Feeding the correct feed.........are you sure!

Chermar

Chermar

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I am interested to hear people's view on this. Until recently I was convinced I was feeding the correct feed, and had all the logical explanations for doing so!!! That was until I had a really bad day with a loopy mare that was in season. On having a chance conversation with a local feed rep I actually found I was feeding her all wrong. Two weeks on and a compete change of hard feed I have a very settled mare who (so far) no longer gets fizzy, anxious or annoyed about things. I always thought I was doing things right, but that was my ignorance, how many of you actually seek the advice of the experts or just do what they think is right?

I have now decided to get all my horses feed looked at in detail as I can't believe the difference it has made and saved me a fortune on suppliments that I probably would have bought to counter act the feed she was getting. I think none of us take advantage of the free advice and expertise the feed companies offer us, they spend thousands on research and science and yet do we still think we know better?

What's your view?
 
We've never consulted a feed person in terms of this is Exhibit A - he does this and is fed this what do you recommend?

But we will, if say we are after grain mix, discuss the pros and cons of different brands, price, what they recommend & feedback they have had etc Which has sometimes influenced our choices.

ETS - here the biggest influence the feed people have in our buying is the type of chaff we get. Where it comes from in Aus at different times of year can have a big impact on the quality etc. So we have green chaff and GREEN chaff (lucerne/alfalfa), mixed, white (oaten or wheated) that can be dry, nutritionally zero & only a source of fibre only to quite 'rich' white chaff.
 
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I got a First in my Nutrition for Performance exam at Uni, so in theory I should know what I'm doing! In reality I probably forgot it all the second I walked out the exam room :o :D

My Mare is on fibre, fibre and more fibre, so I can't go far wrong! :D
 
I think I am!

I did consult a nutritionist when my gelding went onto box rest and had lost weight due to a short stay in horsepital due to a wound. They were very helpful and I called them again at the start of the year to review his dietary needs again.

Most of it was commmon sense and it was just nice to have someone to chat to about it all. I would always advise people to use this service too - ensures that you meet all their vit and min requirements too.
 
Chermar said:
I am interested to hear people's view on this. Until recently I was convinced I was feeding the correct feed, and had all the logical explanations for doing so!!! That was until I had a really bad day with a loopy mare that was in season. On having a chance conversation with a local feed rep I actually found I was feeding her all wrong. Two weeks on and a compete change of hard feed I have a very settled mare who (so far) no longer gets fizzy, anxious or annoyed about things. I always thought I was doing things right, but that was my ignorance, how many of you actually seek the advice of the experts or just do what they think is right?

I have now decided to get all my horses feed looked at in detail as I can't believe the difference it has made and saved me a fortune on suppliments that I probably would have bought to counter act the feed she was getting. I think none of us take advantage of the free advice and expertise the feed companies offer us, they spend thousands on research and science and yet do we still think we know better?

What's your view?
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Would love to know your before and after diet :)

I feed a lot of fibre and not much else :)
 
Horses are over fed in many cases.

At college, we were learning about feeding the horse from the leisure horse, to comp/breedingstock.

We had to learn all these calculations listed in a book about the 'nutritional requirements of horses' which enabled us to work out exactly how much forage to feed, and how much concentrate to feed (forage concentrate ratio)

The amount of concentrate for a leisure/light work horse worked out to be huge! Something like 2.5kg of hard feed for an average 500g horse in LIGHT WORK and carrying enough weight with it!!!

One student piped up and said, "So an average leisure horse dosent need all that food surely?" The lecturer actually agreed, and said, for the purpose of your exams it does, but alot of these calculations are based on TBs only, so NO they do not need this amount of feed unless of course, they need the weight or extra oomph. And there are safer ways of feeding this to horses, eg. oils and oats (highest fibre grain out there) without the unecessary 'extras' in concentrate mixes and nuts.

Unfortunatly, the feed companies (looking on the back of a bag of feed) seem to be still sticking to feeding an average horse in light work 2-2.5kg of hard feed a day, regardless of weight/temperament. And,how on earth do we measure 'light work' (many people believe that their horses are in light work, when actually they are more in very light work or maintenance/at grass.

The feed companies state that we MUST feed the recommended amount to our horses everyday, or we risk under doing the vits and mins to keep our horses healthy. Yet, never mention maybe decreasing the amount in the spring when the grass is more nutritious?

Like other posters have mentioned, feed companies are very helpful people, but we are responsible for reading around and researching and looking through the glossy marketing techniques to find out the best feeding plan for our own horses.
 
My two are on simple systems diets, after seeing the changes in the both after swapping on to this i wouldnt ever feed any mixes/startch/high protein feeds again. Simple systems is all natural feeds and supplements and is much more easy to digest than mixes/balancers etc.
 
