forage only diet

[sonjafoers]

Hi, does anyone out there feed a diet of purely sugarbeet & alfa? I have 2 very sharp horses and have tried various hard feeds over the years including most recently Saracen Re-Leve & Winergy Equilibrium, but they are still quite spooky and sharp despite being in medium work & regularly hunted.

I am thinking of putting them onto speedi-beet and alfa a plus a feed balancer to keep the starch levels down even further but am not sure if this is enough to support their workload. Any suggestions please?

 

[lizziebell]

I don't, but try looking at the Simple Systems website, or phone them for some advise as they are based on forage only diets. (Obviously they base this on their own products)

 

[SpottedCat]

I do! I feed topspec balancer, speedibeet (half a soaked scoop twice a day) and Mollichaff high fibre alfalfa. Horse works well on it - he events up to novice and is probably in a similar level of work to yours.

FWIW I cannot feed mine anything by Alfa-A - sends him through the roof, ultra-spooky and generally v gittish! I can feed any other alfalfa products fine though wierdly. I think the protein levels must be too high in alfa-a, though it's just a guess.

 

[KatB]

Yep mine is fed Alfa Oil, speedibeet and topspec too. She gets Quiet cubes occasionally to as she gets bored other wise!! If it helps, Re-Leve made my very laid back horse spooky

 

[millitiger]

mine only get Alfa- A and topspec.

one is a full tb the other is a tbx and they both look great on it and are fine BE eventing on this

 

[Hippona]

Mine gets Alfa-A oil, speedibeet and Spillers slow release cubes....there no hidden cereals in them at all....as mine cannot any cereals- he's too sharp/spooky.

 

[sonjafoers]

Brilliant, thanks everyone, I'll give it a go then. KatB that's interesting about Re-Leve making yours spooky as I'm sure I've read that on here before (not sure if it was you) but I thought I was doing the right thing as it is low starch.

If there are some of you eventing on this type of diet then I'm sure it will give mine enough energy.

 

[criso]

My TB gets Alfa A lite or Alfa A Oil and Mollichaff herbal.
He is sensitive to even unmolassed sugarbeet like speedibeet so I don't feed that.
Unlib haylage and daily turnout so grass.
Then a good all round multivit and some supplements.

He is actually fine with cereal, just have to be careful with sugar but i moved to forage only when he went on box rest and then stayed on it as it keeps weight well.

 

[LankyDoodle]

Yes I do.

My warmblood (17.3) gets 2 scoops Alfa A and a scoop (dry weight) of speedibeet (sugarbeet and alfalfa) twice a day with his vits and mins. He gets hay during the day and haylage at night and is currently box rested except for 1-2 hours a day in a tiny grass pen. He drops weight easily but manages fine on this. Last year when he dropped off a lot, I just gave him some oil in his feed, which he doesn't like much but will eat reluctantly. He is rugged adequately to prevent weightloss, especially given he has been less able to grow a proper winter coat due to being in all the time since August.

My cob (15hh) gets a small scoop of hifi lite once a day, with his vits and mins in. He is out 24/7 and gets a bit of hay morning and night now that the grass is minimal. He is unrugged but grows a coat like a bear.

 

[foo]

I have a very sharp, spooky horse and a sharp little pony. They both have simple systems feed and are much better, i also add magnitude to their feeds.

 

[bethyboox]

Yes I do, my mare is sharp and spooky, she gets HiFi Lite, hi fibre cubes and a vit & min supplement along with succellents and hay and grass!

 

[Minxie]

Yup I only feed mine alphabeet and greengold alph alpha with a multivit put in. (and hay obviously in winter). He seems to do really well on it.

 

[Magicmillbrook]

My four are all on simple systems. worked a treat ,on my spooky mare.