Feeding - alternativ to chaff

[Lorian]

Hey

My horse is having a mini op on his teeth next week. Hes 20 now so they are a bit dodgy lol. The vet has said to avoid feeding chaff now as it will make his condition worse and come back again.

I normally feed Alfa A chaff in summer and then in winter I feed Alfa Beet and any chaff.
Occassionally he will have some pasture mix.

I feed Alfalfa as it seems to keeps his muscle tone better than other products ive tried. Think it might be the high protein helps his old muscles and stops them sagging hehe.

Incase you need to know hes 15 hand arab who can be a poor doer.

Does anyone know of any good chaff alternatives or Alfalfa products?
Any ideas on what you would feed instead appreciated

 

[TGM]

Why don't you just feed the Alfa Beet that you are already using?

Other options are Speedibeet, Fast Fibre, soaked alfalfa pellets, soaked high fibre cubes, soaked grass cubes etc. (Of those, the Fast Fibre and high fibre cubes are supplemented with vit/mins - if you choose one of the others you might want to add a vit/min supplement as he is getting on in years).

If you want more condition then you could look at adding oil-rich foods in some form - perhaps straight oil or micronised linseed.

 

[paulineh]

You could try Simple Systems feeds. I use the Lucie Bixs and speedy beet soaked over night plus a balancer (I use Baileys Lo Cal).

My Arabs have the above and recently one was well placed in an endurance ride (92k race Ride) on just the above feed plus endurance mix during the ride.

Simple Systems feeds are good for the older horse as it is forage based and can easily be soaked.

 

[RioSG]

My old horse had a stroke and couldn't eat properly for a long time. He was an elderly Arab! I put him on Luciebix which were soaked, along with another product that I can't find on their pages anymore - they must have stopped doing it, but it was almost a bran mash type product made from barley. All was soaked overnight and ended up like weetabix, perfect for those who have difficulty chewing! Also kept his weight on and was tasty enough to encourage him to eat

 

[Oberon]

I have been using Fast Fibre as a hay replacer due to dental issues for my 24y/o Arab.
(Along with Speedibeet, Copra and his Magic Barefoot Powder).

I stopped using Simple Systems becasue it was a faff getting hold of it and it took too long to soak.

I really liked their Total Eclipse but at £49 for 15kg I can buy the ingredients from Charnwood Milling for a quarter of the price and make it myself!

 

[jhoward]

What about just grass or redi grass?? for the oil content you could feed linseed oil or something like sunflower oil?

if he needs something mushy then things like ride and relax or good old sugarbeet may help??