Feed Suggestions Please?

GrassChop

GrassChop

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So sorry, I know this has been done to death!

My mare who is coming up for 20 this year is on adlib hay, out on grass 24/7 and gets fed soaked grass nuts and fast fibre. She is currently only hacking for about an hour once a week but still absolutely full of it out riding so energy isn't an issue and don't want anything that might make her fly away! She's a good weight for this time of the year, slightly under ready for spring, but she has lost quite a bit of muscle and top line, more so than usual with this workload through winter.

What is the best thing I can give her to help with this? Work will increase once weather and light permits. It has to be soaked feed due to diastemas. I used to give linseed, I can always add this again but I worry about the seeds getting stuck in the gaps.

Thank you!
 
GrassChop said:
So sorry, I know this has been done to death!

My mare who is coming up for 20 this year is on adlib hay, out on grass 24/7 and gets fed soaked grass nuts and fast fibre. She is currently only hacking for about an hour once a week but still absolutely full of it out riding so energy isn't an issue and don't want anything that might make her fly away! She's a good weight for this time of the year, slightly under ready for spring, but she has lost quite a bit of muscle and top line, more so than usual with this workload through winter.

What is the best thing I can give her to help with this? Work will increase once weather and light permits. It has to be soaked feed due to diastemas. I used to give linseed, I can always add this again but I worry about the seeds getting stuck in the gaps.

Thank you!
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Mine love Simple systems haycare
 
Good quality protein, particularly lysine, is required to help build muscle. Alfalfa is reputed to be a good source of lysine so as others have suggested it would be worth trying.

Fast Fibre includes linseed but I am not sure how much.
 
GrassChop said:
Thank you. This was also a consideration as she has been on this before but I'm stuck on what might be best between copra and alfalfa in terms of protein without fizz!
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I can't help on that one as I've not feed alfalfa for years due to it making my old girl itchy and was recommended to stop it when my gelding had ulcers! so its something I've avoided for a good 10 years.
 
kerrieberry2 said:
I can't help on that one as I've not feed alfalfa for years due to it making my old girl itchy and was recommended to stop it when my gelding had ulcers! so its something I've avoided for a good 10 years.
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Oh! She's had ulcers before, many years a go now, I always thought alfalfa was good for neutralising stomach acid?
 
Zoeypxo said:
I feed speedibeet and add some pea protein when necessary
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Pea protein is a possibility. Thank you.

I'm stuck on copra, alfalfa or just sticking with linseed unless there is something else out there.

The speedibeet/fibrebeet seems to be lower in protein than grass nuts. Perhaps I should look at some supplements for top line conditioning instead. Too many options!
 
My now retired lad was prone to loosing topline and muscle (even more so now that he is fully retired) and I used to feed him the below when he was in a decent level of work (he was also prone to hotting up at the slightest thing) :

Afalfa Pellets (soaked to a sloppy mash consistency)
Pea Protein (vits and minerals to help muscle development and growth)
Ad lib forage (for him it was haylage as he has COPD so hay is a no go as the fussy sod won't touch it soaked!)
Small amount of linseed (for the omegas and that lush coat shine!)
Grass chaff

He only got smallish portions of the above as he is part native so prone to weight gain and it was a never ending battle between the waistline bulging too much but making sure that he had everything he needed for correct muscle development :)
 
AppyLover1996 said:
My now retired lad was prone to loosing topline and muscle (even more so now that he is fully retired) and I used to feed him the below when he was in a decent level of work (he was also prone to hotting up at the slightest thing) :

Afalfa Pellets (soaked to a sloppy mash consistency)
Pea Protein (vits and minerals to help muscle development and growth)
Ad lib forage (for him it was haylage as he has COPD so hay is a no go as the fussy sod won't touch it soaked!)
Small amount of linseed (for the omegas and that lush coat shine!)
Grass chaff

He only got smallish portions of the above as he is part native so prone to weight gain and it was a never ending battle between the waistline bulging too much but making sure that he had everything he needed for correct muscle development :)
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Thank you!
Pea protein sounds pretty good actually!

ETA: This was the first year that she's not been on the linseed and it has definitely made her a little less fizzy and erratic, still forward but more sensible but judging by the muscle, she definitely needs that extra protein. I'm not sure if it's best to just add pea protein to what she currently has or add copra or alfalfa. I don't want to effect the forward but sensible riding!
 
GrassChop said:
Thank you. This was also a consideration as she has been on this before but I'm stuck on what might be best between copra and alfalfa in terms of protein without fizz!
Click to expand...

I used to feed both Copra and alfalfa pellets together soaked into a mash then 150g of linseed but that as for the omega oils. Suited my tb who could get hyper on molassed chaff.
 
I think I'm leaning towards copra or alfalfa pellets but just can't decide. I want to avoid adding more energy but want as much protein to build and maintain muscle so she doesn't lose it so quickly. I'm stuck!
 
Loss of top line was one of the signs of cushings in my mare - actually at this time of year too (although a couple of years ago now) Had had previous Cushings tests, and then another at the time, that all said she was OK and well within the recommended levels but then
I had the STIM cushings test (on advice from a forum member actually) which showed her levels were hight and once on prascend she improved .
 
SpotsandBays said:
Have a look at grass pellets too (if you’re worried about alfalfa). They have a good level of protein too
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Thank you. She's already on soaked grass pellets as her main feed. She gets two cups of dry pellets soaked so maybe I'll do one cup of alfalfa and one of grass instead.
 
GrassChop said:
Oh! She's had ulcers before, many years a go now, I always thought alfalfa was good for neutralising stomach acid?
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I think there are two schools of thought on it! depends on the reason for why your horse got ulcers in the first place, everything in my horses life was pretty chilled, he lived out 24/7 with a free choice barn, had access for good quality hay and grazing, didn't event or do anything particularly stressful, so we decided to remove things from his diet that are known to cause issues to some horses. so we stopped with alfalfa, wheat, molasses and soya. which seemed to help!
 
Any thoughts on CushCare Condition? Not for the cushings part of it but the ingredients, protein and sugar/starch levels. It's higher in DE so not sure if this will create an issue. Having said that, she's been on linseed and copra before with a much higher DE but she was probably more spooky and erratic.
 
GrassChop said:
Any thoughts on CushCare Condition? Not for the cushings part of it but the ingredients, protein and sugar/starch levels. It's higher in DE so not sure if this will create an issue. Having said that, she's been on linseed and copra before with a much higher DE but she was probably more spooky and erratic.
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I’ve used it for my Cushing’s lad and it was brilliant for him.

We also used it for some of the eventers who were not Cushing’s but needed condition without fizz. It’s not cheap but I do rate it. Most of the criticism I’ve seen of it stems from people not realising it’s a conditioning feed first and foremost, and therefore not suitable for small fat laminitic ponies.
 
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