Do you feed the amount it says on the bag?

[vicm2509]

Ive had my horse on soaked oats all winter but im planning to switch him over to an economy mix throughout the summer (like Baileys economy plus or simalar). This will be fed with alfa oil, speedi beet and pink powder.

Before I used soaked oats he was on Topline conditioning mix and I fed the reccomended amount as I wanted to achieve the results it advertises. Now with the economy mix do I need to do the same if he is in good condition before I start using them or can I just put a scoop (or whatever) in his feed? Ive go a few weeks worth of oats left but when he goes out 24/7 next weekend I plan to gradually change him over as the spring grass plus the oats does not seem to be working too well.

 

[TGM]

You have to bear in mind that if you use a 'complete' supplemented feed, such as most mixes and cubes, then if you do not feed the recommended amount, then the horse will not be receiving the full amount of vit/mins. You can counter this by feeding a broad spectrum vit/min supplement pro rata - ie if you are feeding half the recommended amount of mix, then feed a half dose of vit/min supplement.

 

[samp]

I put my hands up I do not feed the recommended amount as it is not the only feed she has

 

[vicm2509]

He has pink powder

 

[Paint it Lucky]

I never feed the ammount stated on the bag as in my oppinion it is almost always far too high. Most feed bags seem to want you to feed at least two scoops a day to a horse in light work and around 4 for one in medium, surely any horse on this much feed would be overweight and a nutter! Even when my horse was in full work (3 intense hrs per day) last summer he only got 3 kg per day of comp mix and did fine off it even though he is a naturally lazy horse, he was never underweight or lacking energy, in fact he looked great. My current horse hardly gets any hard feed at all and he is perfectly healthy, rode him for 2 and a half hours yesterday and he still had plenty of energy at the end. Especially now the spring grass has come through there is no need to feed as much as feed companies say unless your horse is a seriously poor doer. It worries me that people may try to shove all this food into only two feeds a day, and it is bad for horses to eat more than 2 and a half kg of hard feed at a time (it can't fit in their stimach so spills out and can cause colic). Horses aren't meant to eat many cereals anyway.

If you are feeding your horse alfalfa and sugarbeet these are both good sources of vitamins and minerals, combined with grass he shouldn't need any supplementation. I see no problem with feeding below the recommended amount of his new feed, experiment to see how much he needs, build it up gradually (as you should always start with a small amount when introduing a new feed and gradually increase over two weeks so your horse has time to adapt to it), when you feel he has plenty of energy and isn't dropping condition then there is no need to increase it further even if you are well below the manufacturers guidelines. If he starts to loose weight/energy later then you can always increase the feed a bit.

 

[TGM]

[ QUOTE ]
He has pink powder

[/ QUOTE ] In that case do you need to feed a supplemented feed? If he is going onto good grazing you may find that the Alfa A Oil and Speedibeet may be enough for him.

If you don't think he will hold condition on that alone, then what about something like Top Spec's Cool Condition Cubes or Conditioning Flakes? These are not supplemented as they are designed to be fed alongside a balancer.

 

[showjump2003]

Might make me a bad ownerbut I just make it up! Just feed an amount I feel is right.

 

[Chex]

I never feed the reccomended amount - he just doesn't need it. He gets a vit&min supplement so he not lacking in anything. If I was feeding for weight gain etc, then I would feed the recommend amount.

 

[ru-fi-do]

If i was to feed the correct amount as per the bag of a feed bag my girl would have a bucketfull of mix(she weighs 730kg). I have now put her on Topspec leisuretime, Speedi beet and HiFi Lite this way I know she is getting everything she needs in a more fibre form.

 

[KatB]

Nope, mine gets topspec, the rest of his feed is done purely on condition/energy levels.

 

[MagicMelon]

I dont feed the recommended levels but only because my horse wont eat that much! He's on a conditioning cube which he should be getting 3 scoops of minimum daily but it's hard enough to get him to eat just 1 scoop twice a day! Especially as I have to add other tasty things to it to keep his interest. I do however feed an all round supplement (includes B vitamins) since Im not feeding the right amount.

 

[LeneHorse]

Mine would eat the whole bag at one sitting given half the chance! Must admit I'm with showjump2003 on this one, i know people who just about weigh every pony nut which is a bit OTT!

 

[RachelB]

I use the recommended amount as a maximum, so when my horse is in light work I only feed about half a scoop of nuts even though I "should" be feeding two, as this is what I feel is right at the time (I make it up a bit). Mine is also on Pink Powder though so I have no worried that she isn't getting all the vits and mins she needs, and she looks so much better on PP (even though she's dropped off being on box rest, I'm sure it's helped her not look so run-down and she actually looks healthier). When she is in full work, if I ever reach the point where I feel she needs the recommended amount of nuts I will ditch the yea-sacc as my nuts are a balanced feed when fed at recommended levels.