Does this sound ok to you? Feeding advice please.

[rose bud]

Hi,
I just wanted peoples opinions/advice on my mares feeding please.
She is a 14.2hh cob mare who is a good doer. She is a good weight at the moment. She lives out and is currently not working, but will only be hacking lightly when i do ride her.
At the moment she is having half a scoop (a bowl scoop) of fast fibre (half a scoop when dry) of fast fibre with naf general purpose vits and mins in the morning and a one slice of hay in a net at night.
Does this seem ok to you, or how would you change it?
Many thanks in advance!

 

[Mince Pie]

If she is a good weight and not losing any then yes this is fine, if she starts dropping weight when you start working her then I would up the hay first and then the hard feed

My cob is a good weight, he is out in the day on very little grazing, has 6kg of haylage (not great, more like wrapped hay!) at night and half a scoop of readigrass and a handful of nuts twice a day as a token feed when i feed my TB, he is worked about 3 times a week at the moment.

 

[AngieandBen]

Its seems ok, but why half a scoop of FF? if you're feeding a general vit and mineral, then I would save your money and only give a handful!

 

[Mince Pie]

Its seems ok, but why half a scoop of FF? if you're feeding a general vit and mineral, then I would save your money and only give a handful!

OP said dry weight so would be about a scoop soaked.

 

[AngieandBen]

OP said dry weight so would be about a scoop soaked.

Yes? thats my point! why feed so much when you are adding a vitamin and mineral supplement

 

[Mince Pie]

I'm confused? Fast fibre is a feed not a balancer and often used as a hay replacer. Plus at the size and weight of her cob (and I'm guessing the weight of her cob is around 500kg) she wouldn't be feeding the recommended amount so wouldn't be getting the full vits/mins from the feed hence the extra supplement? Whilst OP's cob is out 247 there is usually* not much goodness in the grass at this time of year hence the scoop of FF and the slice of hay.




*although the weather is all over the place at the moment so the grass may well be growing again!!

 

[TigerTail]

Aside from watching her weight v closely as the grass starts coming through so she doesnt start spring too fat (im having this battle with my mare currently!) I would lose the Naf stuff, tis complete crap if you read the ingredients label or see here. Complete waste of money, you can buy the active ingredients far cheaper with brewers yeast and magnesium.

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=498898

Horses dont need added vitamins, tis only that the pasture in the uk is often lacking in minerals which need balancing. If you cant get your forage analysed then I recommend Pro Hoof, which you can find on ebay as the only extra it has is wheatfeed, 6% of the total product, so that it would fit in the scoop sizes they can buy. It has the highest levels of biotin and other active ingredients. (i dont work for them im just passionate about the amount of crap in most commercial 'balancers' et al)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-HOOF-...r_Equipment&hash=item415ecd69e0#ht_3717wt_160

compare the ingredients list on that to what you're currently feeding

 

[AngieandBen]

Agreed, unless you know what they are lacking, whats the point in feeding a multi vitamin and mineral. Plus if she's a good doer then you don't need to feed so much Fast Fibre, With the mild weather we are having, the grass will still be growing.

I don't understand the need to feed a good doer hay either if they are out 24/7 unless there is no grass at all; my three are out 24/7 unrugged and not given anything but a handfull of FF with magnesium/copper and linseed

 

[rose bud]

Thankyou for the replies so far, and for the advice about the supplements!
I was feeding the ff and hay as the grass has got pretty low now and she has started finishing her haynet (before she was leaving it) so i thought she was getting hungrier?

 

[starbar]

If she's a good weight and seems OK then leave her be. If it ain't broke don't fix it! Just keep an eye on the grass in the field if she lives out. If it starts to get a bit bare or muddy you might want to give her a bit more hay

ETA - should have read your post above before I posted this!