Feeding a Cushings horse for a little more Oomph?!

L

LegOn

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 September 2010
Messages
772
Visit site
My 22 year old (nearly 23!) gelding was diagnosed with Cushings about a year ago & is on 1 Prascend tablet a day which he is doing great on!

He has never had laminitis or any issues with his weight, his only Cushings indicator was a thick coat! He gets clipped about every 6 weeks - he is still in full work, does Riding Club dressage and showjumping!

Its not really a Cushings issue - he has been the same as long as I've had him, sometimes he needs a little more oomph! But I'm just wondering what is the best thing to feed him without upsetting the apple cart so to speak as he is currently doing great!

He is currently on Gain Easy Go Cubes & a small bit of Equarry Conditioning Mash cause its what the yard have & I've found it great for his coat :) Shiny boy!

Is there another feed that might suit him better?
 
Your feed is full of molasses and by-products. Far from ideal. Chaff (non-molassed and alfalfa free), plus speedi or equibeet or pink mash, micronised linseed, coolstance copra and a good supplement would be massively better for him.
 
Coolstance Copra is 15mj/Kg - too much for a cushings horse. The website makes a lot of claims about the feed - but they are all with a caveat "may cause" / "Might help" etc. I've heard a lot of people praise it as a feed - but I don't think I'd try it. I'm not convinced OP's current feed is full of molasses or by products either - that seems quite a sweeping statement. Although I accept the cubes do list molasses as an ingredient it still comes in at 10Mj/Kg so there isn't that much sugar there.

As he's OK on his current feed OP I'd leave it. If it ain't broke - don't fix it! I'd be reluctant to add oats simply becuase it might upset the diet balance he clearly gets on with - and only 30% of horses are sensitive to oats anyway. You could try something like NAF Ener-G?
 
B vitamin injections? Friend of mine did that for her Draft-X to give him some buzz before eventing competitions. But you'd obviously have to ask the vet, and I'm not sure how often you need/can/should do those.
 
Shay said:
Coolstance Copra is 15mj/Kg - too much for a cushings horse. The website makes a lot of claims about the feed - but they are all with a caveat "may cause" / "Might help" etc. I've heard a lot of people praise it as a feed - but I don't think I'd try it. I'm not convinced OP's current feed is full of molasses or by products either - that seems quite a sweeping statement. Although I accept the cubes do list molasses as an ingredient it still comes in at 10Mj/Kg so there isn't that much sugar there.

As he's OK on his current feed OP I'd leave it. If it ain't broke - don't fix it! I'd be reluctant to add oats simply becuase it might upset the diet balance he clearly gets on with - and only 30% of horses are sensitive to oats anyway. You could try something like NAF Ener-G?
Click to expand...

Why's 15mj/kg to much for a Cushing horse?
 
I agree with Shay's 2nd paragraph, I tried copra and didn't get on with it, my horse wouldn't eat the minimum required for weight gain as it swelled so much the feeds were too big and he doesn't like big feeds. Not sure why it isn't suitable for cushings horses other than watching weight ??

I use Topspec it might be worth giving them a ring they are very helpful as are saracen
 
Shay said:
Coolstance Copra is 15mj/Kg - too much for a cushings horse. The website makes a lot of claims about the feed - but they are all with a caveat "may cause" / "Might help" etc. I've heard a lot of people praise it as a feed - but I don't think I'd try it. I'm not convinced OP's current feed is full of molasses or by products either - that seems quite a sweeping statement. Although I accept the cubes do list molasses as an ingredient it still comes in at 10Mj/Kg so there isn't that much sugar there.

As he's OK on his current feed OP I'd leave it. If it ain't broke - don't fix it! I'd be reluctant to add oats simply becuase it might upset the diet balance he clearly gets on with - and only 30% of horses are sensitive to oats anyway. You could try something like NAF Ener-G?
Click to expand...

Thanks Shay - I went through his feed with the vet when he got diagnosed & they agreed you had to look at the total output of the sugars & starches rather than individual ingredients. Plus there can be issues with Cushings horses going off their feed so they said they would be reluctant to change him off something he eats. Yard did have Copra on offer for a while but he wouldnt touch it so that rules that out anyway!

I will have a look at the NAF one, I was looking a few of those supplements so might be worth a try! I might ask the vet about Vitamin B aswell :)

I used to give him the TopSpec Senior Balancer but I stopped after a year or so cause I didnt see much difference really!
 
LegOn said:
I used to give him the TopSpec Senior Balancer but I stopped after a year or so cause I didnt see much difference really!
Click to expand...

I feed Topsec fibre plus cubes plus the balancer 5 feeds a day and saw a difference in i would say 4 weeks, he's 37 and looks really good
 
My 14 year old Cushings boy competes regularly. He is currently on Baileys performance balancer and alfa A. He was on Top Spec Turbo Flakes before he was diagnosed but I have taken him off them as I'm not sure they are right for a Cushings diet. However the Baileys performance balancer is fine for Cushings horses according to some of the research I've done, might be worth trying and I only give him a cupful per feed so it lasts for ages. I was worried taking him off the the Turbo Flakes would make him lose his Oomph but the Prascend seems to be working.
 
St Hypolite Equigard is specially formulated for lami and cushings horses and is 4% sugar and 6% starch. I feed it to mine and he's not either but it's made up of all the things horses would naturally find in the wild and has no nasty extras and binders like soya. Speak to H&F feeds as they will help you. St Hippolyte do other things for extra oomph following a similar natural theme. Seriously good feeds.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top