Bambe
New User
I've been boarding at this place for well over a year. When I came, the agreement was the feed and hay were included in the price and supplements were extra. at the time feed included a concentrate: high fat, high fibre and beet pulp. My horse dropped a bit of weight and we put him on beet pulp. to be honest, I wasn't happy with it and still thought that he needed more weight but all that happened was the beet pulp was upped and he wouldn't eat it.
i then added in rice bran and he picked up.
then 4 horses left and I was the only boarder. got the notice that beet pulp was no longer included but I could pay for it. so I declined and requested a small jump in grain and the rice bran to continue.
Fast forward to winter and my horse and I were laid up in sequence (surgery for me, lameness for him) so he was off work for about 4 months. He put on a nice covering of substance during this time. He's now back to work. goes off the rice bran so I substitute flax which he loves. He's dropping weight. makes sense as we're back to our schedule of intense 60 min workout (lots of trot and canter). Vet comes out for annual vaccinations and notes that his weight is okay but shouldn't go any lower.
he drops further. so I request a bump in grain. BO wants to me add beet pulp and oil (my cost). I politely request a bump in concentrate as it's balanced and I know the nutrition. If he gets too hot we'll drop him down and add in the other fat sources. there are a few exchanges and she wants to me to purchase supplements from the states. I don't like supplements of vitamins and minerals. I prefer a diet of a balanced concentrate, forage, and a fat source- in this case he's on flax and adding oil seems to me like adding icing to cake to increase weight but not a balance of nutrients to help him gain muscle and be healthy.
so we are going back and forth on this. IN my previous place he was getting 4 litres feed + forage when in full work and then adjusted as work declined. Now he's on 3 litres of feed, flax and forage (but hay this time of year is NOT good. and frankly the quality this year was poor due to crappy summer).
so now I am faced with looking for another place. gah!
thanks for letting me vent.
i then added in rice bran and he picked up.
then 4 horses left and I was the only boarder. got the notice that beet pulp was no longer included but I could pay for it. so I declined and requested a small jump in grain and the rice bran to continue.
Fast forward to winter and my horse and I were laid up in sequence (surgery for me, lameness for him) so he was off work for about 4 months. He put on a nice covering of substance during this time. He's now back to work. goes off the rice bran so I substitute flax which he loves. He's dropping weight. makes sense as we're back to our schedule of intense 60 min workout (lots of trot and canter). Vet comes out for annual vaccinations and notes that his weight is okay but shouldn't go any lower.
he drops further. so I request a bump in grain. BO wants to me add beet pulp and oil (my cost). I politely request a bump in concentrate as it's balanced and I know the nutrition. If he gets too hot we'll drop him down and add in the other fat sources. there are a few exchanges and she wants to me to purchase supplements from the states. I don't like supplements of vitamins and minerals. I prefer a diet of a balanced concentrate, forage, and a fat source- in this case he's on flax and adding oil seems to me like adding icing to cake to increase weight but not a balance of nutrients to help him gain muscle and be healthy.
so we are going back and forth on this. IN my previous place he was getting 4 litres feed + forage when in full work and then adjusted as work declined. Now he's on 3 litres of feed, flax and forage (but hay this time of year is NOT good. and frankly the quality this year was poor due to crappy summer).
so now I am faced with looking for another place. gah!
thanks for letting me vent.
