Does anyone just feed one type of feed?

Spyda

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A lot of posts on here seem to suggest that many people feed lots of different things; a bit of this, a bit of that, etc.

Does anyone just feed one sort of manufactured feed, on its own? For example, my mare's been getting 3.5kg Spiller's Conditioning Cubes this winter and nothing else except hay/grazing. She's looking really well and her behaviour has been better this year. I'm now switching her over the Spiller's H&P cubes and plan to keep her on just those until the good grass comes in. Am I the only one following the manufacturer's suggestion of one feed fed at a certain level?
 

Irishbabygirl

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Don't think there is anything wrong with that! I just find by adding in beet and/or chaff/Alfalfa it makes the complete feed last longer!
 

Paint Me Proud

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Chico only has chestnut Horse Feeds Alpha Easy and hay. Vet actually commented on what fabulous condition he was in for winter, especially as he is undergoing aggressive sarcoid treatment too.
 

Cocorules

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All of mine currently get just spillers hi fibre cubes. 1 needs it and gets full amount. Other 2 do not but get tiny amount as they all share a field and it stops them looking longingly at her bucket. I plan to get grass analysed as finally got own land and may change to more targeted feeding then.
 

Zimzim

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Yep, mine just have Spillers Original Balancer. Haylage where I am is good quality and so is the grazing, so its just to ensure theyre getting all the right vits and minerals etc. Both good doers considering ones an arab and the other a TB X.
 
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Spyda

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Don't think there is anything wrong with that! I just find by adding in beet and/or chaff/Alfalfa it makes the complete feed last longer!

Sure, but I more meant people who feed a lot less than the recommended amount for the feed they've chosen because they're also feeding other things alongside it like Alfalfa, chaff, beet or something else to bulk the calorie level up. Wouldn't it be easier to choose the correct hard food and feed that at the recommended amount? Just a thought! :D

Mst admit, I've been terrible in the past for mixing my own rations but must admit, it sure is easier having just the one feed bin these days - instead of the 5 I used to have hogging the feed room and p'ing the rest of the DIY'ers off!!! ;)
 

asbo

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big lad no, little lady yes, she gets a small handful of alpha a oil for her supps to go in with a tiny bit of big lads sugarbeet water.
 

TGM

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Sort of! Daughter's horse is on ERS Pellets and OH's horse is on conditioning cubes, but I do mix both with a small amount of soaked grass nuts to make a good base for adding electrolytes etc.

But I do get your point because I do see some strange rations described on here sometimes! I can understand if people are feeding straights and are mixing a variety of things to get a balanced diet, but I can't really understand why people mix so many 'complete feeds'.

For example, you will see people feeding something like half a scoop of cool mix, half a scoop of fibre nuts and half a scoop of conditioning cubes! If you want to put some condition on, then why not just feed conditioning cubes and add a little chaff or beet to mix if necessary?
 

GinaGeo

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All of mine get fed the Spillers Lite balancer along with HiFi Lite (to slow down the greedy pig ponies). Although mum's, a poorer doer than the others get soaked grass nuts also, for a few more calories. It's easier to just order the Lite balancer in and feed grass nuts than order in two different balancers.
 

NOISYGIRL

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Mine is 33 and was on alfalfa for his blood as directed by vet, he then decided he didn't like it anymore, he only wanted spillers high fibre cubes, after conducting a taste test session lol, so recently has just been having them, I've been going through 2 bags a week and can't afford that long term, I would if I had to, but I thought I'd try him with a bit of speedibeet, which he used to eat and went off it, and he ate it so I will be giving less cubes and some speedibeet
 

Spyda

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But I do get your point because I do see some strange rations described on here sometimes! I can understand if people are feeding straights and are mixing a variety of things to get a balanced diet, but I can't really understand why people mix so many 'complete feeds'.

For example, you will see people feeding something like half a scoop of cool mix, half a scoop of fibre nuts and half a scoop of conditioning cubes! If you want to put some condition on, then why not just feed conditioning cubes and add a little chaff or beet to mix if necessary?

Yes this is what I was getting at. :)
 

diamondrockharvey

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I just feed 500g of Spillers Lite Balancer with one tablespoon of rock salt and my boy does great on that and hay!

I do add magnesium if needed as he is barefoot but he is not on any at the moment!
 

alphanumeric

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Yes. We have several different types of feed in our shed (off the top of my head: 2 x mixes, 2 x nuts, 1 x "good doer" and 1 x "sensitive soul" feed) but I cannot think of a single horse on the yard of 30 show horses that gets 2 different types of feed. Some may have chaff as a bulker along with their rations, but definitely only one sort of complete feed.
 

Bernster

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I know the feeling! We have such a massive selection of feeds and supplements at our yard. I am a bit guilty though in terms of the supps - my boy gets hifi lite, baileys lo-cal balancer and NAF hoof supplement, plus grazing and hay/haylage. Balancer gave him a lovely coat and the extra hoof stuff has improved his feet. No idea if this is the right stuff for him but he's doing very well on it!
 
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