feeding question - what problems can be caused with..

[samsaccount]

what problems can/will be caused with feeding amounts of a mix (talking around 3-4 large scoops per day - along with other feeds) to a large horse who is not in work, not fit and will not be in work?

thanks

 

[TGM]

Depends totally on the horse and the mix fed! There are all sorts of mixes from low energy fibre-based mixes to high cereal high energy competition feeds. If it is the former then it is unlikely to cause any problems at all!

 

[samsaccount]

Ok thanks, I have not looked at the mix so I cannot say which it is.
Four horses are fed on it all shire mares, similar build, different temprements two are good dooers two aren't.

 

[Theresa_F]

I don't feed mix to my clydie who is semi retired, but he has get a large scoop of lucie stalks, 1/2 green gold, carrots and scoop of speedibeet twice a day so his feeds look huge and feel very heavy. All depends on the size of the horse and what type of mix. A heavy horse like ours will also quite happily munch 3/4 plus of a bale of hay a day.

People say I feed huge feeds, but mine are high fibre and low calorie. So if they are fed something like this, then they will be fine. If it was that amount of a high energy mix, then that would not be good.

 

[samsaccount]

They are all shires.
They have a mix (as i have said i am unsure what kind - all i know is that it is mae by the feed merchant and not by anyone like spillers) - hifi senior, carrots and sugar beet

 

[the watcher]

Are they yours? Do they appear to be suffering in any way? If neither apply then I don't see any reason to be concerned

 

[TGM]

See this thread in Stable Yard:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1658976/an/0/page/0#1658976

(Same question posted twice!)

 

[the watcher]

Thank you, i see I am on the same wavelegth as most other posters in that case

 

[Blizzard]

Hmm sorry arent you the person who was constantly complaiing about the livery you had at your hard, and she has finally left?

If so, sorry but i get the impression that you just need to have a bee in your bonnet and someone to complain about .

sorry if Ive got the wrong person!

If these are your aunts horses and you are genuinely concerned, why not just say nicely are you sure the horses should be getting so much feed.

You dont even know what the mixes are do you.

 

[henryhorn]

Possibly none, it depends on the horse!
A stud I know feeds threequarters of a bucket of barley/sugar beet and chaff twice daily to all their horses, they are stabled a lot of the time and not ridden at all, yet none get any sort of feed related trouble at all. They also have ad lib hay or haylage.
If there are any problems it will show up in swollen legs first as a rule.