Feed for Barefoot TB

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Sprig

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Just after a bit of advice for feeding my Tb who is on day 2 of barefoot.
He has always been fed Alfa-A Oil and D&H High Fibre nuts. A few weeks ago I swapped the Alfa-A Oil for Happy Hoof as I gather Alfa-A can be problematic when they are barefoot. Is the Happy Hoof a good replacement? It seemed the best of the alternatives available at my local feed store. Are the High Fibre nuts OK? I have read mixed reports. Should I just feed more of the Happy Hoof and cut out the nuts altogether? He has ad-lib hay when he is in.
 
She did send it to me a little while ago, I had forgotten about that. Thanks I will read through that again and come back here if I am still not sure. Would be good to hear people's personal experiences though.
 
Just been to read it and now back with questions. Any brands of unmolassed chaff that people can recommend. Also can people tell me about micronised linseed. Is it easy to get hold of? How much do you feed? Thanks
 
Sprig said:
Just been to read it and now back with questions. Any brands of unmolassed chaff that people can recommend. Also can people tell me about micronised linseed. Is it easy to get hold of? How much do you feed? Thanks
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I used to feed Honeychop Chopped Oat Straw as it's just that! http://www.honeychop.com/chopped-oat-straw.html

I'm feeding micronized linseed (think I missed that off the list I'm feeding...doh!). I feed a mug full a day - 250gms. Really is amazing stuff for condition. You can order it online from Charnwood http://www.charnwoodmilling.co.uk/mail-order/Horse_Food.html#a55
 
I also feed the Honeychop unmollassed chopped oat straw but I did go from Hi Fi Lite to Hi Fi Mollasses Free and then to the Honeychop because even the greediest horse won't like the plain stuff when they've been used to the sugar coated stuff. They do adjust tho so stick with it :)

I mix mine in with Fast Fibre which has the Forage Plus Hoof Health Balancer and micronised linseed mixed in.
 
Is your tb a particularly good doer, I have found with mine they need a bit extra than just chopped straw to hold weight and build build muscle.

Do you need to feed a chaff. It's great as a carrier for minerals for fatties but if that's not your situation, what is it adding.

Unmolassed sugarbeet is a good safe base with a few more calories than straw if they need it but high in fibre. Friends with good doers use Fast Fibre instead.
Then add minerals and linseed.

Other things I have successfully fed depending on what I need are Oats, Copra and Alfalfa pellets. With the latter I know a lot of people have problems with Alfalfa chaff with barefoot horses but I also know a lot of people who have good results with the pellets which do not contain any of the preservatives and mould inhibitors and other things that get added to chaffs.
 
Looked up the ingredients of Happy Hoof for you, the molglo it mentions is a mixture of molasses and oil and 40% sugar instead of 47%.

Chopped straw, Wheatfeed, Dry lucerne, Low sugar molglo, Oatfeed, Ricebran, Grass nuts, Calcium carbonate, Vegetable oil, Soya oil, VItamins and minerals, Calcined magnesite, Dried spearmint 0.25%, Garlic 0.25%, Salt.
 
This is an interesting post because as of yesterday Im trying my TB barefoot - she just will not keep her shoes on for love nor money :(

I feed chaff, high fibre cubes and speedibeet with linseed added from last week to top up her condition ... can anyone recommend anything else or would you replace something Im feeding? x
 
I now feed no chaff- she is on adlib hay any so didnt see any harm,
Personally i feed the veteran vitality rather than fast fibre- i need the extra calories for her! I feed 2kg a day
2 mugs of Linseed (400g)
Pro Hoof from Pro Earth
MSM
Global Herbs TB calmer

And its the best ive seen her look in a long time! Even at 19!
 
Criso,
Does that mean it is good or bad? I had established that it must have something molasses like in it as it feels quite sticky.
In the summer he tends to be out 24/7 without supplementary feed. now that I am adding ProHoof to his feed I am assuming that I should feed him something in the summer just to get this in to him. Is this right?
 
I prefer to go molasses free as mine reacts badly to sugar behaviour wise, if you were looking for an alfalfa/straw chaff then top chop lite and dengie molasses free are options but you don't need to feed a chaff at all and they can be problematic.

In that case in the summer you could look at something like fast fibre or the unmolassed sugarbeet (speedibeet, kwikbeet, purabeet, easibeet) just to carry supplements. They both swell up loads so a little goes a long way, this is good for hiding things and works out fairly cheap. It may be a case of which he will eat the pro hoof in and which your feed store stocks but neither are difficult to get hold of.
 
I feed mine:

Alfa A Oil
Speedibeet
Micronized Linseed
Equine Answers 365
Aviform Glucosamine
Salt

I did have him on Healthy Tummy and he done just as well on this instead of AA Oil but money matters and it's not as cost effective.

I've also bought Brewers Yeast, Copper & Mag Ox as he's needing a bit of help with his feet just now.

Google "Halleys" for unmollased chop/chaff.

Charnwood milling do the linseed but you can get it a whole £1 cheaper from eBay ;)

I'd be looking to swap off Happy Hoof pretty quick and avoid feeds with high sugar & starch. The general rule of thumb is a feed with under 5% sugar and starch/total under 10% as far as I'm aware anyway. You'll need to learn to read the small print on the white labels attached to feed bags as companies don't want you to know what you're feeding and try to dazzle you with the friendly, helpful sounding names ;)
 
I heard good things about fast fibre and pro hoof supp. If i went barefoot with my guy I would continue feeding pure condition, linseed and a good supplement such as pro hoof or pro balance.
 
I feed the molasses free Alfa a,
marriges laminitic mix,
micronised linseed,
brewers yeast,
mag ox,
seaweed
and spillers lite balancer at half rations

Whereabouts in the country are you? Some places do stock the linseed which saves the delivery.
 
Veteran Vitality (FF in the summer)
Micronised Linseed
Pro Balance
Protexin Gut Balancer

Living out 24/7 half way up a mountain so ad lib hay in the winter.

We've recently moved so I'm planning to get a mineral analysis done on the grazing and adjust the minerals accordingly.

He seemed to be fine with alfalfa, until I ran out and he quite quickly became more rock crunching. This was when he was fully transitioned, so you may not see such an obvious difference if your boys feet still have a way to go (or alfalfa doesn't affect him).
 
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