Good doer Baileys No14 alternatives?

[chestnutmare111]

Hi everyone,

Due to the coronavirus I had to bring my horse home. Unfortunately we dont have a stable for her here but she has lots of shelter due to all the trees. Fortunately we have 2 1/2 acres of just meadow which is great but it also means that she has 24/7 access to grass. She's a 7yr old 14.3huh mare who is a good doer (no breeding recorded but I reckon theres some Welsh C in her). I have her on Baileys no14, the lo cal one at the moment. Its 32e here in Ireland which I think is quite expensive as she goes through one bag every two weeks. Does anyone have any suggestion for an alternative? Should I maybe not feed her any hard feed? She's on 1 1/2 scoops morning and evening and works about an hour 6 days a week with me.
Thankful for any ideas.

 

[dogatemysalad]

Is it bad that I saw Bailey's and immediately thought of the stuff in the bottle? I've been on lockdown for too long.
Sorry, no ideas about an alternative horse feed...

 

[chestnutmare111]

Hahahaha... no that's not bad at all. It's all getting to us at this stage I guess.

 

[Pinkvboots]

How about buying the equimins pelleted all round supplement might be a bit cheaper, or a powdered one and feed it with a low calorie chaff.

 

[C1airey]

I thought the same as DAMS.

Most major feed companies will make a low calorie balancer. Spillers are probably going to be the cheapest. TopSpec make a few variations (lite, performance lite, senior lite).

Are you sure you’re feeding the right amount? I think Bailey’s say a bag should last 80 days for an average horse... (I feed it to mine - 17hh WB and I don’t get through a bag as quickly as you).

 

[Cortez]

If your pony is fat and in otherwise good health I wouldn't feed it anything at all.

 

[chestnutmare111]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
She isnt fat, but a good doer.
I dont want her to get fat though.
Chaff is a great idea. I might just stick with that and add some of the equimins.

 

[Chianti]

Does she eat anything? if she's at all fussy I would go for a pelleted version. I've tried two powdered supplements and my greedy pony turned his nose up at both.

 

[chestnutmare111]

Yes shes very fussy. I bought a really expensive caramel flavoured supplement and she turns the bowl over whenever I feed it to her. Refuses to eat it.

 

[TGM]

I would double check the amount you are feeding. For a horse/pony that size Baileys suggest to feed 450g per day, which would make a 20kg bag last over 40 days. But I suspect she would be fine without anything at all.

 

[chestnutmare111]

I double checked it and I'm only giving her a handful now. I'm only 5'2 and 7st 6lbs so I have tiny hands ?

 

[MiniMilton]

I'd drop all hard feed. Gain opticare
Balancer is 17euro for a 25kg bag and it's a lower calorie balancer. You only need to feed 100g per 100kg bodyweight to get all necessary vitamins minerals etc in. Opticare balancer looks just like pony nuts and all mine seem to like the taste. UK feeds are just so expensive here in Ireland, it's better to go for Irish brands (much cheaper!) and I think Gain and Pegus have some great options

 

[chestnutmare111]

Thank you so much for that advice!
I appreciate it.
I'll get a bag of that so.
Cheers