lots of feed threads lately - so here's another!

I

Irishbabygirl

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So I've always been a nuts/hi-fi/beet kinda girl but swapped the nuts to D&G Suregrow as a balancer last winter on recommendation from my RI with good results.
Quite keen to do similar this winter, but been thinking micronised linseed is a good bet also.
I've got two average to good do-ers. One retired 23yr WB and one 6yr flighty Irish CobxTB, both at a good, healthy weight, on good grazing and due to come in at night when the clocks change and will have haylage or hay (haven't decided yet) whilst in obviously.
What would you feed? Stick to the usual? Or is there a better way of doing things?
 
I find all the feed alternatives these days (and of course I am 103 years old) so baffling.....
In the old days one used to use oats and barley, and chaff - oats for making them faster and fitter - barley for putting on condition - and I loved feeding soaked sugarbeet.
The barley, sugarbeet and bran became unfashionable - and we had cool / conditioning / food for the young ones / food for the old ones / calmers/ pep them ups etc. etc.
Did the feed companies get rich - did horse people become poorer and possibly less educated?
Now I just do it by looking at my horse (and its feel, riding wise) - I start with the cheapest base feed from good old MVF (nuts or mix) - then if they look poor I add something to the base nuts / mix such as Alfa A (which in my world is chaff really), sugarbeet for a bit of bulk, and buy a vat of Veg oil that I dollop into their feeds.
Generally though, I find if the hay is crap - then one has to buy more expensive hard feed (graduating up from MVF vase to a more expensive brand.....) and a jolly good worming helps as well..........
 
i had a very nice informative discussion with spillers today and am off food shopping tomorrow
i have 3 very different horses, 1 warmblood mare, i sec a yearling, and my foal.
the guy (turned out was one of the directors of spillers ) was brilliant and gave me a feeding programme for all of them. give them a ring as they are fabby to deal with! x
 
You've just written exactly how I feel and do! Think I've just been reading too many threads lately and thinking I should be doing something different, even though what I've been doing has suited me and my horses for years! :-)
 
I'm leaning towards Suregrow, hi-fi or Alfalfa depending on how they are doing, and then adding linseed and/or beet if needed...or is this too complicated?
 
I felt like this a few months back and messaged lots of feed companies. Initally I wanted to give my youngster more oomph but then my other mare went off her food.
Out of all the food companies, bailey's gave the best advice I felt. They really explained what would benefit my lot without copy and pasting a load of gabble. And answered a lot of my questions!
So decided to give them a go and haven't looked back!

My good doer boy is now on bailey's lo cal balancer and looks great off of it. My girly is on performance balancer and looks amazing! Was so impressed with the change in her when I put her on it, her coat was so so shiny and overall condition is fab and didn't send her loopy like many foods do.
I top this up with local feed store fibre nuts and chaff and micronised linseed :)
 
dressedkez said:
I find all the feed alternatives these days (and of course I am 103 years old) so baffling.....
In the old days one used to use oats and barley, and chaff - oats for making them faster and fitter - barley for putting on condition - and I loved feeding soaked sugarbeet.
The barley, sugarbeet and bran became unfashionable - and we had cool / conditioning / food for the young ones / food for the old ones / calmers/ pep them ups etc. etc.
Did the feed companies get rich - did horse people become poorer and possibly less educated?
Now I just do it by looking at my horse (and its feel, riding wise) - I start with the cheapest base feed from good old MVF (nuts or mix) - then if they look poor I add something to the base nuts / mix such as Alfa A (which in my world is chaff really), sugarbeet for a bit of bulk, and buy a vat of Veg oil that I dollop into their feeds.
Generally though, I find if the hay is crap - then one has to buy more expensive hard feed (graduating up from MVF vase to a more expensive brand.....) and a jolly good worming helps as well..........
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I use to buy the cheapest pony nuts. Token feed. Unless its a fine tuned athlete I think good marketing most of time. I loved my mineral block £2 I could never decide green minty or red iron looking one....the only thing I use to think he had cut himself. Himalayan salt(long way to come is it really from that place..I dont know could have come from the gritter lorry)? Sorry I sound so not convinced here. And as for beddings.....I liked Hemcore that was my favourite. Only cos it rotted down well and smelt ok too. Dont even start me on Devils claw....when I discovered it was stuffed full of sugar no wonder he felt good on it..not!
 
It just feels like its all changed - I get the "fibre,fibre,fibre" thought, I really do, and my boys are out on good grass and will have lots of hay whilst in o/n. Just feels odd feeding purely alfalfa/beet/fast fibre etc...but maybe that's all they need?
 
I've faffed around a bit with Alfs feed - but we appear to have hit upon a winning formula. He's on D&H Safe and Sound (chaff with bits in it), micronised linseed (Charnwood) glucosamine, turmeric and a herbal blend (mobility). He's a good weight, coat is lovely, and he's relaxed, but sprightly.
 
I got average to good doers that get itchy on alfalfa. What works for me is mollichaff calmer and cool n collected (Allen & Page), and ad lib hay when the nutritional value goes out of the grass. In summer, they just get grass. Basically, a high fibre diet in winter.

I hear fabulous things about micronised linseed:)
 
I have an oldie that's a poor do-er in light work but needs his (natural) fizz as he does do mounted games, and a young Newforest who lives off grass and thin air, but you have to give him Something to entertain him while the other one stuffs his face - so he had a bit of unmollassed sugar beet & some mollychaff. So chalk & cheese. Oldie came with diet of AlfaA, pony nuts and in the winter sugar beet, over time I found as we've poor grazing he didn't do well enough over winter, so he got Bailys No4 insted of the pony nuts which seemed to do the trick & I swapped the AlfaA for cheapo mollychaff, and over winter especially he gets a dash of linseed oil which is hard to get round here w/o paying a fortune. . Roll on this autumn and he got assesed by the rep from Allen & Page as a demo for the local riding club, and she sugested 50:50 fast fibre and veteran vitality, - and we got sent a free bag of VV - so we've gradually swapped to this new diet. I have to say he LOVES the VV, (it does smell nice & herbally) and have noticed as it's all moist he eats so much better (he has a tooth missing) Will wait to see how well he does on his new diet over winter.
Tried the NF on the FF but he wolfs it down in a nanosecond, so have started padding it out with some chaff or mollychaff if I can't get it, which does slow him down enough to not protest that the other one is being fed
 
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