Low Sugar,Low Starch,High Fibre,High Oil

Flibble

Flibble

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www.annamason-art.co.uk
I currently feed Winergy Equilibrium Conditioning and my horse is lovely on it but a 15 kg bag costs £12.65 and last 4 days.
Can anyone suggest an alternative it MUST be low Starch and low sugar as I have had problems with other feeds.
 
My horse must be on a similar diet and I use topspec balancer, mollichaff high fibre alfalfa and speedibeet - he looks great on it. You could add oil to that if you wanted to, or alternatively use something like Triple Top Up from Badminton Horse Feeds, Equijewel or Outshine. (I'd use the first one personally, or the equijewel).
 
As said already a combination of alfalfa, unmollassed beet and oil is good, which can be achieved in various ways.

Alternatively, if you want a complete feed then Spiller's Response Slow Release Cubes are another option, perhaps fed with Alfa A Oil for extra calories.
 
I also cannot feed alfa-a or any variation thereof (sends him sky high) - but I can feed other brands of alfalfa - the high fibre one I use is a mix of alfalfa and straw (so has a good selection of long fibres in it which help to buffer against ulcers) and he is fine on it. He has also been fine on Countrywide's own brand alfalfa chaff and something else the loaner fed him (can't remember what).
 
Speedibeet or Fast Fibre, with Outshine and a balancer. Is what I've used in the past. Allen & Page Sugar & Cereal Intolerance Diet or L-mix are also very good.
 
Which Alfa A did you give him? Some versions such as Original are mollassed, whereas Alfa A Oil is NOT mollassed. Alternatively you could look at other oil enriched chaffs such as Spiller's Conditioning Fibre, although Alfa A Oil is the highest calorie chaff I have come across yet.
 
I have a spreadhseet of various feeds, I can e-mail it to you if you like? I kept getting told what to put my underweight rescue case horse on various feeds so decided to look at what was in each one and then make my mind up.

My horse has to be on the same type of diet, he's on Bailey's no.4, speedibeet and alfa a oil, and ad lib hay I'm going to also put him on a balancer though, I'm just trying to work out which one to go for. Before he went onto alfa a oil I was giving him vegetable oil in his feed too but I think it would give him loose stools now. He gets fed 3-4 times a day as I'm trying to put weight on him.
 
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Which Alfa A did you give him? Some versions such as Original are mollassed, whereas Alfa A Oil is NOT mollassed. Alternatively you could look at other oil enriched chaffs such as Spiller's Conditioning Fibre, although Alfa A Oil is the highest calorie chaff I have come across yet.

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I dunno if it is the mollasses TGM - my horse was on the Alfa-A oil - he was impossible and even reared mid-dressage test (which he has never done before or since, and never threatened to either). I think it is something ab out Alfa-A and whatever is in it - I wondered if ti was the protein levels?
 
interestingly enough my super laid back rubber straight bar eggbutt buckle of the rein hunter also went loopy on alfalfa products?! she prefected a capriole on hi-fi!!! and had me off in minutes on alfa-a oil
i also wont touch them now!

ETA - outshine may be worth a try?
 
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My horse has to be on the same type of diet, he's on Bailey's no.4, speedibeet and alfa a oil, and ad lib hay I'm going to also put him on a balancer though,

[/ QUOTE ] Baileys No 4, although an excellent weight gain feed, is definitely not low starch! Also, if you are feeding the recommended amount of a cube or mix such as No 4, you don't need to feed a balancer as well, as you are doubling up on vit/mins.
 
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My horse has to be on the same type of diet, he's on Bailey's no.4, speedibeet and alfa a oil, and ad lib hay I'm going to also put him on a balancer though,

[/ QUOTE ] Baileys No 4, although an excellent weight gain feed, is definitely not low starch! Also, if you are feeding the recommended amount of a cube or mix such as No 4, you don't need to feed a balancer as well, as you are doubling up on vit/mins.

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Well it's working for him and is lower in starch than no.17 and the mollichaff and sugar beet (molassed) which he was previously getting before I looked into the nutritional content of various feeds, I tried to switch him onto copra stance as that's a great feed but he threw his bucket and wouldn't eat it which isn't what you want with an underweight horse so I had to compromise and put him on no.4 with a bit of 17 mixed in. He has some cheek coming from someone who didn't feed him and turning fussy lol
 
Why not find a low starch/sugar, high fibre feed then add your own oil? It'll be much easier! Bear in mind you'll need to feed extra Vit E if feeding a large amount of oil.
 
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How about Coolstance Copra, it meets all your requirements. I have found it really good for putting condition on.

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It is a great feed but I'd try and get a sample first though, Toby wouldn't eat it at all, it didn't matter how much I tried to disguise it he threw it all over the place. I now have an almost full bag to deliver to the rescue that recommended it lol, some of the other horses on the yard won't touch it either.
 
