feeding question

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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

(please not I am not feeding my horse the above)
 
Cool mix? or something with more energy?
Mainly getting fat, having build up energy, I guess it can be turned out to burn energy. Also its far to much feed, a top eventer wouldn't be eating that much. How many feeds a day does it get?
 
One feed a day, the scoops of mix is at a max so when the weather is okay she is fed 2 i think. I am unsure what sort of mix it is as I haven't looked
 
Blimey they aren't supposed to have more than 2.5kgs at a time. But I suppose if its not working that doesn't matter.

Why are they feeding her that much, surely she doesn't need it and what a waste in money!
 
Irishcobs, a total of four horses are been fed the same.
She is feeding them that much because she thinks it is what they need, it seems that is the way she likes to spend time with them aswell (not too sure), but it is like this every winter when it starts getting a bit wetter or colder she will go and shove a massive bucket in front of them.
 
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but it is like this every winter when it starts getting a bit wetter or colder she will go and shove a massive bucket in front of them.

[/ QUOTE ] Well if she has been doing it every winter with no ill effects, then it is obviously working for them!
 
Well I am unsure if they do or do not have any effects from it, but she has mentioned before the one of them colics alot (whether she does or doesn't I don't know)
 
totally overfed, i'd say it's worse when they arnt excersised! they must be clinicly obese!
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that is a pretty dangerous amount!! overfeeding is a forma s cruelty aswell as underfeeding. absene amount of food!
 
Imperium,if you're so concerned then talk to the owner and advise her that you know best and she should do what you say with regard to HER horses. I'm sure she'll appreciate you patronising tone and admit that she's obviously wrong.
 
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I saw them today and they don't look that fat actually

[/ QUOTE ] I don't really understand why you are so concerned, especially as you don't even have any idea what sort of mix she is feeding? It could quite easily be a high fibre, low energy mix. I think you said that they are shires, so will have a big food intake requirement anyway and you say yourself they are not overweight.

I must say from this post and from others you have posted that you seem to be constantly criticising other people's horsekeeping without any real knowledge of the full facts and reasons
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Sleeping, I have done on several occasisons.
She is the type of person who thinks she knows best, and things that is what is what he horses want/need. I have also asked my mum to mention it to her (she is my aunt).
 
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I saw them today and they don't look that fat actually

[/ QUOTE ] I don't really understand why you are so concerned, especially as you don't even have any idea what sort of mix she is feeding? It could quite easily be a high fibre, low energy mix. I think you said that they are shires, so will have a big food intake requirement anyway and you say yourself they are not overweight.

I must say from this post and from others you have posted that you seem to be constantly criticising other people's horsekeeping without any real knowledge of the full facts and reasons
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Hope you don't think I was being critical, I was trying to find out what and why, I wasn't passing judgement.
 
Wasn't aimed at you IC, but at Imperium!

It just I know how annoying it is when you are doing something for a very good reason, and someone starts criticising without knowing all the facts!
 
i agree on that.
My main reason for been so concered is that it seems a huge amount of food for the horses who are not doing anything. I personally don't think the horses were obese but were very well covered, i ment that they were not extreamly fat where you could class them as obese. But a change in cicumstances has ment that one of her horses is now been kept with my horse and i am supposed to feed her tonight (even though i told her i feel uncomfortable feeding her so much). As this horse is getting on a fair bit and has had several sever colic attacks, so i feel very uncomfortable with her been fed so much when she doesn't really need it.

I have mentioned to her that they don't need as much as what she is feeding as the horses have several large fields which still have grass in and a round bale of haylage every week or if they run out before that. Two aren't very good dooers but are not particularly bad dooers, and would be ok with a small feed per day if that.

I am just very worried that it could cause some underlying problems which my aunt my not notice or think to look for, and if something does happen now one of her horses is down here and i say something to her she may disregard it as she 'knows best'.


I am sorry i have brought this up, as i have done before i am just worried.
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If you are truly concerned, then first of all find out the true facts before you go rushing in and telling her she is doing it wrong. Firstly you have to find out exactly what sort of mix it is and whether it is high in cereal. If it is and she is feeding large amounts to the colic prone horse, then you could ask her whether she has considered switching to a low cereal mix which is usually a better option for colicky horses. You also might point her in the direction of using a supplement like Coligone which can be useful in such horses.
 
I am not telling her it is wrong, was suggesting that since they are getting suffient supply of food else where they may not need to have such a large feed, as she feeds them even more when it rains. I don't tell her, i just suggest to her.

I was wondering if this would cause a lot of problems, in case i have to TELL her rather then just mention it.
 
