Is this diet ok? Barefoot folk please

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thatsmygirl

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As most off you are aware my lad has bad feet and following x rays, barefoot rehab has to be done and the diet is trying to be improved :) I say trying as my fussy tb is having a paddy about his dinner. Anyway iv now worked out he will eat ers pellets with micro linseed and equimins advance complete mixed together so is this ok for 2 meals a day? Also the only way I can get him to eat coolstance copra and fast fibre is to leave it with him in his stable for the day and he picks at it through the day so I thought if I keep to his 2 meals so I know he's getting his vits/mins and put the coolstance/fast fibre in a different bucket and leave it with him for the day? I haven't even tried the cal mag yet just trying to get him eating different feed first.
Thoughts please?
 
I'm sure you're doing fine - my TB mare was a sod with Fast Fibre - wouldn't touch it, and like you, I had to just leave the bucket with her in the stable. But she did eat it, even if it took all night with her picking at it. She is better now and will eat it, and my 3 year old has not known anything different since I bought her at 2 and a half, so she wolfs it down. They do get used to it, it just takes time!
 
Just a thought but if you've introduced 2 new things and minerals at the same time it's alot of new tastes for a fussy horse.

I would introduce a little at a time and get him eating either the copra or the fast fibre on their own so see which he thinks. Then gradually increase the quantities.
Also play with the textures. Depending on the amount of water you add the Copra can be quite sloppy or crumbly like bran and some horses have opinions on how wet their feed should be.
 
Iv played with his feed, the coolstance he won't eat on it's own full stop, the fast fibre he picks at and spits out. But did eat both mixed with a bit off mint thoughout the day.
The ers pellets he loves so am after more info and thoughts from barefoot folk who use these?
I can't get him to eat coolstance/fast fibre mixed in as he will spend a lot off time picking the pellets out bless him.
 
I couldn't get any of ours to eat copra. In the end I threw the bag away.
I haven't found advance complete to be sufficient for many. Metabalance is not really much more expensive but has higher specs.
Fast fibre works well if you soak spiller hi fibre cubes and mix them in. That makes a pretty tasty feed you can hide your supplements and calmag in. Don't forget the salt.
 
ERS nuts don't cause a problem but as they are not cheap spillers hi fibre nuts work just as well and most seem to like them.
Soaking any sort of nuts works well to increase the size of the feed and get more supplements etc into them.
 
Actually Paddy you're right - I've just remembered that I had to add Spillers high fibre cubes to the fast fibre at the beginning - but I didn't soak them with the fast fibre, I just added them when it was soaked and then gradually reduced them until I wasn't adding any....
 
Thanks paddy555 I think it's the mash he don't like as he's use to nuts. I will prob stick to ers as they are lower sugar/starch I believe.
So I would be better buying equimins balancer instead? It's taken a good month to get him to eat the advance supplement ;)
 
equimins meta balance is very similar to advance complete. Same sort of powder, same quantities and if they eat one them they are most likely to eat the other. The only difference is that the levels of copper, zinc and one or two other things is higher and more suited to growing good feet. Cost of meta balance is £54 for 5kg. Instead of ordering from their website you just ring them to order. Worth considering perhaps when you run out of advance complete?
It's just a better product.
 
Ok thank you, I have just brought another complete, typical but will look into it when I get to the end off that one. Who would off thought diet would be so differcult.
 
Not very useful but i started my TB on fast fibre last week and he adores it! He spends ages licking his bucket clean. I am also changing diet to try and help with feet. On one of the other forums someone recommended Pure Easy if they wouldn't eat fast fibre. Maybe you could try and get a sample? Looks like it is a chaff type thing but i guess if you dampen it you could put the supplements in it.

http://www.thepurefeedcompany.com/products/pure-easy
 
My Connie x cob will not eat ANY mash type feed! It drove me mad until I came across pure easy as mentioned above. She gulps it down and licks the bowl, something she has never done before!!
 
My mare went barefoot about 8 years ago before it became such a fad! We did it purely because she was leaning on our farrier who had a bad back, they had a falling out, we demanded he took her shoes off and trimmed her then promptly gave him his marching orders.
Back then it was rare to see a horse barefoot let alone have a specially designed diet!!!
She had keratex hoof hardener slapped on her hoof soles and walls every night and that was it! No faddy diets, no she must have more of this than this and can't have too much that!
She competed every weekend, and in the beginning (the first few months) she hacked out on roads with few problems. Within a few months we were back hacking up the fells, rough cobbled stoney terrane, gravel tracks with not one issue. She was never foot sore and within 6 months her feet were so solid it sounded like she had shoes on. My mums horse, who we got 2 years ago also went barefoot from the day we got him, same routine, keratex slapped on, no change in diet and he again took only a few months to be hacking happily up rough tracks.
Most articles I read on this subject go on about the horses diet but rarely is it mentioned about anything that is applied to the hooves-just a thought.
 
Well no, generally because it's widely recognised that topical applications can only go so far to benefit a hoof. According to my farrier and trimmer anyway.
Just like slapping body cream on wont make my skin hydrated without me hydrating it from the inside also, neither with a topical treatment.
Incidently I use KB hoof dressing, but I am under no illusions that it's doing anything other than perhaps a tiny bit of surface work, but strength comes from within, always.
That's my understanding anyway.
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
Hi fiber cubes r higher in starch normally min of 13% but ers r less than 7%. X
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yes they are higher but they don't seem to cause a problem despite the percentage of starch on the bag. I can feed my horse his complete diet (ie about 20lbs a day) of spillers hi fibre nuts and he is sound as a bell on that quantity. This is a horse that is unable to eat any grass without going footy.
 
gill84 said:
My mare went barefoot about 8 years ago before it became such a fad! We did it purely because she was leaning on our farrier who had a bad back, they had a falling out, we demanded he took her shoes off and trimmed her then promptly gave him his marching orders.
Back then it was rare to see a horse barefoot let alone have a specially designed diet!!!
She had keratex hoof hardener slapped on her hoof soles and walls every night and that was it! No faddy diets, no she must have more of this than this and can't have too much that!
She competed every weekend, and in the beginning (the first few months) she hacked out on roads with few problems. Within a few months we were back hacking up the fells, rough cobbled stoney terrane, gravel tracks with not one issue. She was never foot sore and within 6 months her feet were so solid it sounded like she had shoes on. My mums horse, who we got 2 years ago also went barefoot from the day we got him, same routine, keratex slapped on, no change in diet and he again took only a few months to be hacking happily up rough tracks.
Most articles I read on this subject go on about the horses diet but rarely is it mentioned about anything that is applied to the hooves-just a thought.
Click to expand...

Well done for taking two horses barefoot without a problem :)

The OP has previously attempted to take this horse BF but had to put the shoes back on as he was so uncomfortable.

But a few months down the line (and in the OP's words) - her horse is so sore after shoeing that he can't walk and he is currently on box rest and bute. He is getting progressively worse as time goes on.

So something must be done and the OP wants to remove the shoes and allow the horse to grow a more healthy and natural hoof.

However the OP is concerned that this horse can't just eat the grass and hay but needs weight gain feed.

How would you proceed?
 
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