Feed Recommendations for Competition Horse

Escada2004

Escada2004

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OK so before i explain what im looking for help with, please no bitching or rude comments, my horses get the best care via vet, physio etc and im looking for advice not a bitchfest ;-)

So i have a 7yo WB showjumper who is currently jumping 1.10/1.20 classes. She holds her weight well in summer but has extra calories in winter as most do. I have been feeding her on Pure Feeds Pure Condition, however she wouldnt eat the mix version so i changed her to the pellet form and she loves it, i just add a little Spillers Alf Alfa Pro and some mash. She is looking amazing on it and feeling really good, however one bag at £14.95 only lasts one week at the recommended feeding rate, so just the Pure Condition alone is £60pm!

So im looking for recommendations for something similar to replace it without compromising on quality etc. It must be low sugar, low starch and cereal free as she has showed ulcer symptoms (very very slight) and since giving an ulcer supplement she has been 100% herself again.

She needs something that will give her a good amount of energy without blowing her brain. She has daily turnout and dry high quality haylage.

Thanks in advance :)
 
I am not that familiar with pure feeds I have looked on there website but there isn't much information about what it contains I did work out its a complete feed like a balancer, I think if you wanted similar it's going to work out roughly the same money if you feed the required amount each time, you could go back and feed basic straights then add the vitamins and minerals or whatever you want and see if it would work out cheaper.

I know the Allen and page do feeds without molasses and low starch they are also complete feeds so something like power and performance might suit, or something like the rowan barbery mashes might also work.

I also steer clear of molasses and high starch but I feed a basic straight diet of graze on chaff unmolassed beet and micronised linseed then I feed a basic vitamin and mineral supplement on top, I can then adjust the amount of feed without loosing the vit and mins I want them to have, but then mine don't jump at all and they have plenty of natural energy being Arabs.
 
It's actually quite offputting when someone starts a post with "No bitching"! I don't see why you think people might be nasty, when all you're asking is a feed question.

I've got a selection of sports horse types, both in and out of work, and they all have soaked grassnuts, and linseed in the winter. The healthy ones hold condition well, and have plenty of energy - and those who need a bit of extra help get a bigger dose of linseed.

I very rarely feed the "required amount" of any feed, as my horses would pop. They get the majority of their nutritional needs met by good grass and hay, so they really don't need massive amounts of hard feed too.
 
Escada2004 said:
OK so before i explain what im looking for help with, please no bitching or rude comments, my horses get the best care via vet, physio etc and im looking for advice not a bitchfest ;-)

So i have a 7yo WB showjumper who is currently jumping 1.10/1.20 classes. She holds her weight well in summer but has extra calories in winter as most do. I have been feeding her on Pure Feeds Pure Condition, however she wouldnt eat the mix version so i changed her to the pellet form and she loves it, i just add a little Spillers Alf Alfa Pro and some mash. She is looking amazing on it and feeling really good, however one bag at £14.95 only lasts one week at the recommended feeding rate, so just the Pure Condition alone is £60pm!

So im looking for recommendations for something similar to replace it without compromising on quality etc. It must be low sugar, low starch and cereal free as she has showed ulcer symptoms (very very slight) and since giving an ulcer supplement she has been 100% herself again.

She needs something that will give her a good amount of energy without blowing her brain. She has daily turnout and dry high quality haylage.

Thanks in advance :)
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First of all are you giving her as much haylage as she can eat in winter? If not change this first.
 
