Feeding advice and name suggestions please :)

[eventing_2012]

So excitingly Tuesday I collected a new horse, a youngster to work with my TJ is recovering from injury, he isn’t quite 4 yet so still growing and I am curious to hear what people feed their youngsters? I have contacted various feed merchants and obviously they all promote their own feeds. He will be in light work over the winter 3 days a week mainly hacking and the odd trot round the school and maybe some pole work. I have been suggested balancers but they seem very expensive.... If anyone has any suggestions for feed that won’t totally break the bank would be greatly appreciated. Unfortunately I don’t have the space to buy in large quantities and as only feeding the one with it (TJ is on rations being on box rest and needs very low calorie feed) would not use it all in time. So far I have spoken with Dodson and Horrell, Chestnut horse feeds, simple systems and dengie. At the moment I am swaying towards Chestnut horse feeds they have recommended there Alfa Easy feed as high in protein and low is starch and sugar and is a complete feed. Sounds fairly reasonable at £12.35 for a 20kg bag which should last two weeks, whereas Dodson and Horrell advised I use the ultimate balancer which is £35 a bag which should last 1 month but on top of that I also need to buy Chaff.





He is also still nameless, he has a fancy name but I’m after a stable name, suggestions greatly received, underestimated how difficult naming was, every name I think of that I think is good someone I know has a horse or dog called that….Please see the picture attached, this was the first time I rode him at home Wednesday hence the body protector lol!





Thanks for your help in advance J



http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/album.php?albumid=6116&attachmentid=20526

 

[AmyMay]

Dodson and Horrell advised I use the ultimate balancer which is £35 a bag which should last 1 month but on top of that I also need to buy Chaff.

Why do you think you'd need to use chaff as well?

He is bloomin lovely!!!!! What's his posh name, and what was his stable name when you bought him??

 

[Dusty85]

Nothing to suggest on the feed front, as i dont have any experience with youngsters.

He looks a lovely sort, what is his breeding? What's his fancy name? you could just shorten it?

 

[eventing_2012]

If I fed him on balancer you feed it in relatively small qauntities so would need some chaff/alalfa to bulk out his feed.

Thank you, he is a real sweetie he is from holland, he needs to come out of his shell a bit I think, but is very affectionate and moves beautifully. His breeding his Uphill scandic x Contendo, he has wolfgang in his breeding and also sandro hitt somewhere in his breeding on his passport, so he is pretty well bred and seems to have a very good attitude we have been on a short hack on our own already and he wasnt phased. Finding his fancy name of Florassaint W to shorten for a gelding, if he was a mare would be easy could call him Flo or Flora.......

When I brought him his stable name was Foxy but im not keen he didnt have it for very long and was named it as the lorry he came ins number plate kinda spelt it, Think its more for a mare...

 

[Joyous70]

I have just recently started my two on Chestnut Horse Feeds Alfa Easy and i love it and so do my two, i like the fact that it is a complete feed, one of mine is only 3 years old so still growing also, the other is 26 years old but needs a feed these days, they are both relatively good doers and it seems to be suiting them both so far.

Lovely horse btw - no suggestions at the moment,

 

[TarrSteps]

If I fed him on balancer you feed it in relatively small qauntities so would need some chaff/alalfa to bulk out his feed.

Why? This is the only country in the world obsessed with feeding grass clippings. So long as you are feeding good quality forage (admittedly harder here than many places and likely where there aforementioned grass clipping obsession comes from) then there is no reason he has to have chaff.

 

[twiggy2]

If I fed him on balancer you feed it in relatively small qauntities so would need some chaff/alalfa to bulk out his feed.

you don't 'need' to bulk it out, he will get his hay/grass/haylage as bulk just the balancer is fine on its own.

he is lovely looks very athletic.

Alf
Will
Wilf?

 

[Dusty85]

Saint? Fly? Wolf?

 

[AmyMay]

You don't need to bulk the food out at all.

As for his name - Woolfy.

 

[eventing_2012]

The reason I am keen to feed a chaff is our grazing isnt that great, we dont have summer/ winter grazing so have to be on same paddocks all year round, and the hay that we get it also isnt that fantastic, its okay and they eat it but dont feel its that great quality and he wont allow us to get own in, so would feel happier feeding him a a chaff as well.... If we had good grazing i wouldnt worry about feeding a chaff too

My name thoughts were Ryke as it means powerful in dutch but still unsure, was think Barney, Bertie, Ferdi?

