Grr my feed has been discontinued!what do you feed your good doers

[alext]

Question in the title really! I have two horses of veteran age 16 & 19 both are fairly good doers though the 19 year old can get a bit stressy sometimes and drop weight easily.
I normally feed them badmintons feed and fibre .The older one has about a quarter of a Stubbs scoop and the 16 year old has a few handfuls for her joint supplement.
I loved this feed they have both done so well on it and my boy has done very stressful box rest calmly!
It's completely thrown me as I went to get some more this morning to be told its been discontinued. so I thought I would see what other people used so I can find a new feed for them! Thanks in advance!!

 

[Gorgeous George]

My boy is a 16.3 shire x and a seriously good doer, when turned out he has to be muzzled, but he does have ad lib hay to keep him occuppied when he's in. He has 2 feeds a day, each is 3/4 scoop hi-fi lite and 1 1/2 mugs of Baileys lo-cal balancer and he seems to do really well on it

 

[horsemadelsie]

Mine get the recommended amount of a lo-cal balancer, with a handful of chaff to make them chew it.
Maybe try allen and page fast fibre? It's soaked so is good as they get older, and its high in fibre (obviously) which I'm guessing the feed and fibre is?
I used to use it but I get annoyed with feeds freezing in the winter, so switched to balancer- much simpler! They do make balancers with extra things in them like joint care, or to help settle their stomachs which might be good for the stressy one. Pink powder is quite good to help them maintain weight with a happy tummy without getting fat- a fried of mine had her welsh cob on it who had lost condition over the winter due to a worm problem- he was never rugged and it really helped.

 

[Bertolie]

My good doer, 19 year old 14.3hh Welsh D X, gets one feed a day of 250g (one mug) Spillers Lite balancer with a small amount of Dengie Good-doer. He gets one large haynet at night if he is stabled.

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

Have you considered phoning the feed company and asking them which of their products is the closest to the one which is being discontinued?

I'm a great fan of Allen and Page myself. They offer advice for particular horses too.

 

[Hippona]

Badminton Easy Rider.......

 

[FairyLights]

Its still featured on their web site http://www.badmintonfeeds.co.uk/products.php?id=34&from=home
maybe your shop just cant be bothered getting it in. Try ringing Badminton they should be able to suggest another supplier or send it direct to you.

 

[joelb]

Reliably informed that Badminton feeds has been taken over by Baileys so quite a bit of the Badminton range is discontinued. Shame as they were nice no frills feeds. Baileys will be able to tell you their closest alternative.

My chaff has goneski so any suggestions for a herbal chaff to disguise supplements for a fatty? As light a coating as possible, straw based with absolutely no alfalfa - any ideas much appreciated?

 

[T's mum]

I feed Happy Hoof low calorie complete feed - for horses prone to laminitis, horse loves it and it's really cheap £11.90 for huge sack

 

[LynH]

Hifi molasses free is nice for good doers. It's alfalfa and chopped straw with soya oil, fenugreek and mint and a few pellets in it. It's really good for mixing supplements in as it smells very nice and mine prefer it to normal Hifi.
I feed my 17 and 21 yr olds this with speedibeet and they both look really well.

 

[Newlands]

I feed Dengie Healthy Hooves and Top Spec Lite.

 

[kerrieberry2]

my 27yr old gets allan and page veteran vitality! its a sloppy mash, so good for them as they get old as there's nothing for them to choke on if their teeth start getting rubbish!

my 2yr old has allan and page calm and condition, which does help put weight on but they do cool and condition which is less fattening, all of their feeds are the sloppy mash type!

 

[acw295]

TopSpec TopChop Lite chaff (no molasses)
Baileys Lo-cal balancer
Badminton High Fibre Complete nuggets (don't use these much but used for treat ball, loading bribery and hiding medicines in. They seem to have addictive properties!

She is muzzled at night and in by day on soaked hay (well not atm as on box rest)

In winter I sometimes add some FasFibre but she doesn't really like it - so only use it when she is starving to use it up (got a lot left!)

