Feeding naturally

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rug~addict

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Hi. I was hoping for people's opinions. I have a 6 year old cob x at rest. Hes had various complaints over the years. Including ; filled legs from rich haylage, he can be riggy, always itchy (not sweetitch, just itchy with no hair loss) feet are dry and britle at the moment. Kidney flare ups ( sore and slightly puffy over area), strong urine.

These things are not all at once and not constant. They just happen from time to time. He usually eats a mix with beet and chaff in winter and fibre nuts and spedi beet and hoof kind in summer with either a pellet or powdered balancer along with a gut balancer as he eats haylage ( included in our livery).

Hes the perfect weight and has a shiny coat.

Ive been looking in to feeding a more natural diet to see ic anything changes/improves.

So here's what im thinking of feeding.

Grass nuts (soaked)
Dried grass
Boiled Linseed
Seaweed powder
Brewers yeast
Rock salt in his water Cider vinegar.

For those of you who know about Turmeric, im looking into making Turmeric paste too.

Is there anything you can think of that it may be lacking?

Thanks in advance
 
Spirulina is meant to be helpful for allergies - I feed it for muscle building but it's very good stuff, fed in small quantities, worth reading into.

Dandelion may be a useful addition for kidneys.
 
peh1980 said:
Spirulina is meant to be helpful for allergies - I feed it for muscle building but it's very good stuff, fed in small quantities, worth reading into.

Dandelion may be a useful addition for kidneys.
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Thanks. I'll look into Spirulina. Turmeric is said to be good for itchy skin too. So might try the Turmeric paste as it has many benefits. Although its very new to me and im still looking into it.

I didn't think about Dandelion. Sounds good thanks
 
I'd get this horse off haylage!

My horse has much better skin since changing to hay and has lost weight. which is something we had been struggling with since buying her when she was over-weight. Her digestive system seems to be calmer, too, with much firmer droppings.
 
Thanks but were at a livery. A farmer delivery large round haylage every 3 days. It varies depending on the fields its come from. So its not feasibly possible as I would have to have it tested every time.
 
Hi I really wouldn't feed him seaweed as it's extremely high iron which is detrimental to feet. I'd recommend a good quality vit and min balancer to help his feet, look into the forage plus ones (they have a website) or slightly less pricey is the Pro Balance powder by Progressive Earth (sold on eBay). :)
 
Surely seaweed in the correct quantities is no different than the iron in a balancer? I want to feed him naturally, so no fillers and starch. But balancers generally are not natural.
 
Ive just looked at the forage summer balancer. There is no ingredients list. Im always put off when companies dont make their ingredients readily known. Its as if they are hiding something.
 
rug~addict said:
Surely seaweed in the correct quantities is no different than the iron in a balancer? I want to feed him naturally, so no fillers and starch. But balancers generally are not natural.
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Good balancers such as forage plus and pro balance have very low levels of iron in because they're formulated to help feet. There aren't any fillers or starch in them? I appreciate you're trying to feed him naturally but if you're wanting to improve feet a balancer is the way to go and seaweed is a very dated thing to feed horses now, along with garlic as it's been recognised they don't benefit the horse.
 
As far as I'm aware FP don't hide anything and if you have a chat with Sarah Braithwaite, she'll advise you and tell you how it is for your particular candidate!!

I too would definitely get him off haylage...and I'd also be inclined to do a bit of a trial and drop the chaff too and see if his itchiness desists..i only mention this as when I bought my cob some years ago now, as a 3 year old,..i put him on chop and he used to itch regularly. Some wise old bird mentioned to drop the chaff from his diet and see how he went....and hey presto, the itchiness became a lot less as the days went by!! As it turned out I worked out that he must have been allergic to an extent, to alphalpha..!

Just a thought OP and one which you might like to investigate into.. :)

My Haylage was always included in my livery, but I never used it and sourced and fed my own hay as I refused to put my boy and his digestive system through the mill. I now am on a great yard who let me feed and store my own hay and park my hay trailer up, in leiu of NOT using their own haylage (include in their livery rates).
 
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Iron is really not a good idea! Seaweed isnt really natural either! I have had dramatic results on my fat, sweet itchy horse with absolutely knackered infected feet with a radical diet change. Hes used to get hifi and a cheap joint supplement. Now he gets pro hoof, linseed, brewers yeast (huge dose of approx 75gms) Mag chloride, and salt in a big handful of fast fibre. He has NO sweet itch now, even turned out 24/7 with no rug and he was a chronic sufferer :) His shoes are off and his feet are coming right, he also seems to be less prone to weight gain.
 
FP and PE are very open about the ingredients used. Unlike the more "natural" Thunderbrook who point blank refuses to give me a proper nutritional analysis unless call them so they can give the hard sell and bang on about organic this, and how they are better than everything else available!
 
Thanks for the help all. I see the forage balancer has seaweed in it. At a low level. So I don't understand the difference between using different herbs to make your own balancer?