 

[Joyous70]

I was thinking of Wolf, or Saint (same as some of the above)

 

[AmyMay]

Ah so if you want to feed chaff for an actual purpose that's fair enough. I'd still go with the balancer and then Alpha A Oil personally.

 

[Joyous70]

The reason I am keen to feed a chaff is our grazing isnt that great, we dont have summer/ winter grazing so have to be on same paddocks all year round, and the hay that we get it also isnt that fantastic, its okay and they eat it but dont feel its that great quality and he wont allow us to get own in, so would feel happier feeding him a a chaff as well.... If we had good grazing i wouldnt worry about feeding a chaff too

My name thoughts were Ryke as it means powerful in dutch but still unsure, was think Barney, Bertie, Ferdi?

Im in the same boat as regards to paddocks, same one all year round as well, we can fortunately buy in our own hay, but this is why i liked the Alfa Easy as there was nothing to add, unless of course you wanted to put in a little micronised linseed (as was suggested to me) its just one sack of feed and job done!

I like Ryke btw

 

[popsdosh]

The reason I am keen to feed a chaff is our grazing isnt that great, we dont have summer/ winter grazing so have to be on same paddocks all year round, and the hay that we get it also isnt that fantastic, its okay and they eat it but dont feel its that great quality and he wont allow us to get own in, so would feel happier feeding him a a chaff as well.... If we had good grazing i wouldnt worry about feeding a chaff too

My name thoughts were Ryke as it means powerful in dutch but still unsure, was think Barney, Bertie, Ferdi?

The chaff will have lower feed value( most are based on processed straw!!!) than the hay so why spend money for the fun of it.Lots of hay and the balancer.

 

[lex2501]

Nothing useful to add other than a massive congratulations - he looks really lovely

How about Rolf? As Flor backwards??

 

[LEC]

With a 4yo - keep it simple. Nuts and sugarbeet will give him everything he needs and can be cut back or added to with oil if need extra energy or condition. Its cheap and very adaptable.

 

[AdorableAlice]

What a lovely, handsome and well put together horse. I am useless with names and all that sprang to my mind was Remus or Roman.

 

[TarrSteps]

The chaff will have lower feed value( most are based on processed straw!!!) than the hay so why spend money for the fun of it.Lots of hay and the balancer.

Plus it will take up feed storage space, need to be picked up/delivered etc.

The point of hard feed is to get the required calories into the horse in a convenient form and, possibly, to even out any imbalances in the forage ration. Hay is a better source of dietary fibre for the purposes of gut health, so long as it's clean etc, even if it's not sufficient to meet dietary needs.

If a horse is not on self serve there seems to be something to be said for a handful or chaff before work and it's useful to add things to (but even then, I'd rather know all of what I'm adding goes in the horse, not on the floor) if you use a calmer or similar, but hay would do that job, too.

Anyway, you can do as you wish but to not feed a convenient, nutritionally suitable feed simply because you need to feed less of it, when space is at a premium, doesn't make sense. If you need to feed it as a roughage source because you don't have enough hay, have at it, although you'd have to feed it in such large quantities it's only going to take up marginally less space than hay.

 

[eventing_2012]

I see where your coming from but will feed something like alfa a which will have more nutrients than just chaff. I dont really know how he will cope with keeping weight on etc in the winter, so I will see how he goes....Thanks for the advice

 

[TableDancer]

Looks a nice type They always seem to arrive a bit introverted - must he a hell of an upheaval for them - but I'm sure his character will emerge in time

May I suggest you look at the Winergy Eqilibrium range? I've switched to it from Pure Feeds, partly on PrncessSparkle's recommendation, and I'm really pleased with it - it is the same sort of system as Chestnut and Simple Systems etc...

I think Rolfe is a clever idea

 

[TarrSteps]

The horse I have here from Canada looked genuinely bemused by chaff.

Forgot to say, he's a lovely type. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with him. o also like 'Rolfe'.

 

[splashgirl45]

i immediately thought of FERGUS, he looks a really nice type

or

rupert
bailey
barney

 

[eventing_2012]

The lastest on the name front or name of the week at the moment is Hugo......

God this naming milarky is so difficult when he hasnt really come out of his shell yet, although he has been impeccably behaved around the village and round the farm tracks, been going with another horse, but he just strides on ahead like hes seen it all before, hopefully this sugggests he is going to be quite brave