Is Dobson and Horrell Pasture Mix a 'non heating' mix?

HollyB66

HollyB66

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Hello

Does anyone know if Dobson and Horrell would be classed as a 'non heating' mix?

I am getting a horse that is used to a locally made mix, which I won't be able to source, so I need to find something similar to feed her on.

TIA

Holly B
 
I always find the terms 'heating' and 'non-heating' quite vague! Some manufacturers used it to mean the feed doesn't have oats, others use it to say the feed doesn't have barley, but often the feeds have other cereals such as maize and wheat which can fizz horses up!

Can you ask the owner for the ingredients label from the mix and then email Dodson & Horrell for their ingredients list for the pasture mix so you can compare the two?
 
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its says so on the packet....
but i've known a few horses that it's been like rocket fuel to...

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That's what I'm worried about.
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If you are worried about your new horse hotting up, I would take her off a mix altogether and put her on something like high fibre cubes which will be low in cereals.
 
Why have you decided on pasture mix in particular? I would do as said about, get the ingredients list for both feeds and compare them. Or speak to a manufacturer, tell them what you are on now and what they can recommend as an alternative. I did that with saracens as had the same problem, moved & couldnt get my old brand, went onto a saracens nut and my horse is fab on it.

Personally - I had a horse that I fed Pasture mix on & quickly took him off it as it sent him loopy!!
 
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Why have you decided on pasture mix in particular?

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Only because I lack experience and that is the mix my friend feeds her 2 horses on. I had assumed it would be okay, until I read the old New Rider posts.
 
I can't feed it to two of mine cos they start acting up but I can feed it to my old boy without trouble although I don't now cos he's on old man mix from Spillers.
 
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i can't feed it to my boy as he is like a rocket. do your local farm shop not stock an own brand

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I can see that I need to do a bit more research about what is in her current mix and what other mixes are available...
 
Try asking them, and other feed manufacturers, what the starch level is, that can be quite an eye opener, what they class as low may in fact be quite high in comparison to other feeds.

Spillers, Saracen, and Allen and Page do give the starch levels on their sites, D and H don't.

I had a freind who fed it her horse, he used to be cantering round the stable within half an hour of a feed, I would leave it well alone.
 
Erm...nearly every mix is heating except for 'specialist' low starch mixes like Sarcen Re-Leve!! Pasture mix I believe has pretty high starch levels ( I'm sure it has things like barley, maize and peas and a high level of molasses) therefore it will be very heating.

If you want something that is non-heating, stick to nuts. Mixes will always be more heating than nuts. Nuts tend to be higher fibre and lower in starch.

So perhaps try Pasture nuts?
Heating/non heating can be misleading.
 
Ditto the 'any concentrate can be heating'.

It depends entirely on your horse. I had one who you could stuff full of anything and he was still a dope on a rope. I had another who would go psycho on a handful of pretty much anything! Some are 'intolerant' of certain feeds - I know a horse who is verging on dagerous on any form of alfalfa and another is impossible to manage if given speedibeet.

Do you actually need to feed a concentrate? There are other alternatives to grain/cereal feeds if condition is required. Just because your friend feeds concentrates doesn't mean you need to.

Personally I'd go down the adlib good quality hay, a supplement and a nice warm rug route. Unless the horse is working hard that is enough for many horses, esp if it's a new horse and you're a little worried about too much energy and excitment. If it's not enough to keep condition I'd add firstly speedibeet then oil to the diet. If that still wasn't enough then I'd look into concentrate feeds.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. She is an older girl at 15, so I have decided that I will be making a special trip to stock up on her existing feed for now. She is currently fed a handful of the Farmshop Mix + a handful of Dengie Alpha A.

I don't know why she is on her existing feeding regime, but I think I should stick with it whilst she settles in.

Her current temperment is wonderful and I would like her to stay that way.
 
QR. Pasture mix is 25% starch, is based mainly on barley and also contains maize - I wouldn't want it coming within 20 feet of my girl.
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D&H seem to list all of their feeds as non-heating - pasture mix, build up (which is just as bad IMO) and I think they're talking b0ll0cks!!
 
I fed this for years to ponies without any problems but on a friends advice I changed to Badminton Basefeed cubes and Alpha A, this seems to work well and has the option of adding a top up feed if necessary.
 
When I had my first horse 12 years ago, he was on pasture mix (seemed like a good idea at the time! - lack of experience etc!)
I got very close to selling him on but then tried changing his feed - result! He became much less jumpy and spooky.
 
QR - I really don't like any of the D&H feeds I've tried over the years.... Spillers on the other hand are ace, and I'd really recommend their cool mix
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Even Spiller's Cool Mix is 20% starch - although it is low compared to some other mixes, it is still a lot higher than Spiller's High Fibre Cubes at 10%!
 
D&h pasture mix sent ty mad (and I mean dangerous) I warned his loaner and rung last night to see how she was getting on and she told me she had a week where he was uncontrollable. She then admitted to trying him on coolmix despite me saying that the only mix he can have is showmix!!!! I don't like mixes and never have as I'm from the old school of thinking feeding straights are better.....
 
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