Janovich he isnt on a chaff. Just pure dried grass. Also as I previously mentioned. Ive tried changing from haylage to hay with no change.
 
Linseed is great - but not boiled. Just feed it whole or you can grind it in a coffee grinder if you wish. But it needs to be done daily - it starts to deterioate very quickly once it's ground.

I don't know if you can get hemp in the UK? It is a great feed for horses with the kind of problems you describe. You might be able to buy the oil. Here we can get hemp seed pallets which are easy to feed and are a great supplement for horses. They are a complete protein and are high in omega 3.
 
rug~addict said:
Thanks for the help all. I see the forage balancer has seaweed in it. At a low level. So I don't understand the difference between using different herbs to make your own balancer?
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The problem with feeding seaweed is that it contains high levels of iodine - horses at rest or in light work only need very small amounts of iodine in their diet. If your horse is having ad-lib forage then he'll almost definitely be getting enough iodine. More info here:
http://spillers-careline.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/seaweed-word-of-caution.html
http://forageplus.co.uk/should-you-feed-your-horse-seaweed/

Grass pellets have a high sugar content so are high energy - if your horse is going to be at rest, does he need a high-energy feed? Why not just go with ad-lib haylage and a good balancer (eg Pro Hoof) and a plain white salt lick?

Making your own balancer is not as easy as it sounds. And not the cheaper option, either! :-)
 
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Thanks. I guess I opted for the grass pellets as he won't eat just the grass. And buy not eating obviously isn't getting his supplements. Ive tried adding spearmint but its not working. Any suggestions? Im not looking for a cheap option just the right one for him.

NZJenny yes we have whole hemp seed here. I boil the Linseed because as far as I'm aware it has to be cooked.
 
Have a looks at Thunderbrook Horse feeds. I'm very pleased with the results and their nutritionist is really helpful if you have any questions.
 
rug~addict said:
Thanks. I guess I opted for the grass pellets as he won't eat just the grass. And buy not eating obviously isn't getting his supplements. Ive tried adding spearmint but its not working. Any suggestions? Im not looking for a cheap option just the right one for him.

NZJenny yes we have whole hemp seed here. I boil the Linseed because as far as I'm aware it has to be cooked.
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Sorry, think I might've misunderstood. If you're just planning to feed a smallish amount of grass pellets as a carrier to mix your supplements than that should be absolutely fine. My lot love them but they are rocket fuel.

ps didn't intend any offence - I spent ages pricing up a bespoke balancer - the calculations gave me a massive headache and surprisingly, it didn't work out any cheaper than buying a ready made one :-)
 
Buy micronised linseed, it's produced by Charnwood Milling in the UK. Much easier to handle than having to keep boiling whole linseed.

BTW, you would have to feed your horse a LOT of whole, uncooked linseed to poison him.
 
I certainly would not feed seaweed you have no idea where it's from how many heavy metals are in the coastal waters it's harvested from .
High level of iron are deter mental to horses and unless your horse is a Shetland used to eking out life on a bare island by browsing on the beaches it's not very natural either .
Adding seaweed powdered to food gives the horse no chance to decide to browse on it it's not really at natural thing to do.
The natural way to feed a horse is to allow it to roam over a vast area getting fat in summer and risking starvation in winter things have moved on .
You need a high fibre energy appropriate diet for your horse I would think of it in terms of healthy not natural .
 
OP you definitely don't need to boil linseed - that's a very old wives tale.

I don't know about feeding hemp seed - I've never seen that here, just the oil and the hemp seed cake, which is what is left over when the oil has been extracted from the seed.
 
Why dont you start off very basically, a few weeks on sugar beet, micronised linseed and brewers yeast and salt. See how that goes then you can add in forage plus or the pro earth balancer. If your horse needs more I would try Copra meal, or oats.
There's no point in starting your diet with all your variables already in as you wont know what one will make the difference! I would stay away from Turmeric too unless you want to hang out on facebook with the other turmeric users.
For what it is worth, my TB looked fantastic in NZ on just beet, linseed and the correct minerals (along with not that much hay)
 
I'd give Forage Plus a call and have a natter with them... they put my boy (and me!) on the right track and we've not looked back since. Lots of extremely informative info on her website and a few 'case scenarios' for you to muse over too.

Just a thought...

Hope you sort your horse's diet out soon enough OP :)
 
lucemoose said:
Why dont you start off very basically, a few weeks on sugar beet, micronised linseed and brewers yeast and salt. See how that goes then you can add in forage plus or the pro earth balancer. If your horse needs more I would try Copra meal, or oats.
There's no point in starting your diet with all your variables already in as you wont know what one will make the difference! I would stay away from Turmeric too unless you want to hang out on facebook with the other turmeric users.
For what it is worth, my TB looked fantastic in NZ on just beet, linseed and the correct minerals (along with not that much hay)
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That makes sence. Thanks.
 
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