I've joined the other side....barefoot newbie and pics

You can order magnesium from Equimins, my ponies can't manage without about 40g a day during the spring/summer, if I miss out a couple of days they get footy, When this lot has run out I'm going to order the Pro Balance + too :)

Good luck, he looks a lovely horse and lucky to have you!
 
cptrayes said:
Ah, itchy too? Believe it or not that could disappear completely once you get his diet under control. I had one which was scarred from scratching sweetitch with his previous owner. I sorted out his diet and the sweet itch rugs haven't been on him since - and he was so bad that he had to wear them in the stable too.

yeasacc is sold on eBay. feed 15 grammes a day. You can get brewers yeast on eBay - 30g a day - but it varies from bag to bag in palatability so I prefer yeasacc, which is a live yeast so you feed less.

cheapest magnesium oxide is calmag from a farm supplies shop, 25 kg oc calmag, calcined magnesite, for around £15. Feed 25g a day, lasts for years :) If you have no farm supplies shop near you, also sold on eBay as a white powder, just more expensive than pink calmag.
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Thank you. We are quite rural here so there should be some farm shops about. I shall have a tinker about tomorrow in the car.

He is really itchy! Head, under his jaw, bum, tail! I've never experienced this before. Have been putting midge cream on the areas but no change. So now you have me contemplating chucking the full bin I have of chaff and prob 2 weeks worth of the balancer. I cant keep feeding him that if it's that causing him to rub himself silly :(. My bank balance is not going to be happy with me (by bank balance, I mean OH!) Needs must though! Not long til pay day :D
 
AngieandBen said:
You can order magnesium from Equimins, my ponies can't manage without about 40g a day during the spring/summer, if I miss out a couple of days they get footy, When this lot has run out I'm going to order the Pro Balance + too :)

Good luck, he looks a lovely horse and lucky to have you!
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Brill. Thank you.

I'm lucky to have him too :D. Just had his saddle widened and reflocked and it has cost almost as much as he did! He was a little bargain bless him :D
 
TigerTail said:
Whats he being fed atm? Some horses cannot cope with alfalfa and thats a known one for making them itch. Is he worm counted? What is pro balance when its at home?

With magnesium you do get what you pay for - so mine comes from the link below, of the folk who make Pro Hoof.

http://www.naturalhorsesupplies.co.uk/p/category/0802204936-Magnesium+Supplements/
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He is fed Dengie Good Doer and Top Spec Lite so a little bit of Alfalfa in there.

My understanding of Pro Balance is that it is a balancer designed for UK grazing.

He was worm counted in June and results were 50epg. I understand pin worm doesn't show and can cause itching around the bum. I may tackle diet first before I worm for this though.

Thanks for the link. Off to have a look now :D
 
ProBalance is a new product from the people who supply ProHoof... I've just swapped over from ProHoof. Same people supply Magnesium and YeaSacc (yup, I buy all my stuff from them, after several years of excellent service :)).

I would much rather a farrier that took a conservative approach to trimming and allowed the horse to develop his own preferred balance and hoof shape after a bit of roadwork, than one who carved an ideal shape into the hoof and sculpted the frog ;).

I have also noticed a big improvement in my horse's horn quality since I started feeding linseed in April :) - and he's a tendency to be curvaceous, a bit like your lovely boy, OP (on a permanent diet/exercise programme :D) - small quantities of linseed did not put weight on him but had a noticeable benefit where hooves were concerned.
 
TigerTail said:
With magnesium you do get what you pay for - so mine comes from the link below, of the folk who make Pro Hoof.
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magnesium oxide is magnesium oxide. There are three varies, light MgO, heavy MgO and calcined magnesite.

All are equally effective.

One, calmag, fed to cows by farmers, is on a different planet price-wise from the other two.

Provided that a horse will eat the pink slightly gritty calmag, it is by far the most cost effective way to supplement magnesium. Nothing else comes remotely close. I pay £12 for 25 kilos, which is 1,000 horse days.
 
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