Find me a feed

[SpottedCat]

Right, I need some ideas of obscure things I may not have tried which could help my horse please! The new mare just won't put on weight. Her regime is out for 5ish hours a day (no more because we aren't allowed to put forage in the field). Ad lib hay/haylage overnight (half and half as she eats more hay than haylage) - about 12-14kg eaten when she's in. Any more she won't eat, gets trampled in her bed. She's fed 1kg (dry weight) fibre beet split into 2 feeds, with balancer morning and night.

She's fussy. Feeds which have been rejected are:

Winergy (all types)
Pure Feeds (all types)
Linseed
Equijewel
Dodson & Horrell (Conditioning feeds, high fibre nuts & equine sensitive)
Spillers (conditioning feeds)
Rowan Barbary mashes
Saracen (luminance & show pencils)
Baileys (condition cubes & topline mix)
Chaff unless heavily mollassed (which is a route I don't want to go down!).

She adores fibre beet, but if you add anything she rejects into it, she will tip the bowl over and stamp her front feet in the feed.

I haven't tried topspec condition flakes yet, and she will grudgingly eat Saracen Releve. I have never had good results with Allan and Page feeds so they are off the list. I haven't tried oil yet.

My current plan of action is to try her on Releve on the basis other people on the yard feed it and I can flog it to them if she goes off it - so far I have spent upwards of £100 on feed she'll eat grudgingly for a week or so then rejects. I will also try oil since it is cheap and I can use it at home if she won't eat it! Topspec are last on my list because I don't know anyone who feeds it so it is potentially very expensive!

I don't mind buying expensive things if she eats them, but there is no way I am shelling out for something like equitop myoplast.

Anything else I should have thought of?

 

[martlin]

Have you tried the minty outshine? they make it in small bags/tubs as well, so smaller initial outlay.
And I know you say all pure feeds, but does that include the conditioning pellet? If she doesn't like chaff, the pellet might do the trick, perhaps?

 

[toomanyhorses26]

Have you tried straights ? My tb can be a bit fussy - sometimes wolfs it down sometimes looks at it like I am trying to poison him He now gets straights - oats,barley,linseed,alfa a molasses free and fast fibre - maybe worth a try as he costs me about half he was on this compared to the cube I was feeding

 

[meardsall_millie]

Alfa A / Alfa A Oil / Sugar Beet / Oil / grass pellets / alfalfa pellets?

My mare is VERY fussy and will eat all of the above (she also has micronised linseed - which sort did you try?) - and looks pretty good on it at the moment

 

[SpottedCat]

Have you tried the minty outshine? they make it in small bags/tubs as well, so smaller initial outlay.
And I know you say all pure feeds, but does that include the conditioning pellet? If she doesn't like chaff, the pellet might do the trick, perhaps?

Oh yes, it includes the conditioning pellet.

Yes, should have mentioned, I have also tried adding dried mint to her feed, and apple juice. No deal, she does not like mint adding to her feed.

I have tried mixing feeds together, keeping them entirely separate, damp/sloppy/dry/hot/cold water.

My 'action of last resort' is grated carrot, but that is such a hassle I don't want to unless I have to, and she will eat as much fibre beet as you give her, so I don't need to! I am feeding the balancer at the rate for the weight she should be rather than what she is!

 

[jakkibag]

Grass nuts, blue bag from simple systems, havent met one yet that wont eat them,and i have a very fussy mare, soak them to cowpat consitency I mix with speedibeet, but you could try mixing it into the fibrebeet, I also use linseed and a double handful of just grass/graze on, they wont break the bank either!

 

[ihatework]

Regarding equittop I have half a tub left sat in the garage, happy to post you a few measures so you can see if she will eat it.

2 cheap suggestions - grass nuts & oats

 

[SpottedCat]

Alfa A / Alfa A Oil / Sugar Beet / Oil / grass pellets / alfalfa pellets?

My mare is VERY fussy and will eat all of the above (she also has micronised linseed - which sort did you try?) - and looks pretty good on it at the moment

Fibre beet is a mix of alfalfa and sugar beet, so that kind of covers that base? The linseed was micronised from Charnwood. She ate it for a week or two, then rejected it totally.

 

[wench]

I was going to suggest outshine. What about champion milk pellets? Have you tried Dodson and horrell fibregy chaff? Or just grass? Molichaff condition?

 

[soulfull]

Baileys Outshine is great and you don't have to feed loads. Also echo the Alfa oil if she likes it.
I had one that I had tried loads of feeds and couldn't get weight on, but the outshine did it

 

[SpottedCat]

Not tried straights - does mean buying bags of stuff I can't get rid of as don't know anyone else who feeds it.

IHW - did the EM do what it is supposed to? It is so expensive!!

Grass nuts - what would they give me in terms of conditioning which she isn't getting from what she eats currently?

 

[scots]

Grass nuts - soak them - either sloppy or dryer depending on your horses preference - get from local feed merchant - roughly 12% sugar no starch and really helps put n weight - haven't met a horse yet who doesn't eat them

And I pay £7.50 a bag - I use 1kg a day so £12 a month on feed!! (I add linseed but if yours won't eat it try normal oil)

 

[alwaysbroke]

My top tip, for fussy eaters who dont put on weight is to add Fenugreek, its the only thing that worked on OH's old lad, so fussy that he didn't like carrots use it currently for one of the others who tends to drop weight and muscle coming out of winter, its cheap to feed but downside is they smell like an Indian takeaway

 

[bellatrix]

Have you tried the Mollichaff Showshine (by Horsehage) cherry flavoured chaff, trying to think of yummy fruit flavoured horse feeds Low molasses but with soya oil etc maybe she would eat that if mixed in with her fibre beet? They also do the herbal and apple varieties
There is the simple systems feed too, friends horse was picky but tucks into the Lucie Nuts and their other products.

