Carrots&Mints
Well-Known Member
Definitly overcomplicate feeds. My section d is on ab lib haylage, sugar beet, baileys no 19 and top chop zero. He also has a supplement to try and get rid of his god awful sarcoids
Do we over complicate our horses feeds?
- Thread starter SWE
- Start date
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Dupe
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
I'm jealous!
My iron and manganese come through in the water so there's nothing I can do about them but I have drastically reduced the magnesium I've been feeding (big doses of magnesium being part of the barefoot mantra) and I've noticed no difference at all except that their pee is less cloudy.
Interestingly, my greedy cob stops eating his feed in winter, so I decided that he is telling me that when he is eating mostly bought in haylage he doesn't need the minerals. I have halved them, and hey presto he is cleaning up. All summer he will eat his minerals fine. He stops about mid December and starts again in February. I ought to have listened to him before, a cob doesn't stop eating for no reason!
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MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
I have two breeds now that are designed to live off 'poor' grazing and thats what they have-they have a good variety of plants to browse all year and its interesting watching what they go for and when. Also breeds with amazing feet although I have to say, never seen feet as good as my Fell's and they are apparently known for it. It wasnt so easy keeping them off the East coast with all that richer soil.
I didnt find it easy stopping all bucket feed-you are made to feel like you should be giving them this/that/other. But mine dont work hard, their waistlines do not need it and they should have everything they need with the grazing they have. I do give them carrots, apples and pears
ycbm
Einstein would be proud of my Insanity...
Like you I'm very lucky with having hill grazing. Lush grass is just a nightmare!
I feed the minimum calories in bran and chaff to get them to swallow copper and zinc sulphate which clearly taste disgusting !
I feed the minimum calories in bran and chaff to get them to swallow copper and zinc sulphate which clearly taste disgusting !
ester
Not slacking multitasking
Alright you two you can stop showing off now
anyone want an unruly welsh cob, apparently Mummy ester has genuinely given up trying to ride him currently!
I did take F off magnesium october 2016 when I stripped right back, in April/May 2017 he was cresty despite strip grazing and he went back on it and his neck went back to normal. (If you ignore the fact that it came back about November 2017, while still on it )
anyone want an unruly welsh cob
, apparently Mummy ester has genuinely given up trying to ride him currently! I did take F off magnesium october 2016 when I stripped right back, in April/May 2017 he was cresty despite strip grazing and he went back on it and his neck went back to normal. (If you ignore the fact that it came back about November 2017, while still on it
)
Ambers Echo
Still wittering on
I never fed my Fell pony or my Welshie
But Amber (ISH) was poor and thin when she came to me and Ginny (Connemara) was poor, girthy, run down and eating mud!
Amber was immediately put on adlib haylage/grass but stayed thin so she started on various high cal bucket feeds till she was looking good and is now maintained on speedibeet, linseed and Ease N Excel. She may not need it all but she looks FANTASTIC on it. So if it 'aint broke.....
Ginny is on pink mash, alfa A and a balancer. She's transformed healthwise from 'not quite right' in lots of different ways to vibrant and healthy. No longer girthy. She was not underweight but was definitely under-nourished. So she's keeping her bucket feed too.
And I feed Max as he drops weight rapidly without bucket food. He's a TBx
All get plenty of turnout on 4 acres of grass all to themselves and ad lib haylage in the winter. All are the correct weight and all are worked 5-6 times a week.
I'd love to not feed but with my current herd that does not seem a realistic option if I want them to stay fit & healthy.
Though now that they ARE fit and healthy I wonder if I could keep them that way with less hard feed....
But Amber (ISH) was poor and thin when she came to me and Ginny (Connemara) was poor, girthy, run down and eating mud!
Amber was immediately put on adlib haylage/grass but stayed thin so she started on various high cal bucket feeds till she was looking good and is now maintained on speedibeet, linseed and Ease N Excel. She may not need it all but she looks FANTASTIC on it. So if it 'aint broke.....
Ginny is on pink mash, alfa A and a balancer. She's transformed healthwise from 'not quite right' in lots of different ways to vibrant and healthy. No longer girthy. She was not underweight but was definitely under-nourished. So she's keeping her bucket feed too.
And I feed Max as he drops weight rapidly without bucket food. He's a TBx
All get plenty of turnout on 4 acres of grass all to themselves and ad lib haylage in the winter. All are the correct weight and all are worked 5-6 times a week.
I'd love to not feed but with my current herd that does not seem a realistic option if I want them to stay fit & healthy.
Though now that they ARE fit and healthy I wonder if I could keep them that way with less hard feed....
Mule
Well-Known Member
That's interesting. When I had a vet look at my horse for headshaking one of the first things he asked was was whether I was giving him supplements.
