Feed advice! I'm new!

[hayleymyles]

Hello, I'm used to only feeding hay and general pellets for two shetlands... now I have a 15hh tb mare who is 10 years old and good at dressage!! Very kind calm nature - perfect personality. Any recommendations on what to feed? any supplements etc?

currently on:

Mollichaff apple/extra
Basic horse and pony cubes from Mole valley country store.
Hoof supplement.
Garlic and apples.
Hay for adlib.

She goes out twice a week - dressage and jumping but for a novice! Lunge 3 x a week.

Working on toning her up and building a topline?

Am I doing right? Any recommendations?

Oh and she's ALWAYS hungry! To the point she eats her straw bed... (Another post in tack room)

 

[chestnut cob]

Hello

What is her weight like? If she is always hungry and eating her straw bed then is she actually getting adlib hay? Make sure she has hay leftover in the morning.

Personally I dislike feeds like Molichaff / Molichop as they are so heavily molassed, which isn't ideal for horses. What to substitute with depends on what you are trying to achieve. Maybe switch to Hifi or Alfa-A, if she needs more than a low calorie chaff.

Do you hack her out? Hacking and hill work are great for building muscle, plus with all that lungeing and schooling, I'd want to give her a bit of a break so she doesn't get bored (assuming she will hack out, I know some horses won't).

 

[amandap]

If she is eating her bed is she running out of hay?
I'm no nutritionist but I wouldn't feed most of what she is getting. Sorry.

High fibre forage based, low in sugars with good levels of minerals and added lysine, so hay, a good low sugar base forage feed with a good balancer and extra salt.
Apples daily can be too much sugar and garlic can reportedly upset the hindgut due to its anti bacterial action. Keeping the hind gut flora working properly with low sugar constant trickle feeding (forage)is the basic key to healthy gut function and digestion. Sometimes, less/more simple is more.

You might be interested in doing this free course in January. https://www.coursera.org/course/equinenutrition