Happy hoof / ready grass

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Glitterbabygold

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Hi all, my TB mare has been on ready grass and opti gain balancer for a few months after taking her off Alfa A due to simply being in very light work, I want to add something to her ready grass/balancer mix just to give her a bit of variety as I feel like her feed is pretty boring! Has any of you ever added just a handful of happy hoof to ready grass with balancer or if it's a good idea or not?!
 
That's a true comment and fair enough. I do also believe that forage is generally all they need I just don't feel like I'm feeding her she's always been on either Alfa A and balancer or speedi beet which I do not Wish to feed her anymore. I just wanted if its ok to add a small handful of happy hoof to her chop
 
Thunderbrook do a wonderful light chaff, I use it for my fatties who are too fussy for chopped straw as they are not allowed molasses or alfalfa!
 
FfionWinnie said:
Horses are designed to eat forage. Adding molassed chaff because you perceive it to be boring, is a bit daft, sorry.
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So is your horse eating her meal? Looks ok? Why change it?
This is the problem, owners go by what they feel " looks boring" that's not the way horses look at things. Why waste your money, why don't u want to feed unmolassed beet any more? That's a far better option then happy hoof
 
I think you just fancy an excuse to go horsey shopping!!!

Seriously, I don't think horses care and all feed is a variation on itself - one with a bit of cube, one with a bit herb blah blah.

If you really want to add some variety, go and collect some herbs, branches or attach some winter veg to a large screw and hang it up. That is more enriching than a few crunchy bits in a bucket that lasts all of 9 seconds.
 
Why did you take her off Alfa A? Interested as mine is on Alfa A oil and I have found it be a good base for a big blood horse.
 
She was originally on alfa-a / balancer and speedi beet when I got her so I gradually adjusted her diet based on work load/condition etc I tried her with ready grass and balancer and it seemed to do her good, I think some people are mistaking me wanting to over feed or give her molasses based stuff I woild consider other options to switch it up abit for her and also her work will increase. I would feed her alfa -a again I just wasn't a fan of the speedi beet
 
Well fwiw I'm not mistaking it for overfeeding but I see your idea as slightly pointless :)

Just saying :)
 
Lol I must admit horsey shopping is quite addictive although that's not my intention, I am taking all of your comments in as I just really wondered what would be a good "mix" simply to give her a bit of variety and increasing her work from very light to frequent/moderate
 
Glitterbabygold said:
She was originally on alfa-a / balancer and speedi beet when I got her so I gradually adjusted her diet based on work load/condition etc I tried her with ready grass and balancer and it seemed to do her good, I think some people are mistaking me wanting to over feed or give her molasses based stuff I woild consider other options to switch it up abit for her and also her work will increase. I would feed her alfa -a again I just wasn't a fan of the speedi beet
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What benefit do you think the Happy Hoof will give? If her work increases and she does actually need more calories you can just increase the Readigrass. Unless she doesn't actually eat the Readigrass, I can't understand why you feel that adding Happy Hoof will help in anyway?

Happy Hoof is a low calorie chaff type feed (made mainly from straw, alfalfa and grass) with added vitamins/minerals. Your balancer already supplies vit/mins. Readigrass is a chaff type feed made from freeze-dried grass that is higher in calories than Happy Hoof and being purely grass is usually more tasty for a horse than Happy Hoof.
 
Thank you TGM, that's basically all I needed to know, if she's fine with just ready grass and balancer then so be it. She does eat it but lately she has been a bit fussy not finishing I just didn't know if she doesn't need as much or if she was bored and just wondered if anything could be added that would also benefit her in some way.
 
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