Economical feeds

[I'm Dun]

Mine currently gets pink mash, sensi care and a handful of alfa a. He also gets a big bucket of sugar beet and alfa a/grass chaff in winter as well as ad lib hay. Given the rapidly escalating costs I'm going to have a feed rethink. He looks good on his current regime but I suspect would look equally good on just the sugarbeet and alfa a with added linseed. i already mix my own supplement which costs pennies, so will continue with that.

With the anticipated huge rise in the cost of hay I'd rather my money went on that.

Is anyone else looking to change feeds?

 

[Highmileagecob]

My old boy was diagnosed with EMS around ten years ago, and has been managed ok up to this winter, when he developed faecal water syndrome. That forced a rethink of his diet, and he now gets a small bran mash with a handful of Alfa A, Equilibra balancer, plus enough haylage to keep him happy overnight. He recently had a full blood profile done, primarily to check for Cushings, and the only abnormality was that his inflammation markers were sky high. He has gone back on Previcox. He is 27, and is looking very well on his basic diet.
I have had to remove high fibre forage from his diet, so no sugar beet, Fast Forage or Pink Mash, all of which he has had at some point. The faecal water has cleared up, and I am holding my breath in case the Previcox starts it up again.

 

[daydreamer]

Does he have any specific issues? If not then I think most can live on hay plus maybe a vit andmin supplement or balancer. Think about *why* are you feeding what you are at the moment.

 

[dorsetladette]

As we have ad lib hay. I've cut out chaff completely from feeds. I use sugarbeet as a base for all feeds. (cheap sugarbeet nuts are about £9 a bag).

 

[LEC]

I switched to Mole Valley - it’s still NOPS and it’s produced by Mars (Spillers). It works out significantly cheaper.
I don’t mind mine being on leaner side from Feb till they go out 24/7 on grass as long as they have enough energy. It doesn’t look as attractive as a well rounded horse but I mentally justify it that it’s better for insulin.

 

[TPO]

Mine currently gets pink mash, sensi care and a handful of alfa a. He also gets a big bucket of sugar beet and alfa a/grass chaff in winter as well as ad lib hay. Given the rapidly escalating costs I'm going to have a feed rethink. He looks good on his current regime but I suspect would look equally good on just the sugarbeet and alfa a with added linseed. i already mix my own supplement which costs pennies, so will continue with that.

With the anticipated huge rise in the cost of hay I'd rather my money went on that.

Is anyone else looking to change feeds?

Sensicare is a complete feed so adding/also feeding pink mash, beet, alfa and minerals is a lot of money for no reason.

Sensicare isn't cheap so if it's not doing what it should/isn't being fed at the correct levels to do what it should then getting rid of that is a big saving.

When I did a spreadsheet for my feeding seniscare came out the most expensive and there are cheaper ways to feed its ingredients of rice bran, omega oils, fibre and minerals. That was for a 16.3hh standard bred.

The pink Mash and sensicare feeds seems overkill alongside beet/alfa/self mixed minerals. So ditching them saves you straight away.

If you're looking for a complete feed Qllen and page Soothe and Gain ticks the boxes but is cheaper than sensicare. It gets fed as a mash so you are only feeding it and not everything else you've listed. I bung in some salt and a single handful of grass chaff. Its £15 a bag so much cheaper and simpler than the little bit of everything approach

 

[Limit]

I recently changed to Mole Valley, the savings are considerable.£5.00 on a bag of hi fibre nuts, and almost £3.00 on their hi fibre light chaff. My old mare and pony companion not only love it, but also look very well too. I still feed my usual anti lam balancer.

 

[dorsetladette]

My old boy has gone on to spiller supple and senior balancer. It has all the right levels of 'stuff' I was feeding separately and works out cheaper at £32 a month/per bag. I now only add boswelia to his feed. So saving about £60 a month in joint supplements - overall £28 a month on his feed alone.

The baby pony is on youngstock mix (plus sugarbeet) currently, but once his weight is better he'll be going on to the same as Robin, sugarbeet, cheap mix & spiller gro & win balancer.

I was never a fan of balancers but I'm converted.

