feed advice please!

[OldNag]

Advice veyr welcome.

I have a Welsh D I've had for a few months. He's been on chaff and pasture mix, is out all day and in all night with hay adlib.

YO suggested adding a balancer and phasing out the pasture mix. But when we tried it he came up in lumps (even though started on less than a quarter of the suggested amount)- might be coincidence but might not, so stopped that. (It was around the time we had new grass growth so equally could have been that?).

Feed rep came to yard recently and advised just feeding chaff and vits/mins. But a few days after starting the Leisure vits/mins he got lumps appearing again (they are round his sides and a few on his back).

So took him off them.

I'd really like to get some vits/mins or balancer in his feed and get rid of the pasture mix (as I don't feel it's especially helpful), but it looks like he is rather sensitive. I might well try the route of starting with really really tiny amounts and building up ever so gradually, but are there other options? Anyone else have particularly sensitive animals - what do you do?

I should add, he's in light work and 6 yrs old. Ridden most days, mix of hacking and schooling for 40 mins or so, up to 1.5 hrs if it's hacking.

Cookies if you got this far...

 

[Mince Pie]

Keep the feed as it is and add Pink Powder (I actually use Think Pink which is just as good and half the price).

 

[asommerville]

^this second the pink powder

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

People who have seen the horse seem to all think he doesn't need the pasture mix. If you keep giving it to him he could become overweight. I would gradually reduce the mix until he has none, just chaff as a token gesture feed. If balancers and powdered vitamin supplements cause an allergic reaction, maybe try swapping to a chaff that has vitamins and minerals added. The mix would have vitamins and minerals added and he is fine with that, so maybe its the "carrier ingredients" in the balancers and powder supplements that he is allergic to. The only chaff with added vitamins and minerals I can think of is Dengie Good Do-er, but there are probably others.

 

[OldNag]

People who have seen the horse seem to all think he doesn't need the pasture mix. If you keep giving it to him he could become overweight. I would gradually reduce the mix until he has none, just chaff as a token gesture feed. If balancers and powdered vitamin supplements cause an allergic reaction, maybe try swapping to a chaff that has vitamins and minerals added. The mix would have vitamins and minerals added and he is fine with that, so maybe its the "carrier ingredients" in the balancers and powder supplements that he is allergic to. The only chaff with added vitamins and minerals I can think of is Dengie Good Do-er, but there are probably others.

Thanks everyone that's very helpful.

I've heard of Pink Powder before but couldn't work out what made it less likely to cause a reaction than leisure vits/mins powder. I'll track it down at the feedshop and have a look.

I have more or less phased out the pasture mix (have reduced it to bare minimum and just using up the last of the bag), will have a go with Good-Doer and see if he reacts or not.

ETA he was condition scored by feed rep as 3.

Will report back!