Highfibre diet for a horse who lacks Omph

[willhegofirst]

My lad is barefoot/unshod whatever you want to call it. I have had him since a yearling, never been shod, has good feet, is a bit footy at times, but is not the most forwardgoing horse, but can spin on a sixpence. I know there was a long post on diets for barefoot horses, at the moment he gets Alpha A oil, Kiwkbeet, highfibre cubes and a small amount of A and Ps ride and relax plus linseed, brewers yeast and a multivitamin supplement.
I am thinking of dropping the mix and putting him on grass nuts, what do people think about how this might effect him,or can anyone recomend a feed for him to give him some energy without the added suger in a lot of feeds A couple of years ago I put him on Simple Systems feed, but he really had no energy on the amount I was giving him, when I spoke to them they said to double the amount I was giving him which would have been a huge amount, would have cost a fortune.
Thanks

 

[Izzwizz]

When my gelding was lacking in ooomph I spoke to my Feed Merchant who recommended Staypower Nuts (Dodson & Horrell I think) They seemed to do the trick and he also had a bit of soya oil mixed with it. See if your Feed Merchant can help you out too. My horse is shod so not sure if what I feed makes a difference to your situ.

 

[JenHunt]

grass nuts may have too much sugar in for him if he can be a bit footy... you could try staypower mix or a&P sustain if you prefer their mixes. I personally really like baileys number 6

ETA - the other thing to try would be full fat soya / outshine / equijewel etc - high oil an zero starch/sugar. you would need a balancer though.

 

[Brambridge04]

Grass nuts arent sugary are they?

 

[JenHunt]

I'm sure someone can tell us more exactly, but I believe they are made from the grass at the peak of its flush (i.e. spring or auntumn grass) so inherently quite high sugar, rather than sugar added.

 

[criso]

Oats are an option, OK for barefoot horses and would give him that bit extra.

 

[intouch]

Simple System Red Pellets are pretty good at upping the energy, and whole oats, soaked overnight in cold water then drained, give the goodness of the oats without the silly behaviour sometimes associated with oats!

 

[willhegofirst]

Thanks for your replies, I have got him some Badminton grass nuts, so will try him on thoses and see how he gets on, hopefully they won't be too high in sugar. Will try soaked oats if he still lacks energy.

 

[fizzer]

Can vouch for Red Pellets Simple Sytems. 10% more energy than oats.

 

[pip6]

I use grass nuts (made locally, similar to the standard grass nuts from SS) mixed with badminton high fibre complete cubes & topspec lite. No trouble with energy, doesn't make her silly & she also reacts a lot less than she used to when the spring grass comes through (as already grass in her system). If you want more oomph get the red bag grass nuts from SS. My girl is allergic to legumes, so if I want to add more bulk I used redi grass.