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Which Alfa A did you give him? Some versions such as Original are mollassed, whereas Alfa A Oil is NOT mollassed. Alternatively you could look at other oil enriched chaffs such as Spiller's Conditioning Fibre, although Alfa A Oil is the highest calorie chaff I have come across yet.

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Sorry to hijack post, but I had wondered for ages why my TB was fine on Alfa-A Oil, yet got very sharp and stressy on normal Alfa-A.....and in the end put it down to some other factor....but now I wonder if it is the molasses.....thanks TGM!
 
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Which Alfa A did you give him? Some versions such as Original are mollassed, whereas Alfa A Oil is NOT mollassed. Alternatively you could look at other oil enriched chaffs such as Spiller's Conditioning Fibre, although Alfa A Oil is the highest calorie chaff I have come across yet.

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Sorry to hijack post, but I had wondered for ages why my TB was fine on Alfa-A Oil, yet got very sharp and stressy on normal Alfa-A.....and in the end put it down to some other factor....but now I wonder if it is the molasses.....thanks TGM!

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It's highly likely to have been the problem. I go from Alpha A Lite (molasses extract) in the summer to Alpha A Oil in the winter always avoiding the regular Alpha A.
 
Whats the difference between molasses and molasses extract? I noticed all of their products have molasses in except the alfa-a oil and the lite which still has the extract.
 
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My horse has to be on the same type of diet, he's on Bailey's no.4, speedibeet and alfa a oil, and ad lib hay I'm going to also put him on a balancer though,

[/ QUOTE ] Baileys No 4, although an excellent weight gain feed, is definitely not low starch! Also, if you are feeding the recommended amount of a cube or mix such as No 4, you don't need to feed a balancer as well, as you are doubling up on vit/mins.

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Totally agree with this, No 4 definately NOT low in starch - it has lots of barley in it. Also agree there is no need to feed a balancer if feeding the recommended amount of cubes.
 
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Which Alfa A did you give him? Some versions such as Original are mollassed, whereas Alfa A Oil is NOT mollassed. Alternatively you could look at other oil enriched chaffs such as Spiller's Conditioning Fibre, although Alfa A Oil is the highest calorie chaff I have come across yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to hijack post, but I had wondered for ages why my TB was fine on Alfa-A Oil, yet got very sharp and stressy on normal Alfa-A.....and in the end put it down to some other factor....but now I wonder if it is the molasses.....thanks TGM!

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Mollases will certainly play a part with some horses, however, there are definately some horses who react to alfalfa in any form. There is some anecdotal evidence that it is the TYPE of protein in alfa that is the main cause. Normally protein is not to blame, but there are certain types of protein that do have an adverse effect on some horses.
 
I think you may be confusing Baileys No 4 with Build Up - Build Up is barley-based, Bailey's No 4 is wheat-based - but both are cereals and therefore have quite a high starch content!
 
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I am a bit twitchy on the alph-A subject I fed him this last year and it was like Rocket Fuel.

I feel some phone calls coming on

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Your options are limited to fibre and oil, I love Triple Top Up which is coconut and full fat soya together with Vit E and Selenium, and also about £10 a bag cheaper than Outshine!

Speedibeet is a fab fibre provider with a really good condition index yet really low in starch and sugar.

It is a shame about his reaction to Alfa, however you could use a chopped dried grass which has similar calcium/protein and DE levels but does not seem to have the same adverse effect on temperament. I like Ultra Grass (Badminton) or Just Grass (D&H)

You could feed the above and just add a vit/min supplement or Pink Powder which will be much cheaper than a balancer yet provide a good balanced diet.

If you can, try to feed three small meals rather than two, although I know that this is not always possible.
 
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I think you may be confusing Baileys No 4 with Build Up - Build Up is barley-based, Bailey's No 4 is wheat-based - but both are cereals and therefore have quite a high starch content!

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Ahh entirely possible TGM!
 
Well the current recommendation are :-
From Badminton :

High Fibre Complete Nuggets plus Triple Top up

From Top Spec Cool Condition Cubes plus Lesiure Feed Balancer

Jury is still out on what I change to as I dont want to rock the boat just to save money and Oh dear God Feed choices are a Minefield.

The Pros and Cons of my Current Regime 1 bag with everything he needs in it versus Cost.

I am still pondering what I do.
 
Yes, if you feed the High Fibre Nuggetts you would not have to feed a vit/min supplement. They have the added bonus of being supremely palatable, all of mine have them - they are a must have product for me! I even had to smuggle a bag in to Sirena when she was in horspital as she refused to eat the convalescence mix they tried to give her!

You are quire right, feed is a minefield and as for the prices, without meaning to sound old and decrepit, I remember when it was around £5 a bag!
 
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