 

[SEL]

I've got the microcob on pure feed but I think she's going to be out of work for a fair while so will probably get some grass nuts to hide her balancer in. She needs very little but her gut plays up on beet which the other two get.

Supplements are my expensive downfall - PSSM and arthritis ? I do keep an eye out for offers.

 

[[153312]]

Mine currently gets pink mash, sensi care and a handful of alfa a. He also gets a big bucket of sugar beet and alfa a/grass chaff in winter as well as ad lib hay. Given the rapidly escalating costs I'm going to have a feed rethink. He looks good on his current regime but I suspect would look equally good on just the sugarbeet and alfa a with added linseed. i already mix my own supplement which costs pennies, so will continue with that.

With the anticipated huge rise in the cost of hay I'd rather my money went on that.

Is anyone else looking to change feeds?

our tb gets sugar beet, (well speedibeet) alfalfa a oil, and micronised linseed. Think he's a poorer doer than yours and not as good of a hay eater. But he looks good on it.

 

[milliepops]

I'm giving my tb and kwpn sugarbeet, alfa and a spillers balancer, cheap as chips. They both eat lots of haylage and look spot on for the time of year.

 

[[153312]]

I'm giving my tb and kwpn sugarbeet, alfa and a spillers balancer, cheap as chips. They both eat lots of haylage and look spot on for the time of year.

which spillers balancer do you use please? Have always not used them because £££ but feel like probably ought to....??

(I'm Dun not trying to jump on/derail your thread sorry.)

 

[pistolpete]

Not sure many of our horses need all the bucket feeds they get. I remember an old yard owner years ago saying they can compete up to one day eventing on grass and hay. Mine gets nothing in a bucket any more. Maybe I’m neglecting him but he looks and seems happier than ever. Plenty of grass and hay.

 

[Squeak]

our tb gets sugar beet, (well speedibeet) alfalfa a oil, and micronised linseed. Think he's a poorer doer than yours and not as good of a hay eater. But he looks good on it.

I'm giving my tb and kwpn sugarbeet, alfa and a spillers balancer, cheap as chips. They both eat lots of haylage and look spot on for the time of year.

Out of interest how much (scoops wise) are you both feeding?

 

[Surbie]

Supplements are my expensive downfall - PSSM and arthritis ? I do keep an eye out for offers.

I hear you! I spend very little on feed for my cob but forageplus balancers and boswellia really pushes it up.

 

[criso]

I have a very fussy tb prone to drop weight. He likes the Agrobs Musli and Grunhafer and I can sneak some Copra and Linseed in. He's not that keen on Linseed and doesn't like wet feeds so the Copra has to be balanced out with enough chaff so that it's not too wet. Currently stretching this out with Grasstastic which is only £7.99 at my local feed merchants. Tried unbranded oats but he was a bit meh about them as well.

 

[poiuytrewq]

which spillers balancer do you use please? Have always not used them because £££ but feel like probably ought to....??

(I'm Dun not trying to jump on/derail your thread sorry.)

They don’t work out expensive because you are using so little. I used Lean and lite for ages and my old horse and my TB (who didn’t need to loose weight) looked fab on it, really shiny and lovely.

 

[holeymoley]

Always start on the basics- hay. Then build up from there. Most of our 'pet' horses don't require anything else, a substantial amount of hay is fine. By all means a handful of chaff and a vitamin supplement or balancer but a lot of our horses don't need anything extra. My next step up from that would be speedi beet or a linseed mash for a little bit extra. A lot of current feeds are all marketed to attract the eyes of the owner and to make them think their horse needs a breakfast/lunch/dinner etc etc.

As a side note, I'd be wary of cheaper brand feeds. A lot have fillers that are just junk. Likewise with hay/hayalge, cheaper stuff is normally mass produced ryegrass which is not ideal for horses.

 

[chaps89]

I’ve taken a severely underweight pony to spot on over winter, his bucket feed isn’t of my choosing (hifi molasses free, topspec antilam and protexin) but he has had an absolute mountain of (low sugar) hay and some good grass along with being well rugged and it’s been enough.
Similarly in the past, getting an ex-racer fed up, just good grass, grass nuts and linseed.
I suspect we over complicate things if I’m honest, although I appreciate what works for one horse won’t work for another.

