can his feed be simplified or cheaper?

curio

curio

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hi my feed for one 15hh 586kg cob (weighed at vets) is getting complicated so any help would be appreciated
he has an itch problem, with raised liver enzymes so needs to be on low oil and protein, allergy tests have been done with no feed sensitivities.
he is also getting a bit arthritc and has prednidale daily to manage the itch without this he will rip himself raw with his teeth, his weight is about right
current feed is adlib wet hay
1 stubbs hi fi lite
1 mug speedibeet so supps etc mix well
1mug d&h pasture mix increases according to workload / condition
that is his base feed twice a day to which is added
1 scoop milkthistle am & pm
50g micronised linseed am&pm
2 scoops global herbs restore am&pm
1 scoop equimins flexijoint am &pm

40ml devils claw am

30 prednidale pm
1 scoop forage plus winter balancer pm

any ideas much appreciated as seems to be getting complicated and dont want to waste my money if theres better out there for him vet wants him to stay permanantly on the restore and milk thistle
thank you
 
How does he keep his weight? How much work is he in? I would personally ditch the pasture mix and the linseed. If he's a stereotypical cob Weight-wise then come the spring the sugar beet would go too.
 
he used to be a very easy keeper but now at nearly 20yrs isnt so easy
he at the moment is in very light hacking due to lameness issues
and he cannot be turned out 24/7 in summer as more than an hour on grass makes him more itchy and his wee turn really stinky and dark so has hay all year with minimal grass :(
the linseed is to try and stop the scurfiness of his coat :(
 
I would ditch the pasture mix and possibly hi fi too and replace with soaked high fibre nuts but keep the linseed to help with the skin and mobility. One of my oldies had a liver problem and the itching drove him mad - has the vet ruled out liver fluke?
 
Linseed will have a high oil content, but then I guess the amount you feed won't be doing any harm.

I'd def get rid of the Hifi it's not doing anything for him. You could look at pure feeds they are good and Come in a variety of types for different workloads, or possibly what I'd be tempted to try, either el cheapo pony nuts (Pegasus etc, not hi fibre nuts) or grass nuts. Both soakable to get sups in
 
The only diet that my pony with liver issues could have that wasn't just fast fibre (he wouldn't eat it) was full Molland sugar beet and maize, the lowest in protein in oil, but high In fibre and sugar/starch so you still get the calories.
I would personally put him on a straight fibre diet, like fast fibre, which would help the itching and the liver.
I have a little mare that gets horrifically itchy if she gets warm, at coat change or if she has any description of molasses in her diet xx
 
You could swap the flex & Devils claw to premier flex ha plus which already has both ingredients. It also has omega 3 oil in it so might save you adding the linseed? Agree about the pasture mix, I'd contact Allen & page to see what else in the range is suitable if you think your horse needs something more than FF. They are very helpful
 
I'd feed him a chaff that didnt have alfa a in as that can cause or contribute to itches. I'd want a very, very low if not no sugar diet, as that can also make itching worse. I'd feed oats if he needed condition. And I'd be adding a big dose of brewers yeast and 40gms of salt :)
 
Doesn't hifi have alfalfa? I'd cut that out, had to take my pony off it this year as it made him itch.

Also for my 20 yr old horse I have tried all the devils claw/buteless supplements and the only thing that helped his arthritis was glucosamine and as much turnout as possible. Also the vet gave me some danilon to give him as and when he needs it, which is usually just sometimes over winter when he's stabled more.

Also some of the veteran feeds have supplements/extra in them and are made to be easier to digest for the older horse which would be better than the pasture mix.
 
FrankieCob said:
I'd feed him a chaff that didnt have alfa a in as that can cause or contribute to itches. I'd want a very, very low if not no sugar diet, as that can also make itching worse. I'd feed oats if he needed condition. And I'd be adding a big dose of brewers yeast and 40gms of salt :)
Click to expand...

This is what I feed my itchy pony and he also has sugar beet (the original stuff rinsed clean which I get from my local countrywide as I am too tight to buy speedibeet) and a small amount of a good balancer

I tried A&P Sugar and Ceral Intolerance mix which the pony looked well on but he was still itching and I was surprised to find out it contained alfalfa, it could be useful if a horse wasn't sensitive to alfalfa though
 
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