1life
...
Yes! Well said
We've got a Native at the moment and he has some Happy Hoof, basically to mix his balancer into! Our old eventer now has high fibre mash and some mix.
Much easier when your away for people to look after them too!!!!!
We've got a Native at the moment and he has some Happy Hoof, basically to mix his balancer into! Our old eventer now has high fibre mash and some mix.
Much easier when your away for people to look after them too!!!!!
PoppyAnderson
Well-Known Member
I also only feed Agrobs and Thunderbrooks oh and pink mash. Literally every other feed on the market has molasses/filler/alfalfa in it.
ihatework
Well-Known Member
It surprises me, given how particular you are, that you feed GM soya. Just saying ....
Translationsneeded
Well-Known Member
I’m happy to see others don’t feed any bucket feed at all. I always feel mean and people are always judgemental when I say I don’t give them anything but hay and a salt lick.
They are both good doers and are in light work.
It’s saved me a fortune this year!
They are both good doers and are in light work.
It’s saved me a fortune this year!
supsup
Well-Known Member
Simply not true. Dengie's new meadow grass pellets and chaff are just grass. Some of Halley's chops are just grass. Emerald Green also does plain grass products. I think you are still falling for the marketing if you choose your brand based on the image they try to project ("wholesome", "natural" etc.) rather than look at the actual products and consider cost, convenience (what's easily available at your local feed store?) and, in my case, how far the feed has travelled around the world.
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
HBB
Well-Known Member
I'm surprised too, You'd think GM soya would be on the "rubbish" list :wink3:
DabDab
Ah mud, splendid
Absolutely!
I like emerald too, and much prefer it to thunderbrooks, plus its not so extortionately priced.
And I manage to feed mine without buying and brand at all...
little_critter
Well-Known Member
I feed Northern Crop Driers Graze-On, also just dried grass. Although I think I prefer the Dengie Meadow Grass chaff and will go back to that.
ester
Not slacking multitasking
see I am quite particular (well and the horse is which doesn't help), I wouldn't be a huge soya fan if I had the choice of it or linseed but the fact that it is GM doesn't bother me one jot.
I have noticed that emerald green have brought a new low cal/low sugar grass which is great news as it seems reasonably priced too.
I have noticed that emerald green have brought a new low cal/low sugar grass which is great news as it seems reasonably priced too.
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
Mine weren't huge fans of the grass in graze-on but they love the EG and I like having pellets because they take up less storage space (and for me work out cheaper, at £10/20kg bag )
Might try the new meadow pellets if I can get hold of them.
little_critter
Well-Known Member
I agree the Graze-On is a bit like feeding pine needles! But the horses don't seem to mind.
I'm looking for chaff rather than pellets as I already feed speedi-beet so want some texture to make the feed less like slop.
Cortez
Tough but Fair
If all those feeds are "just grass", why not just feed hay (which is "just grass")......this is confusing me so please enlighten!
milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
personally I want something that will carry salt and linseed to the young horse, and something that the older horse can either eat fairly quickly before I ride, or I can mix her oats in with it later.
Plus they enjoy getting a bucket in the morning while I muck out... anything in a bucket is apparently better than an armful of hay and the dried grass must be quite tasty this time of year when the stuff growing in the field is somewhat pathetic. When a big bag costs a tenner and lasts for ages I don't mind. In addition the pellets go nicely in a treat ball that's a handy distraction sometimes.
little_critter
Well-Known Member
I feed is as a chaff to prevent the feed just being a slop of speedibeet and balancer (yes, sorry, I feed a balancer).
I don't want to feed molasses covered chaff and just plain straw chaff is rejected by my horses, so the next best choice is grass chaff.
If I had a shredder I might make my own from a bale of hay, I just buy a pre-made bag out of convenience.
ihatework
Well-Known Member
I generally ride mine from the stable first thing in the morning. It’s been shown that fibre in their bellies can help prevent ulceration. My current one isn’t much of a hay/haylage eater, can barely get him to eat half a regular net overnight, therefore he gets a load of grass chaff first thing before I ride.
Makes me feel better I guess.
This is on top of hard feed, which he is getting quite a lot of too!
Cortez
Tough but Fair
Sorry, still not getting it.....I don't put anything in a bucket, they seem to live happy lives without There are salt licks available, hay and the odd carrot. They all look well, if they didn't I would feed something extra, but that hasn't been necessary in the last 15 or so years.
Several years ago when I was dealing with some rescues we did feed some bucket stuff of course, and when I had broodmares and youngstock, but even then it wasn't as much or as many different things as people seem to feed nowadays. The competition horses got a small formulated feed or oats, nothing like the complexity people are listing here and on all the other feed-y threads.
