Feeding in winter

[Blizzard]

Some of you may have seen my other post, regarding calmers, basically Im about to start my mare on NAF Magic calmer.
she is currently out 24/7 and gets nothng but grass.

However as the weather changes I wil be starting to feed her, she lives out all year, so Im wondering what I should feed her bearing in mind I want something nonheating, I dont want to contereffect the calmer LOL.

so I was thinking, a scoop of Hi Fi lite (she is a very good doer, welsh sec D, lives on fresh air), her calmer, her farriers formula, and maybe a bit of sugar beet to make it a bit more tasty for her?
she will also be getting haylege.

Do you think this is enough for her, Im just trying to be wary not to undo any good work the calmer will be doing, she is only in light work.

 

[Tempi]

is she currently on haylage then? or are you changing her onto it?

 

[Blizzard]

no she is just on grass at the mo, but when there is no grass she will get haylage out in the field, she wil be out all winter.

I just dont want to heat her up when Im trying to calm her down, but of course I wnt to make sure she is getting everything she needs.

 

[baybeejay01]

I used to feed just Alfa A and sugar beet and found that they ate just as well, and sometimes better, without the SB. I would add a broad spectrum vitamin supplement to your proposed diet and see how it goes, you can always add to it at a later date if you need more weight but sounds ok to me as a start

 

[galaxy]

I alway found that sugar beet always made my pony excitable (even the unmolassed stuff). So I only feed him Alfa A Oli in the winter and haylage. Why not just feed Alfa A Lite, which has equivalent energy value to pasture mix and won't pile on the pounds if he's a good doer.

 

[lizzieuk1]

do you really need to feed her, if she's on haylage then she'll be getting a fair bit from that anyway. You could just give her a mineral lick and stick to the haylage, no need to feed unless you think she's loosing condition.

 

[Tempi]

haylage will heat her up if she hasnt been on it........

 

[baybeejay01]

I agree with your point on not feeding if they are good doers and on haylage, but do think a measured dose of vits is better than free access to a lick especially a molasses based one and would therefore give a handful of something (eg Hifi lite or similar) and add vits to that. It also gives them something to look forward to and whilst they are eating it is a good time to check them over and notice anything that could be wrong / not right.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

The best way to decide is go to the experts. All the feed companies have feed advice lines. If you contact them & give them all the details they will advise you what to feed. Try this link
http://www.allenandpage.com/advice.htm
Spillers & others have similar services
Good Luck

 

[Blizzard]

Thanks everyone, I need to feed her something in order to make sure she gets the supplements: calmer, farriers formula, thats whay I thought a scoop, small one of hi fi lite would be about right as that much shouldnt cause any difference in her behaviour, she gets haylege every winter it doesnt fizz her up, probably too cold to play up LOL.

The food is more just to ensure she takes her supplements so I reckon some hi fi lite will be fine.