Is this feed ok?

SNORKEY

SNORKEY

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 December 2008
Messages
1,809
Location
Hampshire
Visit site
My boys going to have the winter off as I'm having a baby, and his shoes off as he's still foot sore after natural balance shoeing.
I've tried reading as many posts on bf diets but can't find the answer.
I've got to get some feed in this week incase baby arrives so need to know if this is ok!
He's a 15.3hh Anglo Arab x Appaloosa, good weight at the mo as we have good grass but he'l soon start dropping off.
I was going to feed him fast fibre, dengi hi-fi, and equimins, with good hay.
Will this keep the weight on him ok, and improve his feet?
 
I'm trying to think of his feet as well, everyone has mentioned fast fibre to improve the feet. He was on winergy condition last winter when in work but I don't know if he'l need that this year or if that's what started to make him foot sore!
 
Sounds like an ok diet barefoot wise (hifi does contain molasses which some can't tolerate). Is he a good doer? If so that diet should be ok if not he might need more energy to get him through the cold months.

As for improving his hooves, diet plays a huge part but movement is about the most important thing :) Funnily enough though my horse's hooves are great in the winter even though she is stabled at night but i think it's lack of grass that is the biggest contributing factor.. In summer she is out 24/7 ridden a lot, competed most weekends but she needs boots for stoney ground whereas in the winter i never ride with boots (and we have seriously stoney riding) yet she's stabled overnight and not ridden much!

You might find your horse does improve over the winter due to the lack of grass (sugar) but once the spring grass gets going will be sore again. It's our dammed British grass, not for keeping horses on really! :)
 
As he is not working he may hold weight better than previously so you could be ok, mine get fast fibre as a base and do very well on it, I up the quantities as required, they can have plenty of it. Mine get ad lib haylage which is what really keeps them warm and well, you can add oil for weight gain, micronised linseed is very good for condition and also the feet.
 
be positive said:
As he is not working he may hold weight better than previously so you could be ok, mine get fast fibre as a base and do very well on it, I up the quantities as required, they can have plenty of it. Mine get ad lib haylage which is what really keeps them warm and well, you can add oil for weight gain, micronised linseed is very good for condition and also the feet.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'd add micronised linseed to that :)
 
Don't buy SS linseed - it is very expensive - use the Charnwood instead - cheaper and always fresher.

What you suggest is fine. it may be worth getting some D&H High fibre cubes if other folks are going to be doing the feeding - it's easier for them than the Fast Fibre and they like them
 
The base diet I use is this:

Unmolassed sugar beet - ie Kwik Beet (can be replaced with fast fibre)
Micronised Linseed - get direct from Charnwood Milling - Simple Systems are just a reseller

Unmolassed beet is a super fibre - ferments in hind gut, low sugar, delivers nearly as many (but not quite) calories as oats

Micronised linseed is high in Omega 3 & 6, very high in calories, contains all the major amino acids, very low sugar/starch

I've lost count of the number of skinny horses that do well on this. You can feed very significant amounts of the beet

However if there are hind gut issues you may need to take additional measures and these will vary, but helping the hind gut work is a good place to start. I use Yea Sacc 1026 where appropriate.

Because the diet is so low sugar many horses will be fussy about it at first. Use flavourings to help them get over this; eg brewers yeast, fennel seeds, mint, rose hips, mixed commercial herbs, fenugreek, some like celery.

I personally would never feed hifi lite or otherwise, or happy hoof etc
 
Thanks, so I don't need to feed any chaff? It would feel a bit odd not adding any to his food.
I was also going to feed my youngster who's a good doer cob the same, but without the equimins. I have a bad feeling our grass is causing his problems, we have a lot of rich grass and I can't move yards as he's kept on my neighbours and we barley pay anything to be there. He will also be living out most of the time this winter and just come in on bad weather nights.
 
I feed fast fibre, it's no hassel once iv added the rest of the feed it's ready to feed.
Fast fibre
micro linseed ( mug full twice a day)
equimins advance
brewers yeast
calmag
salt
hifi cubes ( spillers)

I wouldnt feed the hi fi not only because of molasses but it contain alfafa which alot of horses can't cope with.

My horses feeds are like a mash and they love it
 
SNORKEY said:
Thanks, so I don't need to feed any chaff? It would feel a bit odd not adding any to his food.
I was also going to feed my youngster who's a good doer cob the same, but without the equimins. I have a bad feeling our grass is causing his problems, we have a lot of rich grass and I can't move yards as he's kept on my neighbours and we barley pay anything to be there. He will also be living out most of the time this winter and just come in on bad weather nights.
Click to expand...

Chaff isn't necessary as the Fast Fibre is basically mushy fibre.

I do add a chaff as my horse likes it as a separate diversion.
I get unmolassed hay chaff.

Most vendors can order it in easily, £6 for a big, white sack.
 
