Ethel has had her shoesies taken off, now feed ideas..

Hi I am a trained barefoot trimmer and have degree in animal science (which.incs horse nutrition). Have rescued a few TB's that needed feeding up too (kept them barefoot too) !!Keep diet as simple as poss. U can always add something if u r lacking then without complicating things too much. Tge secret is high fibre and oil, low sugar and starch. If using comercisl feeds, espcislky mixes are around 30% starch. Ideally u should b looking for no.more than around 10% starch. Amounts if feed depend on work u r doing, size of horse and how well they keep weight but I would recommend the following as a starting point:
A quality fibre base such as hi fi or alfa a oil.
A balancer or vit/min supliment.
For weight gain bailys outshine (high oil that is balanced with vit e etc and pelleted so no mess!)
U can add a nut such as high fibre or D&H Ers pellets (great for higher energy requirements)
An unmollased sugar beat such as quick beat or equibeat (can have LOADS of this!!)
And if foot sore mag ox or cal mag (can buy off eBay).
Hope this helps.
Xx
 
Ps please make any changes to ur horses gradually over a min of 7-10 day, or it could upset their stomach!! That will also so likely show up in his feet 6-9 months later as bruising as it grows out!!
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
Also wouldn't advise barely REALLY high in starch!! X
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That is barley, a cereal, so really not a good base for the diet, I don't know why this was even considered, it is not a feed I would ever use except as a last resort to fatten up skinny old horses.
Ad lib [more or less] hay
Quick beet: fibre and protein, low sugar
Micronised linseed meal, B vitamins and oil
Minerals to balance the forage
Regular exercise including road work.
 
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Santa Paws said:
It contains too much potassium and not enough calcium and the potassium also latches onto the receptors for calcium that you might be giving in other feeds, preventing it from being absorbed.

It can cause tying up and "bran head disease" where the bones soften due to too little calcium and the head swells!

Bran serves no useful purpose in a horse diet these days ,since milling got so "good" that all the calcium is removed.
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phosphorous, not potassium!!! Derrrrr.
 
Just as an aside, a friend after having her feedplan done has been advised to use a small amount of wheatbran as a carrier for the minerals on pasture where the calcium was practically off the scale and phospherous low.
 
criso said:
Just as an aside, a friend after having her feedplan done has been advised to use a small amount of wheatbran as a carrier for the minerals on pasture where the calcium was practically off the scale and phospherous low.
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Lucky bugger. My Ca and Ph are both high but balanced together.

I'd love to be able to use bran - my horses love it:p
 
Waltzing Matilda thanks for all the advise :)

Okay, so will :

Coolstance Copra (undecided about this, seems tricky to get hold of in my area and is quite expensive)
Sugarbeet
Linseed
Mag Ox
Brewers Yeast

be okay? I really want to this right for Ethel so she can do well being barefoot and still keep weight. Once I'm fixed (recovering from dislocated shoulder and not allowed to ride yet - boo!) and I have a saddle sorted for her then she'll come back into work and we do lots of hacking anyway.
 
My Tb mare ( a good doer) has recently gone barefoot, did the backs in august, she was fine with that but 2 months ago we took the fronts off and she is still quite footy on pavement, though she is fine in the fields.

She has alpha beet, hi-fi lite, and everyday fibre pellets, when in she has ad lib hay and she does have a lot of grazing. Going to try the mag ox and brewers yeast with her but if it doesn't change I'll put the fronts back on, I don't like to see her unhappy to step out when she's not in the field
 
tonitot said:
Waltzing Matilda thanks for all the advise :)

Okay, so will :

Coolstance Copra (undecided about this, seems tricky to get hold of in my area and is quite expensive)
Sugarbeet
Linseed
Mag Ox
Brewers Yeast

be okay? I really want to this right for Ethel so she can do well being barefoot and still keep weight. Once I'm fixed (recovering from dislocated shoulder and not allowed to ride yet - boo!) and I have a saddle sorted for her then she'll come back into work and we do lots of hacking anyway.
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I'd just try unmollassed beet with the Mag Ox, linseed and BY and see how she does.