 

[paddy555]

my horses between 5/600kg each get 1lb per day sugar beet (dry weight) and 1lb either grass nuts or MVF hi fibre nuts. This is divided into 2 feeds so effectively one 1lb per feed (all soaked) partly because they like it and partly to get their supplement and salt down them. They all get vit E. The ponies get nothing but hay.

Anything on top of that basic is based on a reason. One pony gets sloppy bucket mix with salt to avoid impacted colic, the 35yo gets more because of teeth, the PSSM gets some protein and if it is frozen so water intake impaired they all get large buckets of warm sloppy SB. If someone was working very hard they would get more based on need.
Hay isn't ad lib because I couldn't make that work but they get a lot.

 

[First Frost]

My pure Connie and Connie X TB get speedibeet and a balancer in the winter, with plenty of hay. In Spring, Summer , Autumn they just have grass and a balancer. both compete and look very well.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I had a poor doer 19hh warmblood, I fed him a scoop of grass chaff, a scoop of alfalfa pellets and a cup full of copra twice a day.
Grass Chaff was £10 a bag as it was and lasted easily a month to 6 weeks
Alfalfa Pellets were £10.40 a bag own brand and lasted a 3-5 weeks a bag
The copra was £23.50 a bag but easily lasted 3-4 months.

I thought it was very cost efficient for the calorie input and his size, and it kept him looking lovely.

 

[Birker2020]

Yes I'm going to do away with the Heygates pasture mix that I feed. He doesn't need it as he's on Healthy Hoof which is an 'all in one' type of feed and costs £14 and lasts about three weeks. I buy the Baileys Fibre Plus nuggets for fibre and warmth at about £14 per bag and he is on Acid Ease which is £40.

That's all he needs in my opinion as he's not in work.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I stopped using a balancer last year. Horses have looked fantastic this winter si I won't bother with one again. My 2 are on grass nuts, grass chaff, ad lib hay and the tb gets pink mash in winter. When I think back to my ponies and horses years ago balancers and things were not available. My first pony died at 38, heart failure. My second pony who came from the sales malnourished was put down at 30 due to arthritis. He may have even been older. A tb I had that had raced again died in his 30's of heart failure.

 

[Fransurrey]

Mine only get a feed when the gelding is worked, these days. Pure Easy, 1/2 scoop. Not sure it's worth cutting down more as a bag lasts me about two months as it is!

 

[EmmaC78]

I don't feed much hard feed either, just a handful of chaff and a couple of handfuls of cubes.

 

[Translationsneeded1]

I’ve stopped chaff. They get a tiny bit of fast fibre, their balancer and a handful of nuts. It’s literally a tiny dinner!
shettie gets a couple of pony nuts otherwise she refuses to come in!
They don’t really need anything tbh but it keeps them happy!

 

[Tiddlypom]

I was thinking about this earlier. I suspect that many of us, including me, are making feeding our neds too complicated.

Many of us would be delighted to have a 17yo horse looking as fit and well as this. This was my lovely hand me down mare in c1973, she was 2 years older than me!. We'd owned her, with a break as I was too young to take her on, since she was 5. I don't recall the details, but the vet said she must always be regularly wormed after having a major worm burden before she was imported from Ireland as a 4yo.

Hay, grass, Spillers horse and pony cubes, bran. The odd apple and carrot. Nowt else .

 

[[153312]]

Out of interest how much (scoops wise) are you both feeding?

alfalfa 1 flat stubbs scoop and the 1.5 stubbs scoops of fairly sloppy speedibeet. Linseed is measured out in a cup and he gets equivalent to 100ml (whatever that would be in grams.)
It's a bit imprecise but he looks good on it/it works for us! He's 20 now and still looks good.

 

[I'm Dun]

Does he have any specific issues? If not then I think most can live on hay plus maybe a vit andmin supplement or balancer. Think about *why* are you feeding what you are at the moment.

Because hes a poor doer and would drop weight without feed. He gets truly ad lib beautiful meadow hay. I fill a builders sack of it twice a day. Hes an eating machine! But hay alone isnt enough once theres no grass in winter.