Feeding straights

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MiCsarah

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My boy gets a reaction to something in the manufactured feeds and comes up in spots. They don't really bother him, they get little heads on them and when you pick them off they are just a hole. He needs some feed to have his supplements in during the summer and something to keep his weight on during the winter. We also have a shortage on hay this year so need to feed something that's quite filling aswell for when he's in. He has alot f natural energy so can't really feed oats.
So please somebody help me out and explain what I need to be feeding. From Reading some threads on here I'm guessing sugarbeet and bran mash is a good start?
 
He is on glucosamine with msm, which is double dose and he's on half a bite every other day. At the minute he has a handful of alfa a lite and a handful of pony nuts with a dash of molasses on his bute days or he won't eat it
 
What manufactured feeds have you given him that have caused a reaction? It might be possible to work out what he is intolerant to from seeing if there is a common ingredient in all those.

Otherwise, I might start with some sort of grass-based product - such as grass nuts or a grass chaff (such as Readigrass, Graze-On etc). These are usually reasonably high calorie (calorie content varies according to what grasses they are made from), filling and a good source of fibre. If having fed that for a few weeks without reaction, then you can add a vit/min supplement to it.

Personally, I wouldn't feed bran to such a horse as quite a few horses react to wheat, plus wheat products are in many manufactured feeds and could possibly be the cause of your problem.
 
He first started to react about 4 yrs ago and was on d&h pasture mix. I put him on simple system before it became a craze and he just wouldn't eat that. Don't know why I never thought of grass nuts. Thankyou
 
OK. I have a 25 year old, Arab who is healthy but has poor teeth. He is out 24/7 summer and out during the day in winter.

I had a forage analysis and the following was created bespoke by my trimmer for £35.

1.4kg Fast Fibre (safe forage for my grazing)
1.4kg Speedibeet (see above)
1tsp copper (to balance my forage)
1tsp zinc (see above)
8g magnesium oxide (see above)
100g micronised linseed (excellent for joints, gut, coat and general health)
2000iu vitamin e (2 gelcaps squeezed into feed to boost immune system in older horse)
20mg biotin (for foot health)
10g lysine (to balance forage)
oats (for energy)
I also add
Readigrass (something to chew)
Turmeric (for joints)
Fenugreek (taste and appetite stimulation)
Yea-sacc (to improve gut function)
Bran (for taste)
Herbs ( random mix of clivers, nettle, mint, hawthorn, yarrow, meadow sweet, marigold, chamomile, red clover etc)

I know it seems alot, but it is much cheaper than paying for commercial feeds!

Allen and Page does a couple of mixes that might do for you. They also do a sugar and cereal intolerance mix.

Or (if I were you) I'd use
Fast Fibre (safe bulk)
micronised linseed (for his joints and general wellbeing)
turmeric (for joints)
Global Herbs' general supplement.
Fungreek is also extremely cheap and tempts fussy eaters.
 
MiCsarah said:
He first started to react about 4 yrs ago and was on d&h pasture mix.
Click to expand...

Is that the only feed he has reacted to? It may possibly have barley in it - if so, that is possibly the cause of the reaction - barley brings a lot of horses out in spots/lumps.
 
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It came then and has never dissapeared since. He also had hifi original if I remember correctly. Vet said it was a reaction to some feed stuff but didn't know of what
 
Barley is common for causing skin lumps, and alfalfa can sometimes cause skin problems too, so I would suggest eliminating both these (HiFi also contains alfalfa and some pony nuts may contain alfalfa and/or barley).

If he is happy to eat grass nuts or grass chaff I would start with this alone and see whether the lumps disappear. I would stick to one plain straight feed stuff (such as grass nuts/chaff) to start with - adding extras will only make it harder to work out what is causing the problem.
 
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