I've completely given up on 'brands' and supplements... was costing me a fortune each month and neither of my boys were happy! Just switched 2 weeks ago to Thunderbrook Feeds: just feed a mug of the Base Mix, Mug of bran and a handful of Readi Grass... all organic, alot cheaper, they love it, tummies have all settled down and they both look fantastic! Very pleased :D
 
Weezy said:
Would love to know your before and after diet :)

I feed a lot of fibre and not much else :)
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It was Bluegrass Nice & easy Cubes mixed with Alfa A and some linseed oil. I thought I was keeping it simple and that the Alfa was giving plenty of fibre, But those particular cubes have a high starch level so on the advice of the Rep I changed her to Bluegrass Releve which has very low starch levels. It really made a huge difference to her concentration levels she has been in season since and it made no impact on her behaviour. It's been a real success for me I would have been loading her with a calmer as I have done every year!!
 
i had this problem.. was feeding alfa - a , a feed balancer and a conditioning beat mix thingie.. i had a bad bad lesson as he was sooo full of himself and did not settle .. he had been on his last feed for a year fine, but i thought.. actually why is he on all this?... so i changed and now he is on hifi and a couple of nuts and is as good as gold :D i found that i was feeding him 3x as much protien as my instructors horses were getting.. and i had been recommended this feed by an expert!!>.wooopss:o
 
I get a bit annoyed by some of them, my mare is on hay (great qual) and topspec balancer, mixed with a little chaff, and is out eventing and working hard, my vet thinks she looks perfect. Yet if I phoned a feed company they would be telling me I need to fill her with all sorts of mixes. She will be living out from tomorrow pm with hay and I was going to put her on a mix, but this morning she felt very well so I don't think I'll bother!
 
Tempi said:
My two are on simple systems diets, after seeing the changes in the both after swapping on to this i wouldnt ever feed any mixes/startch/high protein feeds again. Simple systems is all natural feeds and supplements and is much more easy to digest than mixes/balancers etc.
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Ditto - I know mine are all on the right stuff as they hold weight, don't get fizzy, have enough energy to do their job and are calm, chilled individuals. They all get various combinations of the same stuff and 2 get some Omega rice added to aid muscle build up. They never had any more than about 1.5kg of 'hard' feed a day during winter and even then we had to cut it down as they got porky (all tbs btw!). Cost me £30 a week to feed 4 over winter - inc supplements too.

It does amaze me how much some folk feed! I think all this over produced feed has taken away from the true skill of feeding correctly.
 
There are so many options here, I don't know how anyone steers a course! There is a feed in Canada called "hi fat hi fibre", a Purina product similar to Simple Systems and most of what I rode was on an individualised portion of that, perhaps with a fat supplement. That said, it's also easier and relatively cheaper to get consistently good quality hay there so I'd allow that makes a difference.

I have had feed make a HUGE difference to a few horses in the past, not just amounts but in terms of ingredients/composition so I pay close attention to the feeding regime of any horse I'm working with for behavioural/retraining/physical issues. For many it's not a massive issue but for the few it can make an enormous difference. I had one mare who stopped weaving completely when we found the right food for her.

I do think economy has to be factored in too, to allow for sustainability. Not in terms of feeding poor quality, but with thought to feeding suitably and conservatively.

That said, there are lots of people who subconsciously subscribe to "food is love" where their horses are concerned and they ENJOY feeding like a science experiment, even if the horse really doesn't need it. ;) All good, unless, of course, they're making a rod for their own backs.
 
Scarlett said:
Ditto - I know mine are all on the right stuff as they hold weight, don't get fizzy, have enough energy to do their job and are calm, chilled individuals. They all get various combinations of the same stuff and 2 get some Omega rice added to aid muscle build up. They never had any more than about 1.5kg of 'hard' feed a day during winter and even then we had to cut it down as they got porky (all tbs btw!). Cost me £30 a week to feed 4 over winter - inc supplements too.

It does amaze me how much some folk feed! I think all this over produced feed has taken away from the true skill of feeding correctly.
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where do you get your omega rice bran from ???? - mine is 7/8th TB and although i have kept the weight on over the winter (just) she has cost me £60 a month for one horse to give feed to - not inc hay (linseed meal, copra meal, kwikbeet and spiller slow release cubes)- no cereal
 
kezimac said:
where do you get your omega rice bran from ???? - mine is 7/8th TB and although i have kept the weight on over the winter (just) she has cost me £60 a month for one horse to give feed to - not inc hay (linseed meal, copra meal, kwikbeet and spiller slow release cubes)- no cereal
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I used to feed Equi Jewel (rice bran) as part of my mares' winter rations, and like yours, she was costing me £60 a month just in hard feed. Then I switched to soaked oats, which is really really cheap and put the weight on marvellously, but a bit of a pain to do.