I'd agree with the others that price is probably going to be comparable if you want a similar quality and I'd also be looking for her to get most of what she needs from grass/hay/haylage. In terms of actual feed, mine is on Bailey's No.4 conditioning cubes and micronised linseed (with a little bit of chaff and maybe some speedibeet added in) He looks fantastic and has plenty of energy, he's a naturally lazy horse but he hunts all day every Saturday at the moment without a problem! He's quite a good doer so he doesn't get a huge amount of hard feed, but he does have access to pretty much ad-lib haylage. However, I'm not sure how the Bailey's compares price wise to the pure feeds, as I'm not sure how long one bag would last one horse (mine is on full livery, and they're almost all on them). It could certainly be worth adding in micronised linseed, as it seems to help them hold their condition and also makes their coats lovely and shiny :)
 
I'd stick with the Pure Feeds - they are fantastic quality and balanced. It helps I get mine free of course, but even when i moved to another yard for a few months I carried on feeding Pure Feeds as I love the way my horse looks and behaves on the feed
 
my 17.2 20 year old competition horse looks amazing. he is on happy hoof, speedy beat, top chop zero, linseed and equine America joint supplement. when we go out people can't believe how well he looks. even now I wouldn't give him cereals they don't suit him. he has adlib hay and is out for four or five hours most days (depending on the weather). he is rugged up to the nines and not clipped - I actually don't want him to grow much coat - he doesn't tend to sweat even when having a lesson so I actively try to keep his coat down so I don't have to bother clipping. last week he had a grid work lesson and didn't sweat at all. he is worked every day and competes almost every weekend. he loves jumping although we don't do as much as we used to (he is far too precious to risk). don't know if that helps or not I hope it does
 
claret09 said:
my 17.2 20 year old competition horse looks amazing. he is on happy hoof, speedy beat, top chop zero, linseed and equine America joint supplement. when we go out people can't believe how well he looks. even now I wouldn't give him cereals they don't suit him. he has adlib hay and is out for four or five hours most days (depending on the weather). he is rugged up to the nines and not clipped - I actually don't want him to grow much coat - he doesn't tend to sweat even when having a lesson so I actively try to keep his coat down so I don't have to bother clipping. last week he had a grid work lesson and didn't sweat at all. he is worked every day and competes almost every weekend. he loves jumping although we don't do as much as we used to (he is far too precious to risk). don't know if that helps or not I hope it does
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I quite like this horses diet and clearly it suits him . I am a great one for speedi beet as a low soluble sugar high fibre bulk. I also like some of the dengie chaffs . A dash of micronised linseed and a hay balancer But in my heart of hearts I just want to add some Oats . For BTNAC (Bob the not a cob) this way lies madness, but for a wb its not so crazy.They are ,of all the cereals,the best suited to equines. Horses do well on them
 
I'm another who feeds straights plus a vitamin and mineral balancer - in my case, copra (which is a great low sugar feed but great for adding weight), oats and micronised linseed plus a balancer called Equivita made by Equinatural. My arthritis boy also gets glucosamine.

I'm also a big fan of speedibeet but it's too high calcium for my two at the moment, as their forage is also high calcium.

Feeding well is never cheap though. Copra and oats are included in my livery but the equivita ends up topping up the feed bills. I'm in denial about how much I spend on the horses so I wouldn't like to say how much it costs me a month ;)
 
Mike007 said:
I quite like this horses diet and clearly it suits him . I am a great one for speedi beet as a low soluble sugar high fibre bulk. I also like some of the dengie chaffs . A dash of micronised linseed and a hay balancer But in my heart of hearts I just want to add some Oats . For BTNAC (Bob the not a cob) this way lies madness, but for a wb its not so crazy.They are ,of all the cereals,the best suited to equines. Horses do well on them
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I love oats. Alf has 1/2 a scoop added to the basic diet, and he's never looked/felt so good. Just enough jazz to make him fun, but not completely insane
 
Hi all, thank you for your suggestions.

The reason i put no itching please is because ive posted genuine questions before and had people commenting who just want to criticize and be rude, which just isnt called for.

