky on this box rest.
What is he like with alfalfa? Simple System's have Lucie Fibre Cubes that can be soaked.

Hope he makes a speedy recovery.
Click to expand...

Ended up with rowen barbary ready mash extra to try as he is a poor doer and will see if this doesn't send him over the top.
Have also bought a few other things to try and will see what works best. He's quite bright in himself and only on one bute a day which the RVC were also amazed about and just said to keep him on that!
 
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