Copra only if you are really struggling or you could use soya oil.
 
What's the reason behind only using unmollassed sugar beet? Is the sugar level too high for barefooted horses? I just wonder as it could help with weight gain?
 
Horses gain their calorie yield from fermenting fibre in the large intestine into volatile fatty acids, which they then convert to glucose for use as a power source.

Beet is rapidly fermentable fibre - so it's a quick and easy way for them to gain calories.

IMO molassed feeds have no place in the equine diet. It's not a fibre, protein or oil - they can't use it for anything useful.

All it does is attack the laminae and cause separation and pain and/or encourage infection.

I'd rather use my 'sugar tokens' in my horse's diet for grass and haylage.

There are many horses who 'get away with it' but why feed something unhelpful?
 
tonitot said:
Waltzing Matilda thanks for all the advise :)

Okay, so will :

Coolstance Copra (undecided about this, seems tricky to get hold of in my area and is quite expensive)
Sugarbeet
Linseed
Mag Ox
Brewers Yeast

be okay? I really want to this right for Ethel so she can do well being barefoot and still keep weight. Once I'm fixed (recovering from dislocated shoulder and not allowed to ride yet - boo!) and I have a saddle sorted for her then she'll come back into work and we do lots of hacking anyway.
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I don't think you need both copra and NoN MOLASSED sugar beet
The linseed should be MICRONISED LINSEED MEAL
Mag ox and brewers yeast is fine, but to be honest I think you would be safer buying a mix ready prepared until you are more familiar with the diet.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-HOOF-...r_Equipment&hash=item415ecd69e0#ht_1589wt_698

If you need to keep weight on your horse try to keep it simple by feeding ad lib hay plus minerals, the sugar beet is an additional source of fibre and acts as a palatable carrier for the minerals.
The micronised linseed meal has fibre, and oil and has lots of bio available benefits for hoofs skin and joints.
I feed Fast Fibre to provide the basic minerals for maintenance.
and I have my own mix with the linseed plus biotin and, yeast and so on.
 
tonitot said:
What's the reason behind only using unmollassed sugar beet? Is the sugar level too high for barefooted horses? I just wonder as it could help with weight gain?
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Yes, sugar is the devil for feet, the molassed sbeet nuts are popular in winter to feed happy hackers, cheap and filling, plus a bit of energy to heat them up, a bit like eating a mars bar when one is low in energy, but it is better to have porridge for breakfast than topping up with nibbles all day.
 
I won't be using mollassed sugarbeet then. I meant micronized linseed meal, just easier for me to just put linseed cause I have to type with my left hand and it takes me ages lol :p So unmollassed sugar beet, micronized linseed meal, brewers yeast and mag ox ? Is there anything else or is that it? :)
 
tonitot said:
I won't be using mollassed sugarbeet then. I meant micronized linseed meal, just easier for me to just put linseed cause I have to type with my left hand and it takes me ages lol :p So unmollassed sugar beet, micronized linseed meal, brewers yeast and mag ox ? Is there anything else or is that it? :)
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See if that works to start with.

If not, there are other things to try.
 
skint1 said:
My Tb mare ( a good doer) has recently gone barefoot, did the backs in august, she was fine with that but 2 months ago we took the fronts off and she is still quite footy on pavement, though she is fine in the fields.

She has alpha beet, hi-fi lite, and everyday fibre pellets, when in she has ad lib hay and she does have a lot of grazing. Going to try the mag ox and brewers yeast with her but if it doesn't change I'll put the fronts back on, I don't like to see her unhappy to step out when she's not in the field
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Cut out any alfalfa, and any sugar based stuff [grass] and walk 20 mins on tarmac every day.
Fine in fields is no gauge of the transition.
 
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