Disguising supplements in restricted diets

MiniMilton

MiniMilton

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I have 2 lami prone ponies. They are on diets always. They are also fussy and don't like supplements. I feed them progressive earth pro hoof mixed in with speedie beet. This is the only way I can get them to eat it. And it needs to be quite a bit of speedie beet to disguise the taste of the pro hoof. Any better suggestions for me?
they are not fans of chaff type feeds. I've tried top chop lite which they will tolerate on its own if they are hungry, but not anything added.

I want to avoid cereals and molasses etc where possible
 
Simple systems lucie hifibre nuts, they can be melted to be like speedibeet. But they sometimes need to have something tasty added to it at the start cause its a little bitter.
 
I use half a mugful of soaked Spillers hi fibre cubes, and mix in the pro hoof, 15 ml of salt and 100 ml of micronised linseed. All my 3 lick their bowls clean.

(I presoak the hi fibre cubes in a little cold water 12 hours before, they bulk up into a crumbly mash)
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm in Ireland so I don't have the full range if feeds available to me. I don't think I can get Simple Systems here.

What are the ingredients in spillers High fibre? I can't see them listed on website. Does it have molasses or cereals?
Thanks
 
I had a cushings lami horse. He (and all my others) adored baileys high fibre/fibre plus nuggets. Usually would eat supplements in chaff so long as nuggets in feed but for really yucky stuff used to soak the nuggets to make a kind of mash and could get anything down him like that :). Yet to meet a horse that doesn't love them and low cal/ low sugar kind of forage replacement in nugget form. Worth googling :). Mine still have them in their feeds over a year after we lost our cushings boy because they love them so much, and they are perfect as cheap treats/ in a treat ball :). Worth a google! Ps sounds similar to above Spillers version.
 
I googled them, they have molasses added :(
Not sure if I would be better sticking with speedie beet which is unmolassed. They do love speedie beet, I'm just looking for a healthier option
 
Fast fibre? Its suitable for laminitics (have one myself!) she gets that and a handful of basic pony nuts thrown in. She always licks the bowl clean and has daily supplements (milk thistle) when she needed bute/danilon i did have to add a splash of apple juice but they were quite big amounts in a small feed so must have overpowered it a bit. :)
 
PHP:
equi said:
what part of ireland? i know a few ss distributors or i can find you one
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I'm in Dublin. I would absolutely get simple systems if I could get my hands on it. I thought I read in a few places that it wasn't available here. I just popped off an email to them looking for suppliers. If you know of one please tell!

I don't use too much food so if I had to get a pallet of food delivered it would probably go off before I got to use it all.
 
Thanks for the replies. They are on a track system for 8 months of the year with straw/hay mix, then in the field from dec-march. I feed speedie beet, pro hoof, salt, and a tiny bit of top spec anti lam sprinkled on top. I add one carrot just to make them easy to catch (catching horses with a toddler can be tricky! And I'll soon be adding a baby into the mix)

They do eat all their feed provided the speedie beet ratio is quite high. Neither are in work at the moment. One will be coming back into work in the summer. His shoes have recently been taken off so I'm hoping to master the whole barefoot thing by then. I want to get their diets right and the more I read the more confused I get!
 
RE the simple systems - most of their products are alfalfa based - which is what the dengie pellets are I recommended - in the break down of each there was less iron content in the dengie which is why I went for them as my land is v high in iron - not to mention the fact its a 1/3 of the price!!!
 
If they are happy on Speedibeet then stick with it.

Many horses do just fine on it and as it's easily fermented fibre I think it's a fine choice.

I feed it to my own fatty when he comes in for a visit.
 
I use Speedibeet and Spillers Hi Fibre cubes soaked (together) and then Pro Earth added with micronized linseed. Speedibeet alone wasn't enough but all was fine once I added the soaked Hi Fibres cubes. A mug of each.
 
I mix Pro Hoof in with a handful of Fast Fibre and soak for a couple of mins for my fattie. Always licks bowl clean :-)
 
Oberon said:
If they are happy on Speedibeet then stick with it.

Many horses do just fine on it and as it's easily fermented fibre I think it's a fine choice.

I feed it to my own fatty when he comes in for a visit.
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They do love their speedie beet. I've just read a few heated debates about how beet pulp is evil etc so I have started to question my choices. Feed choices were so much easier 20 years ago when I didn't have a clue! Still fairly clueless in the whole subject
 
Have you weighed your Speedibeet dry? you may not feeding as much as you think as once you soak it it bulks up and looks alot but is mainly water.

What was the basis for suggesting unmolassed beet was bad?

If they really could do with less food, you could try and reduce the amount but very slowly and sneakily so they don't notice.
 
criso said:
What was the basis for suggesting unmolassed beet was bad?
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Not really sure, the debates on facebook went a little hysterical and I zoned out. Some claiming beetpulp made loads of horses colic even if it was prepared correctly, others stating that it is a waste product and full of bad stuff.
 
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