Heavy horses require a lot of feed. My 16.3 clydie is in light work, at ideal weight and eats at least 3/4 of a bale of hay a day, 2 huge scoops of lucie stalks (chaff), a big scoop of green gold (alfa a) plus 2 scoops of speedibeet in two feeds. He also has a big scoop of nuts in his ball daily.

A big 18 hand shire will require a lot more than he gets - some eat 1 - 1 1/2 bales of hay a day.

If they are not fat and she has been doing this for years, then there is not a problem with these horses.

If they are fat, with colic problems then yes - they would be better on a diet similar to the one I feed.

If the answer is the first one, then leave her alone - some people think I feed huge feeds, but my lads are in perfect condition - according to my vet and never had any form of colic or gut complaint, which I will point out to them.

Until you have had a heavy horse, you don't know just how much they can eat without putting on weight - and having had TBs, ponies etc was suprised at how much Cairo can pack away with no change to his waistline.

That said, my feeds are low cal and high fibre which is a better way to feed than mix, but this is my own personal opinion and not a criticism of other feed methods.
 
I suggest you concentrate on the cereal content of the food, rather than the size of the feed in general. A large fibre-based feed is not a problem, but large quantities of cereal can be, as it is digested differently from fibre.
 
I went to check the mix and it looks to have quite a lot of oats in it more than anything, it contains.

barley/oats/flaked maize/dark barley pellets/molasses/weatfeed and minerals
oil 2.5%
protein 12.5%
ash 8%
fivre 10.5%
 
Theresa_F , one of them is prone to colic yes and they are a little on the large size. I am sorry if i have critised her feeding I am more worried than anything as a few years ago one of the shires had to be pts due to a major colic incident and it was just extreamly heartbreaking to see what state he was in. I understand they need big feeds but it was the large amount of hard feeds there were getting me a little concered as it if it was ok.

Granted she has been doing it for a number of years but during some of that time i didn't have very detail knowlege about feeding, as my pony was just fed hifi lite to control his laminitis so i did not really need to know much about hard feeds.

But as i have owned a few horses since that, and since we lost a horse to colic i have wondered if it was ok and didn't really have anyone to ask as we are not in a horsey area so this is the first chance i have really had to ask for other peoples opinions on it, as the majority of you are probably more up to date on the whole feeding subject.
 
It does sound like it is a high cereal mix, so perhaps best to ask your mother to have a word with her. She could suggest swapping it for a high fibre mix and/or splitting it into two feeds and/or adding the Coligone supplement I suggested.

Your mother could say that as the horse is kept at your premises, you are both worried about her colicking again, especially as you know how distressing bad colic can be due to your previous experiences.
 
To be honest, the ingredients you have mentioned are all in my coarse-mix and my coarse-mix is a low-sugar, low protein maintenance feed, so unless you know exactly the ratios and what the feed is designed for, then not too sure whether you can give us a true reading of what the feed actually is. My coarse-mix is only 10% protein and it is the lowest on the market here, but 12% isn't that high.

I think we have to be a bit careful here. Shire horses are at least twice the weight of most of our horses on here, therefore obviously they will need significantly larger portions to keep the weight on.

I'm not sure exactly how much she is feeding the horses as one of your posts says 3 scoops a number of times a day but then another says 2 scoops once a day. There is a big difference between the two.

You haven't specified what type of colic the horse died from. Colic in itself is a huge area, it is a general term meaning tummy-ache and can be caused by loads of different factors and certainly not necessarily food each and every time.

If the horse is being given 2 scoops a day, then personally I think this is probably the correct amount (perhaps even a tiny bit too little) for such a huge horse and I wouldn't have an issue with feeding this amount to the horse.

A final point you have to take into account is how "valuable" your hay is. What does the analysis say? This will give you a better idea of what the horse actually needs. I would suspect though, even with superior grade hay, this horse will still need to be fed hard-feed.
 
My only comment would be that I hope that she also feeds a large amount of fibre along with it. If she is feeding a lot of concentrates and little fibre then a lot of them will be passing through the horses system undigested which could lead to colic etc....

It may be worth pointing out that a horses stomach is no larger than a rugby ball (although these are big horses so they may have slightly larger ones) and so feeding huge amount at one time will be pushing it through undigested as well leading to problems....

There's a horse at my yard who has been colicking a lot recently and the vet reckoned that the above were some of the reasons as the horse did not have a happy digestive system.

I did also read (alhtough I'm not sure it was confirmed) that research has been carried out which has shown that feeding large amount of cereal over a long period of time increases a horses chance of getting cushings. Just somthing to think about, but as I say I'm not sure if that was confirmed or just one of these "thoeries".
 
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