 

[SpottedCat]

Yes - chaff in all forms is rejected unless heavily mollassed. Obviously I haven't tried every single permutation on the market, but everything I have tried is not edible.

Outshine was one of the Baileys ones which I had a sample of, missed it off the list, sorry, you can see why I am forgetting things can't you?!

 

[meardsall_millie]

Possibly try the oil then - but add it very slowly as it's quite hard to get them to accept it (from bitter experience )

Re: Top Spec. I did have the mare on it for a considerable amount of time (because she would eat it) but although she looked good on it to begin with I was never completely happy. I've since dropped back to basics + a powder balancer, all of which is proving easier and much cheaper!

 

[SpottedCat]

My top tip, for fussy eaters who dont put on weight is to add Fenugreek, its the only thing that worked on OH's old lad, so fussy that he didn't like carrots use it currently for one of the others who tends to drop weight and muscle coming out of winter, its cheap to feed but downside is they smell like an Indian takeaway

She says thanks but no thanks to fenugreek. Another thing I forgot from the list

 

[alwaysbroke]

She says thanks but no thanks to fenugreek. Another thing I forgot from the list

Thats a shame

 

[SpottedCat]

Oh yes, and I have had her scoped for ulcers, what with my advanced ulcer paranoia and all

 

[kit279]

Have you tried adding Guinness to things? I tried it with Kallie, who was (and is) a painfully slow eater and quite fussy and it was a roaring success.

Alternatively, just old-fashioned mollassed sugar beet with oil has done wonders for Kallie who has always been thin and now is chubby :O

 

[ihatework]

Grass nuts (northern crop driers) are 4% higher in protein than FB with a comparable DE. Does she limit how much FB she will eat or can you just increase the volume of that?

I'd be very tempted to try oats.

The EM worked too well, I ended up taking turbo off it as he was getting too chunky!!

 

[millitiger]

I've used the Topspec Super Conditioning Flakes on a very fussy and hard to keep weight on horse.

He wouldn't eat mix, nuts, chaff, sugarbeet etc etc but would happily eat the flakes.

I haven't found oil easy to get into fussy eaters but micronised linseed in small quantities seems to go down better as long as you don't try to overload them.

 

[meardsall_millie]

Just another thought (and I know it's hard when you work full time and are on livery) but could you give her more feeds per day - each feed smaller but more overall?

My mare certainly doesn't like to be overfaced with her grub and will tip a big bucketful over and walk away.

 

[alwaysbroke]

Another thought barley rings? used to feed them soaked with warm water

 

[SpottedCat]

Ok, so grass nuts: Same DE as Fibre Beet, higher protein. Hmm, could work but not sure of the benefit. Releve has slightly higher DE. Tiger Oats have a higher still DE, so could also be worth trying I think.

 

[SpottedCat]

Grass nuts (northern crop driers) are 4% higher in protein than FB with a comparable DE. Does she limit how much FB she will eat or can you just increase the volume of that?

I'd be very tempted to try oats.

The EM worked too well, I ended up taking turbo off it as he was getting too chunky!!

Interesting re EM! I have been considering tiger oats. I guess I need to get brave as we are talking about a 5yo TB here though she is v laid back!

She will eat as much fibre beet as I want to give her, so I can increase that, though volumes look a bit horrific once it is soaked!

Just another thought (and I know it's hard when you work full time and are on livery) but could you give her more feeds per day - each feed smaller but more overall?

My mare certainly doesn't like to be overfaced with her grub and will tip a big bucketful over and walk away.

It's not volume - she'll eat as much fibre beet as I want to feed. Impossible to add in more feeds - can't do it otherwise she'd be on 4 feeds a day now.

Another thought barley rings? used to feed them soaked with warm water

Could do - not been brave enough to try things like that as she is a young TB!

 

[Jools2345]

i would try grass nuts and high fibre cubes

 

[RachelFerd]

Adding oil is probably not going to work, as it can put even fairly good eaters off their food - yours sounds a bit of a nightmare!

I would stick with the ReLeve, personally. It's a great feed, I have known horses get fully racing fit on ReLeve and look and feel a picture. Equally, have you tried adding a splash of mollasses to any of these feeds? I know it's not ideal in the long run, but if it worked to get her eating, you may find you could then gradually wean her off it. I have also had success adding neat ribena, or mixed vegetable juice to fussy horses feeds.

My horse would not touch grass nuts - he has an aversion to all soaked feeds other than mollassed sugar-beet (which he only had in the middle of winter as an extra top-up). He is actually happiest on plain cubes, we are now on the Saracen show improver pencils which he is now looking quite well on.

 

[SpottedCat]

I've used the Topspec Super Conditioning Flakes on a very fussy and hard to keep weight on horse.

He wouldn't eat mix, nuts, chaff, sugarbeet etc etc but would happily eat the flakes.

I haven't found oil easy to get into fussy eaters but micronised linseed in small quantities seems to go down better as long as you don't try to overload them.

She def won't eat linseed - even a quarter of a cup in a big scoop soaked fibre beet = instant rejection of feed. I've found the same re oil which is why I haven't bothered trying it yet. Topspec conditioning flakes are on the list of things to try.....

 

[SpottedCat]

i would try grass nuts and high fibre cubes

As above - she won't eat high fibre cubes. Grass nuts don't seem to give me anything the fibre beet isn't already giving me.