Oberon said:
Fibre accounts for 50% of the calorie yield for a horse - so how is it low calorie :confused:
Click to expand...

Well Wench has a point in that Fast Fibre is low calorie in comparison to many other feeds having only 8 MJDE/kg. That is fine if your horse has a good appetite and is happy to eat lots of low calorie food.

The problem comes if a horse is not a big eater and then getting enough calories into them is more of a problem, hence turning to higher calorie feeds such as the unmollassed beet and linseed mentioned above. By comparison to Fast Fibre, Speedibeet has 12.4 MJDE/kg whilst micronised linseed has a whopping 20 MJDE/kg. So a better choice for those horses with dainty appetites!
 
I go with the Hi Fi molasses free for one of mine who did not eat fast fibre for long before going off it and I can honestly say his feet have stayed good. It is an either or with chaff so don't worry, my horse is a colicky sort and he had no problems with fast fibre instead of chaff when he ate it.
 
What sort of amounts of linseed would you feed.

I have a 17.2hh sport horse, retired and having to live out due to injury. He is currently eating adlib good quality hay which will be gradually changed to haylage. No grazing. He has been very ill and lost his top. A picky feeder he is currently having (split into 2 feeds), 2kg Rowanbarry soft n soak extra mash, 2 coffee mugs of linseed and stubbs scoop of soaked sugar beet.

His skin is good and his feet are improving. He cannot go out onto good grazing due to a major injury. He has to stay contained in a tiny paddock and very large field shelter.

I cannot ram him full of conditioning feeds, he needs to stay calm. I am hoping the change from hay to haylage will help him.

Any thoughts, can the linseed increase.
 
I would strip it right back to fast fibre and then as someone else suggested, get micronised linseed from charnwood milling. You can feed a huge amount of ff as it can be used as a hay replacer. You could also add something like readi grass if the ff and linseed alone doesnt keep weight on.
Hope the birth goes well:)
 
Regarding the linseed I bought a bag in April and its just about to run out. It wont last that long now as I will feed more going into the winter. Ill prob do about two to three mugs a day and see how my mare goes. It does seem quite expensive at about 27 quid a bag but actually it works out dead cheap.
 
TGM my ex racer who use to be feed alsorts of feed to keep weight on is doing very well on fast fibre. I believe it's not the fast fibre but the vits that go into it.

16.2hh tb out of racing who was skinny and put no weight on, no vices with fab temp. Was fed 1 heap round scoop of alfa a oil, whole scoop of baileys no 4 and sugarbeet twice a day with no improvment

Now feed a topspec measure of fast fibre, mug full of linseed, equimins advance complete, calmag and salt with brewers yeast. He's on far far less feed and put on loads of weight. :)
 
thatsmygirl said:
TGM my ex racer who use to be feed alsorts of feed to keep weight on is doing very well on fast fibre. I believe it's not the fast fibre but the vits that go into it.

16.2hh tb out of racing who was skinny and put no weight on, no vices with fab temp. Was fed 1 heap round scoop of alfa a oil, whole scoop of baileys no 4 and sugarbeet twice a day with no improvment

Now feed a topspec measure of fast fibre, mug full of linseed, equimins advance complete, calmag and salt with brewers yeast. He's on far far less feed and put on loads of weight. :)
Click to expand...

If you read my post again, you will see that I don't say that Fast Fibre won't put on condition, but that it is a relatively low calorie feed which isn't ideal for horses with small appetites who might be better on higher calorie feeds, such as the linseed I see you feed!

If you have a horse that maintains condition on Fast Fibre and hay/haylage/grass alone then that is great. However, if it is losing condition and won't eat more feed then makes sense to swap to higher calorie feeds (obviously after excluding problems such as worms, ulcers etc). Just to clarify, high calorie does not mean high starch/high cereal, as feeds such as linseed illustrate.
 
Fibre feeds can be high calorie; important is low sugar/starch and fermenting over a long period of time in hind gut. So a super fibre has lots of calories but a low glycemic index. Horse has energy etc but (usually not always) no fizz.
 
I think it is important for people to realise that there are different types of fibre and some are more easily digested by the horse than others. Horses can't digest lignin, for example, but can digest cellulose. Straw is high in lignin so much of the fibre in it cannot be utilised by the horse. Beet, by contrast, is high in cellulose which is digested by the horse, hence it being described above as a 'super-fibre'.

The main ingredient in Fast Fibre is cereal straw which is high in lignin so gives a feeling of fullness and 'pads out' the more digestible fibre sources in the feed (such as beet). This makes it a good choice for horses with big appetites.

However, if you are feeding for condition and the horse is not a big eater then the logical choice is pure beet without the high lignin content, hence higher in calories.

This also illustrates why the choice of hay or haylage is so important in the diet as depending on the time the hay is cut and the type of grass used the lignin content will vary, meaning that the digestibility of the hay and therefore its calorie content will vary too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top