 

[rhino]

I don't understand feeding a good doer any hard feed if they don't require it - and I include most chaff etc., in that, probably as you are paying true 'hard feed' prices for some chopped up hay/straw and adding sugary rubbish to it. Maybe I'm just cheap

None of the horses I've had have been fussy, so they have always had a vit/min and pre/probiotic supplement (not balancer) in a handful of molasses free chaff or most often a little unmolassed sugar beet. That's done well for them all, for those in hard work to retired veterans Maybe I've had it easy but that, combined with adequate grazing and hay/haylage is my feed of choice

 

[catdragon]

Mine gets 2 scoops of good doer chaff, 1/2 scoop spillers hi-fibre low calorie nuts and a beaker of speedi-beet soaked between 2 feeds.

 

[Jericho]

Badminton Easy Rider - i get mine from Millbury Hill online.

 

[chestnut cob]

My chaff has goneski so any suggestions for a herbal chaff to disguise supplements for a fatty? As light a coating as possible, straw based with absolutely no alfalfa - any ideas much appreciated?

I feed D&H Safe & Sound, it's the only chaff I could find (or at least the only one my local feed merchant stocks) that doesn't contain alfalfa, which my big horse is allergic to. It smells lovely, all minty, and both horses love it. Both are very good doers. I feed just that with a couple of supplements then add linseed meal if I need to put weight on.

 

[hairycob]

Rowen Barberry Ready Fibre Mash. Half a mug soaked in water is plenty to add vit/mineral supplements to & because it's a mash powders don't fall to the bottom & get left. 1 bag lasts me a bit over 2 months for my 2.

 

[joelb]

Thanks for the chaff suggestions, plenty of choice so that will keep me busy.

 

[mini-eventer]

Badminton High Fibre complete if they still do it.

My horse loves it and he is picky. It is also a large nugget size nut so good for treats and treat balls

 

[SO1]

If you cant feed alfalfa chaff due to an allergy to alfalfa then you need to watch out with all the low cal feeds/balancers as you may find they contain alfalfa as well in pelleted form.

I feed my pony dengie good doer which is the lowest DE chaff I could find that he would eat - he will not eat chopped straw chaff on its own. He also has allen and page L-mix. Both have a DE of 7. However both contain alfalfa. He has a handful of each to mix in with his supplements. Each bag last about 8 months.

Top Spec top chop lite contains no alfalfa but has oil in it so the DE I think is higher than the dengie good doer.

 

[acw295]

If you cant feed alfalfa chaff due to an allergy to alfalfa then you need to watch out with all the low cal feeds/balancers as you may find they contain alfalfa as well in pelleted form.

I feed my pony dengie good doer which is the lowest DE chaff I could find that he would eat - he will not eat chopped straw chaff on its own. He also has allen and page L-mix. Both have a DE of 7. However both contain alfalfa. He has a handful of each to mix in with his supplements. Each bag last about 8 months.

Top Spec top chop lite contains no alfalfa but has oil in it so the DE I think is higher than the dengie good doer.

TopChop Lite does have alfalfa in it? It has DE of 7.5% http://www.topspec.com/products/topchop-lite/

 

[monkeybum13]

I don't understand feeding a good doer any hard feed if they don't require it - and I include most chaff etc., in that, probably as you are paying true 'hard feed' prices for some chopped up hay/straw and adding sugary rubbish to it. Maybe I'm just cheap

Rhino, I'm getting bored or agreeing with you but you always talk sense.
My horse is fed hay and grass and is just fine, she looks very good, nice shiny coat and we don't need to worry about energy levels. She gets her energy from fitness, not from bags and bags of food

(She might get some fast fibre with seaweed in the winter if the grass quality is lacking)

 

[alext]

I must admit I often wonder if a could get away with out feeding hard feed at all!
They have hayledge at night as they both cough on hay. It is weighed every night as well so I can monitor and adjust accordingly. I have fed the mare just chaff before but she got the shakes. So feel she needs a little something more.
They both like this feed so much and as a complete feed it was easy for me to store and it was cheap £6.50 a bag .
I must admit I am at a complete loss at what to go to now. Farm shop told me that baileys had pointed out a similar product but the girl at the shop said it was pretty much pasture mix and therefore nothing like what they are on now!
I am thinking that a balancer would probably be the way to go therefore making sure the mare gets all the vitimins she needs!

 

[Fransurrey]

My good doers get the Alfalfa FREE Saracen slim-chaff. It is 'lightly molassed', but they seem to do fine on it. I just add the supplements to this and give the older one (20) a bit of veteran mix on ride days, more as a treat than anything else!