I did that for a couple of years, then had a year of feeing Baileys Top Line cubes, which again, kept the weight on, but I was buying nearly 4 bags a month, plus Readigrass and oil and the price was starting to creap up again.

Since Allen & Page have introduced their Soaked range, I've been feeding their Calm & Condition and it's amazing. My feed bill is now about £20 a month :o)
 
madhossy said:
I used to feed Equi Jewel (rice bran) as part of my mares' winter rations, and like yours, she was costing me £60 a month just in hard feed. Then I switched to soaked oats, which is really really cheap and put the weight on marvellously, but a bit of a pain to do.

I did that for a couple of years, then had a year of feeing Baileys Top Line cubes, which again, kept the weight on, but I was buying nearly 4 bags a month, plus Readigrass and oil and the price was starting to creap up again.

Since Allen & Page have introduced their Soaked range, I've been feeding their Calm & Condition and it's amazing. My feed bill is now about £20 a month :o)
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tried c and c but sent her loopy! has maize in it and she cant have cereals. real shame as heard good things
 
I just feed fibre and a balancer. I don't think they need anything else. In fact my TB probably doesn't even need a balancer but it's my one extravagance because he is a TB, if I had something heavier or native IDx I wouldn't bother.
I dont like simple systems, it's based on Alfa and stupidly expensive for what it is.

My boy gets hay/haylage with a balancer and HIFI, when in work he also gets fibre nuts. When there is lots of grass he gets nothing but half ration of balancer.
He looks amazing, is fit but round and muscely and most importantly cool as a cucumber!

If I had a native type or good doer I would prob just feed grass and hay. I think fibre meets most energy requirements and if a horse doesn't have enough energy it's usually not fit enough.

My mums TB used to race on chaff and spillers pony nuts with a handful of racehorse cubes fed only on the morning of a race and he was chasing for 4 miles and was successful too. Now he is fed similar to mine and has a good weight.

I think some people go crazy about feed, I can't understand why some people feed SO many products! If our boys drop off it's usually because they aren't eating up all their hay for some reason so we give haylage instead or some extra chaff to get the fibre in to them and they bloom :), we never add more 'hard' feed as such :)
 
All mine are on Simple Sytems. The good doers are on just rough stuff and total eclipse and youngsters red grass, just grass and total eclipse.

All are very chilled, fab glossy coats.
 
This is really interesting!! I actually emailed bluegrass when i first got annie and they said feed her 3kg Cool N' Condition, salt and Alfa-A. She did need to gain a bit of weight but i thought woo thats a bit much and may possibly send her crazy :eek: So i went with the Bluegrass Horse and pony cubes (about 2kg per day) and Showshine chaff (2 round scoops) as she eats super fast!! Shes looking well on it and we have enough energy, sometimes to much lol Would love to know the starch, suger etc levels in the H&P cubes, cant seem to find it!! ... We had my wee grey tb on the Re-leve and it sent him bonkers :rolleyes: after trial and error we found he went very well on bluegrass stud balancer and lots of Alfa Oil. I must say i do love Bluegrass feeds, especialy the smell of the performance mix :p
 
I think so. I was chatting to a Topspec rep yesterday at the feed store, about my cushingoid and she said I had clearly done a lot of research and knew my stuff. :)
 
I had an over-haul of my feeding regime a few years back when a feed company switched the main ingrediant in their pellet from rice-bran to something cheap and nasty, which sent my sensitive ISH off his nut!

I've run a diet through the web program FeedXL, it lets you select everything from pasture type, hay type, work load and has a massive selection of feed stuffs with nutritional requirements. Mine all get Lucerne chaff, whole oats and copra meal along with a supplement to balance, plus heaps of quality pasture hay. They look fantastic and it's so much cheaper than feeding pre-mixed :D
 
lui23456 said:
I get a bit annoyed by some of them, my mare is on hay (great qual) and topspec balancer, mixed with a little chaff, and is out eventing and working hard, my vet thinks she looks perfect. Yet if I phoned a feed company they would be telling me I need to fill her with all sorts of mixes. She will be living out from tomorrow pm with hay and I was going to put her on a mix, but this morning she felt very well so I don't think I'll bother!
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Hey :) I'm with you on this. I have had my haylage analysed and have just completed a nutritional course so am now able to calculate what else is required to balance my diets. Not much to be honest! All supplied by a balancer really. I have evented two mares from a haylage / field diet only for years and never had to add any other feed. :)
 
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