There are salt licks available, hay and the odd carrot. They all look well, if they didn't I would feed something extra, but that hasn't been necessary in the last 15 or so years.Several years ago when I was dealing with some rescues we did feed some bucket stuff of course, and when I had broodmares and youngstock, but even then it wasn't as much or as many different things as people seem to feed nowadays. The competition horses got a small formulated feed or oats, nothing like the complexity people are listing here and on all the other feed-y threads.
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ester
Not slacking multitasking
Most of them have a much higher energy content than hay, and quite frankly I couldn't be bothered to chop hay up to feed supplements with and he wouldn't eat it then anyway, but then he is odd and doesn't find oats interesting on their own either.
We are now on hay+herbs mush as the teeth are failing.
I'm going off him IHW he is sounding as expensive to keep as the current one
It's great that you obviously have access to good hay that supplies everything they need Cortez, not everyone does. I don't feed anything that I haven't either seen make an observable difference, or improved a blood test.
We are now on hay+herbs mush as the teeth are failing.
I'm going off him IHW he is sounding as expensive to keep as the current one
It's great that you obviously have access to good hay that supplies everything they need Cortez, not everyone does. I don't feed anything that I haven't either seen make an observable difference, or improved a blood test.
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Cortez
Tough but Fair
"It's great that you obviously have access to good hay that supplies everything they need Cortez, not everyone does."
Yes, I suppose so, but do people try feeding hay first and then add stuff if that's not working? Or do they just whang in the bagged stuff because that's what you do, I wonder? I note that some people are saying it makes them feel good to feed. I also note the sheer number of posts about horses being spooky, hot, napping or otherwise difficult, or lack of TO/exercise and usually think "How much hard feed is it getting?". Sounds like the answer is "Lots".
Yes, I suppose so, but do people try feeding hay first and then add stuff if that's not working? Or do they just whang in the bagged stuff because that's what you do, I wonder? I note that some people are saying it makes them feel good to feed. I also note the sheer number of posts about horses being spooky, hot, napping or otherwise difficult, or lack of TO/exercise and usually think "How much hard feed is it getting?". Sounds like the answer is "Lots".
Leo Walker
Well-Known Member
I really, really rate Pink Mash. The GM doesnt bother me either. I wouldnt feed soya oil, but its soya hulls which seems to be better tolerated. Mine doesnt need it anymore now, and as hes so reactive to almost every food, I took him off it just to see and so far havent needed to put him back on it. At the end of the day, its a specialist food which fills a niche market. If I ever had a horse with hindgut issues again or ulcers it would be my absolute first choice. Its also an amazing supplement carrier, 0.5% sugar, less than 3% starch and a tiny bit soaks to be quite a lot.
ihatework
Well-Known Member
Well you need to do what works for you Cortez, and I’ll do what works for me.
Mine has grass during the day and a choice of ad-lib hay and haylage overnight.
He has 3 bucket feeds of a chaff (just switched to Alfa from grass), nuts and omega rice. Worked 5 days a week + walker. Is 17hh of 5 months backed welsh D x TB and is pretty damn well behaved. You can see his rib outline to boot!
PS Ester - yes he isn’t that cheap to feed at the moment, should be better once he has stopped growing - should end up an oats & Alfa kind of guy I reckon
Mine has grass during the day and a choice of ad-lib hay and haylage overnight.
He has 3 bucket feeds of a chaff (just switched to Alfa from grass), nuts and omega rice. Worked 5 days a week + walker. Is 17hh of 5 months backed welsh D x TB and is pretty damn well behaved. You can see his rib outline to boot!
PS Ester - yes he isn’t that cheap to feed at the moment, should be better once he has stopped growing - should end up an oats & Alfa kind of guy I reckon
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milliepops
Wears headscarf aggressively
hehe also joining the "you do your thing and I'll do mine" corner.
Yes it's nice to give them a bucket - mine whicker for their breakfast, such that it is and as a human with human emotions, it's nice to respond with something the horses like at that point. It does no harm. Plus points: it keeps them still while I muck out around them, and the one that gets ridden in the morning has lined their tum with something.
Mine have ad lib hay but I don't know at what point they stop eating it in the morning so I like to know there's something *in the stomach* before I ask them to work.
I have 2 very cheerful horses - are they getting lots of hard feed? Nope. The advanced one has some oats on her working days. It's in my interests to keep the young one quiet at the mo. They are just chirpy characters.
I never got mine to use salt licks so they either go soggy in a bucket or corrode the stables if I hang them up. The ONE thing that nutritionists etc seem to agree on is adding salt to a working horse's ration, so I will continue to do that.
The retired ones get grazing all the time, a bit of hay when there's snow on the ground and the cheapest pony nuts when I'm there so they will park in one place for long enough for me to check them all over. Simple