Happy Hoof - is it really that bad?

I had never used it until my older cob needed her weight more closely monitored. she is in 24/7 in the winter, she can have a scoop of Happy Hoof twice a day and not only is she "happy" as it seems to fill her up, but its kept her weight down.

Like all feeds though, what works for one may not for another.
 
I prefer not to use it, as it contains alfalfa, many horses, including one of ours do not tolerate alfalfa well. I also prefer not to feed soya, which it also contains.
 
I must admit, I really like it (and so does my boy!! ;) ).

He's similar to yours, is only out for a couple of hours in winter, and puts on weight easily. He absolutely loves it and can't wait for his dinner!

I decided to take his shoes off about 3 months ago. He only had fronts on anyway, and pulled both off in the field, so my farrier and I decided to give him a go bare foot. He was a touch footy on stones to begin with, so I added "formula for feet" to his feed with his happy hoof.

He's brill now, not footy and had good hoof growth, but I hear lots of people (mainly on forums) saying how bad it is for a bare foot horse...

So was just curious :) xx
 
I've used all sorts of chaff type products, but the horses love Happy Hoof the best. It's also been very good for the two we have with equine metabolic syndrome as it takes them a bit of time to eat and does seem to fill them up pretty well.

I feed it to all ours (some have it on it's own, and the competition horses have it mixed with other things), but it's the one product I've used which they all eat up.
 
Said mare is bare foot - she has the best feet that any of my horses have had!! She has always had good feet saying that but if the feed agrees with them it is always a contributory factor.

if it works for you and your horse why change it? I certainly shall be leaving mine well alone unless I think she is needing more from her feed as she gets older. But with a waste line like hers.....I doubt it :-)
 
Ingredients
"Ingredients: Nutritionaly improved straw, Chopped straw, Wheatfeed, Dry lucerne, Low sugar molglo, Oatfeed, Ricebran, Grass nuts, Calcium carbonate, Vegetable oil, Soya oil, VItamins and minerals, Calcined magnesite, Dried spearmint 0.25%, Garlic 0.25%, Salt.

Analysis: Digestible Energy (MJ/kg) 8.8 Oil (%) 4.0 Protein (%) 8.0 Fibre (%) 25.0 Starch (%) 4.0 Vitamin A (iu/kg) 10,000 Vitamin D (iu/kg) 1,500 Vitamin E (iu/kg) 200 Selenium (mg/kg) 0.1 Copper (mg/kg) 15.0 Zinc (mg/kg) 100"

A lot of straw lol and sugar molglo - a form of molasses (40% rather than molasses at 47% I read somewhere)

http://www.farmandpetplace.co.uk/products/equine/horse-feed/chaffs/spillers-happy-hoof-20kg.html
 
Not bad, just people underestimate the amount of sugar it has in it! Not really a Low-cal chaff as people expect, just about the same as an average regular chaff (e.g. molichaff)
 
I don't use it but in your case your horse is happy and sound on it aand you aren't having any problems, so I'd say, if it ain't broke then don't fix it!

Keep going all the time things work for you and don't worry about what other people do! :D
 
I use it for my good doer mare, tbh for the amount she has i don't think it makes that much difference what I give her. She likes it though so iv stuck with it, Shes barefoot and has no problems whatsoever.
 
I used it for years as a hay replacer for a dentally challenged laminitic pony and it worked really well for her and kept her lami free but helped keep her weight on when she couldn't chew hay.

It does contain a small amount of molasses and is 5% starch and 4% sugar, but that is still lower in soluble carbohydrates than many types of hay (if fed unsoaked). However, some horses/ponies are more sensitive than others to sugars and starches, and if that is the case then it make sense to look for lower starch/sugar alternatives.
 
I use Happy hoof and have for the past year, my pony is barefoot and always has been (shes 5) and have never had a problem, i also soak my feed and put garlic powder and a few treats in. :)
 
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