I will have a proper read of all of your suggestions later but after having a quick scan through, i wanted to add that she has adlib haylage and ok grazing (im in livery so im limited with this). Also she cannot have oats due to the high starch content
 
The two SJers on my yard (Mine jumping 1m and my YO jumping 1.40m) are both on A&P Calm & Condition with some mix and Alfa Oil. The C&C can be increased, decreased through the year and is good for stay away shows as you can make it nice and sloppy if you need to help get them re-hydrated. Its definitely low in starch (mine can be v sensitive to starch levels). The mix is just there as a bit of extra quick release feed and the Alfa Oil for bulk etc.
 
I had the baileys rep come around to mine yesterday. She recommends Ease and excel, have a google and see what you think.
 
Thank you mike007 for your comments. jay's diet works for him. I did once try him on barley it was like having an alien horse. he had two weeks on it and was completely unmanageable and obnoxious to deal with. once I took him off it he went back to normal, opinionated male but manageable and fun to have around self .
Mike007 said:
I quite like this horses diet and clearly it suits him . I am a great one for speedi beet as a low soluble sugar high fibre bulk. I also like some of the dengie chaffs . A dash of micronised linseed and a hay balancer But in my heart of hearts I just want to add some Oats . For BTNAC (Bob the not a cob) this way lies madness, but for a wb its not so crazy.They are ,of all the cereals,the best suited to equines. Horses do well on them
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I wish my feed bill was that... Fig costs hundreds per month!!!! Nova is slightly easier on the bank balance but he is growing like a weed.

Fig has havens slobbermash, oats and linseed. Nova has havens slobbermash and linseed, he will get oats when he needs a bit more substance. They both have gorgeous bloom to their coats. Fig in particular has great muscle tone and has been able to build really good stamina off this feed. It's great that it's complete too, I can't be faffing with balancers etc!
 
I must be living in the dark ages, I haven't heard of some of the feeds mentioned. Just looked at Havens Slobbermash, £22 a bag, two spelling mistakes on their advertising and a claim to be purifying. What does it purify ? The ingredients are nothing special, but the wording is - purifying, toasted and dehydrated, plus the claim to improve/prevent/improve everything from colic to fertility.

i am sure there is plenty of in depth research being put into these new feeds but I do wonder if a huge dose of clever marketing is blinding us horse owners and making us part with much more money than is really needed to keep a healthy happy horse working.
 
AdorableAlice said:
I must be living in the dark ages, I haven't heard of some of the feeds mentioned. Just looked at Havens Slobbermash, £22 a bag, two spelling mistakes on their advertising and a claim to be purifying. What does it purify ? The ingredients are nothing special, but the wording is - purifying, toasted and dehydrated, plus the claim to improve/prevent/improve everything from colic to fertility.

i am sure there is plenty of in depth research being put into these new feeds but I do wonder if a huge dose of clever marketing is blinding us horse owners and making us part with much more money than is really needed to keep a healthy happy horse working.
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I looked at the nutritional values out of interest, they claim their cool mix to be low sugar and suitable for laminitics but it has a horrific 33% starch which cannot be safe for many laminitic prone horses, like you I don't have much of an interest in these new feeds preferring to keep things simple and know what they are getting, just the name slobbermash would put me off using it, the almost 45% sugar and starch content would definitely mean it gets left alone.
 
be positive said:
I looked at the nutritional values out of interest, they claim their cool mix to be low sugar and suitable for laminitics but it has a horrific 33% starch which cannot be safe for many laminitic prone horses, like you I don't have much of an interest in these new feeds preferring to keep things simple and know what they are getting, just the name slobbermash would put me off using it, the almost 45% sugar and starch content would definitely mean it gets left alone.
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The figures are off the scale, I wonder if the information on the bag is actually correct.

This https://www.spillers-feeds.com/speedy-mash-fibre has just come on the market, could be useful for golden oldies.
 
