Help on boiling barley & linseed

[amandathepanda]

My new haflinger pony arrives tomorrow (yay) but he is a bit on the skinny side as he has only recently been imported to the UK. I want to get him straight on boiled barley & linseed but have never fed it before so not quite sure how to cook it! I'll be very grateful if there are any budding delia smiths out there who can tell me what to do with

Also, presumably it it the whole grain barley I need to get & not any of the pre-processed barley's availbale?

 

[TGM]

Might be easier to feed micronized barley - it undergoes a heat treatment which breaks down the starch and makes it more digestible. Much easier than boiling barley! Then add some oil for extra calories and you won't need the linseed either!

Can you tell I'm lazy

.

 

[TGM]

Also just wanted to add that if it was me I wouldn't start with the barley straight away. I'd give adlib good quality hay and a fibre-based feed - something like Dengie Alfa Beet, Dengie Alfa A Oil or Spiller's Readigrass and add some extra oil if necessary. Then only add the barley gradually if required.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Linseed can be bought ready to feed, which has got to be better than boiling it for hours! Try http://www.equushealth.org.uk/

Generally, I agree with TGM though, don't want to send the ponio mad with feed!

 

[ticobay831]

I used to get a large deep cassarole, dish put a cup of linseed in it and two cups of barley, fill to the top withj water and soak it over night then cook it for about 5 or 6 hours on low heat, just make sure the linseed has split, it should be all nice and slimey

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Why go to all that bother when you could use this instead?

I'd agree with TGM though and have your pony on something like fibrebeet/alfabeet etc first, and see how he does. He may be skinny but piling on the pounds too quickly will do more harm than good. You need to go for a steady increase of weight rather than a quick fix.

Beth

 

[wonkey_donkey]

I feed cooked linseed to all mine and they love it!
I bought a croc pot (slow cooker) for £10 out of Argos and put a small scoop of linseed in the pot, fill to nearly the top, soak overnight then flick the switch on in the morning. It bubbles away gently until I'm ready to feed.
Not really any grief to make and as a 15kg bag of linseed is only £6 it works out much cheaper to feed my lot than the ready prepared stuff.
I dont add barley to mine as have a horse with EPSM but just mix the two and prepare as above.

 

[amandathepanda]

Fantastic! I was thinking something along those lines myself having just bought a slow cooker from Argos! Just needed a bit of reassurance that I'm not going to kill my horse cooking linseed like that (the whole cyanide thing with linseed!). Thanks for your help

 

[custard]

Like the slow cooker idea but you can guarantee I'd leave it on overnight and come down to a kitchen that would look like it had been 'ectoplasmed' I can just picture it now....