Feeding & livery dilemma

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sfward

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Missie is a really good doer and although she is being ridden 6 times a week and eventing regularly since August, she is only getting around 1 scoop of ordinary Cool Mix (BATA brand) per day
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. She is out all day so gets plenty of grass; she looks well and has plenty of energy, but I'm worried she's not getting enough nutrients for her workload, especially with autumn on its way, so have been thinking about feeding a balancer. Having looked at the Baileys website it sounds like the Lo-Cal Balancer would be perfect for her - balance of nutrients and protein without the calories, and I can just add it to her regular handful of mix.

My dilemma is
a) Is a balancer really necessary seeing as she seems to be fit and healthy? Or am I just being a fussy mother!
b) If it is, should I ask the yard to get it in or just pay for it myself? My feed is included but it doesn't stipulate what. I suspect that asking them to supply a balancer when to a neutral observer she looks perfectly well would probably not be very well received and I would end up having to order it myself and then have the hassle of trying to get the money back for it (i pay fees in advance by direct debit) But given that I pay £15 a day livery and she only gets a scoop of BATA own brand cool mix a day I'm inclined to think that asking them to supply it doesn't seem too unreasonable?!

What do you think?!
 
My friend has horses at professional event yards. If she feels there is something special that they need she buys it herself and passes on to the yard.

It's possible that your horse is getting absolutely everything she needs feed wise, but obviously if you are concerned they are the people to talk to in the first instance. I assume they are finding that she has enough energy to compete - or up the feed as she nears competion time, perhaps.
 
Sorry - it's a livery yard so I'm riding her myself, it's just that we're on full livery which includes feed. As long as it's feed they stock though...
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When I first got her I wanted her to stay on what she was being fed before but they just ignored me and started feeding her what theirs were on.
I think i'll have to just discuss it with them but from experience special requests aren't particularly welcomed!
 
My previous horse evented on a small amount of hi-fi and pony nuts. He never felt lacking in anything but he was also on decent grass/hay.

We run full livery and if clients want supplements/balancers then they buy their own I'm afraid!
 
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When I first got her I wanted her to stay on what she was being fed before but they just ignored me and started feeding her what theirs were on.

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Well from what you're saying they don't sound like a yard I would want to pay to keep my horse at.

You are the customer.
 
I have never heard of that brand of feed? Agree the yard may baulk at having to buy a balancer - but you should be able to choose the brand of feed she gets. I feed Allen & Page because they list every ingredient and include probiotics which ensure the horse gets the most nourishment from the feed and keep the gut healthy. To be honest this is more important than just adding more feed. You could also provide a vit & min lick for her if you feel she needs a little more without adding feed.
 
No you won't have done, they're a yorkshire company which primarily produce agricultural feed. I'll take a look at the bag later and see if I can work out what it might compare to.
It's awkward as she does seem fine in herself but I just wouldn't choose to feed her this diet if I was keeping her at home...
 
Yes I think so! They tell me it contains the same ingredients as Spillers...
I spoke to them about feed yesterday and basically it's a case of feed what they stock or else pay for it yourself....
DIY livery is looking more appealing every day!!
 
You should be able to stipulate what your horse is fed. At many yards they will stipulate that, if feed is included in the livery, that they will pay for feed up to £? per bag....anything over that price you would have to make up. Suppliments & balancers i.e. Blue Chip, Equivite etc are fed at extra cost to the client.

The yard should not tell you what you can & cannot feed your horse. Horses are individuals & need to be fed according to their needs & work done.
 
Hey,

Just picked up on this post and see you are feeding ' 1 scoop of ordinary Cool Mix (BATA brand) per day' IMHO you would be right to feed a balancer.

Mixes do give the right amount of vits and minerals but you have to feed in the quantities directed by the manufacturer to get enough into them. I am betting that this is more than one scoop!
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I would just feed a little of the balancer - they are designed really to supplement straights (as these obviously do not contain any added minerals) so would be ideal, especially if you are doing a lot of work with her.

Not sure about the other point though!

J x
 
I run a livery yard and to be quite honest if one of my clients were paying £15 a day I would ensure that the horse was fed what ever they wanted. The most anyone pays on my yard is £9.28 a day and they get the best of care and food. I suspect you are being ripped off.
 
Our yard feed all the horses, even those on 'DIY' livery, they can all be fed at the same time then. They will feed horse and pony mix or condition cubes with chaff and sugarbeet in the winter. If you want anything additional you buy it yourself and they will feed. Livery is very reasonable, and when my mare was getting specialist feed, I felt it would be unreasonable for them to buy it, I also provide her joint supplement and anything else additional.

We pay a lot less livery than you though!
 
If you are competeing I would actually check what is in the bag, only cos our agricultural merchants do their own brand coarsemix which is similar to spillers, however it has not been tested for caffeine, etc fir competitions
 
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