AdorableAlice said:
I must be living in the dark ages, I haven't heard of some of the feeds mentioned. Just looked at Havens Slobbermash, £22 a bag, two spelling mistakes on their advertising and a claim to be purifying. What does it purify ? The ingredients are nothing special, but the wording is - purifying, toasted and dehydrated, plus the claim to improve/prevent/improve everything from colic to fertility.

i am sure there is plenty of in depth research being put into these new feeds but I do wonder if a huge dose of clever marketing is blinding us horse owners and making us part with much more money than is really needed to keep a healthy happy horse working.
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Proof is in the pudding in both of my horses condition, muscle tone and general health.

Don't forget it's a continental feed so if you're looking at the NL website there is bound to be some translation issues.

The bags are 20kg rather than standard 15kg, and whilst I don't pay £22 a bag, I would happily pay that for the results I have. Particularly as the feeds don't include rubbishy additives and fillers.

AA and be positive - more research needed... The ingredients are extruded, due to this the starch content is pretty negligible. It won't suit every horse, not every feed does suit every horse after all, but it works wonderfully for super sharp Fig and laid back Nova. They are both barefoot and have yet to wilt into a starch affected mess.

Also, the largest part of the feed is spelt wheat. Which is ideal for many types of horses, including lami prone.

The added oils/fat optimizes digestion. Which is important for all types and ages of horses.
 
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Surely if you are feeding hundreds a month on feed alone to maintain a horse something is going wrong??

OP I don't actually think £60 a month is too bad to feed a sports horse, it's probably what I spend on my new one who is a huge weak thing - and that's just on grass chaff, omega rice and Vit/min supplement.
 
ihatework said:
Surely if you are feeding hundreds a month on feed alone to maintain a horse something is going wrong??

OP I don't actually think £60 a month is too bad to feed a sports horse, it's probably what I spend on my new one who is a huge weak thing - and that's just on grass chaff, omega rice and Vit/min supplement.
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My thoughts too and yes the proof is in the pudding. I had a teenage 17.2 competing medium at semi's and nationals, plus county level and Hoy's level hunter showing, of course he had to look and stay looking amazing for the entire season right through until mid October for Birmingham. A basic diet of oats, linseed, speedibeet, suregrow and top quality haylage kept him at the top of his game for 5 solid and very successful years. Equijewel is useful when they are working hard or are away from home and perhaps not as settled as they might be.

Stamina is trained in rather than fed in and a fit hard horse should have a good top of muscle and have enough energy to do his job.
 
nikkimariet said:
AA and be positive - more research needed... The ingredients are extruded, due to this the starch content is pretty negligible. It won't suit every horse, not every feed does suit every horse after all, but it works wonderfully for super sharp Fig and laid back Nova. They are both barefoot and have yet to wilt into a starch affected mess.
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I have never known a feed company put a nutritional analysis up of it's feeds at the stages before the ingredients are processed? It is always an analysis of the final product? and as such 44.2% sugar and starch, 5.6% sugar is a lot of starch.. I really can't understand how you are saying 38.6% starch is negligible?

https://www.horsefeed.nl/files/media/havens-slobber-mash-engl.pdf
 
ihatework said:
Surely if you are feeding hundreds a month on feed alone to maintain a horse something is going wrong??
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AdorableAlice said:
Stamina is trained in rather than fed in and a fit hard horse should have a good top of muscle and have enough energy to do his job.
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He's an exracer working at GP... Stressy and poor doer are natural for him. But if you have a better suggestion... I'm all ears?

Got the stamina covered thanks!
 
So going back to the OP question, may I suggest Copra. It's low sugar, low starch, great for energy and condition. You can feed as little as 100grams or more. It's considered a straight feed and I've had great results with it on a couple of different types of horses.
 
My 16.3 poor doer WB gets soaked grass nuts (EasyPack Timothy ones) and Copra, plus linseed and a powdered balancer from Equinatural. This costs about £50 total max, and the balancer includes a few extras you wouldn't get in a "normal" feed. He has also had oats as a top-up before, they never really affected his brain, just put a bit more condition on. He's not in a lot of work at the moment but this is the same feed as he had when he was training Adv, competing Adv Med including staying away at National champs.
 
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