Mix or nuts? Is my mix aversion justified?!

[poiuytrewq]

For years I've had this idea in my head that I dislike coarse mix! Its mainly stemmed from having had a horse who had tummy problems, including having had ulcers and colic in the past. I did lots of research into feeding him and settled on the idea that mix was bad requiring more digestion and nuts being semi processed already were easier to digest and therefore kinder on the gut!
This has just stuck with me (along with other things, no molasses etc)
I aim for high fibre, no cereal.
This is great for current very good doers. I feed currently Allen and Page Fast fibre and Hifi.

New horse is obviously not as good a doer and requires more. He's probably in his early 20's so I figured a veteran feed. However after a tour of local feed shops my choice is mix or mix! A few different brands but no cubes
I can order some but its always a faff having to order unstocked stuff as inevitably I run out before remembering to order more or their deliveries are late.
Do I just go with mix? Not sure if my theory is actually valid or if its one of those random things I've decided to believe for years and years!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Sorry posted mistakenly in the wrong forum area!

 

[hobo]

What about baileys No 4 nuts it was very good for an ex racer I used to have and did not send him loopy either, he was still on it in his 20's. My two now are such good doers that they only get balancer and since I have stopped using mix I do not get the rooks in my stable picking through the dung so I would probably not go back to mix.

 

[milliepops]

I don't think it's *particularly* whether the feed is presented in mix or nut form, but more about what's actually in it. Some mixes are higher in molasses to help them stick together, but not all. Many nuts are also bound together with molasses. Both are typically fairly high in starch and sugars.

So if you are happy with the ingredients, you can probably feed them in whichever form you choose.

The reason people have increasingly moved away from traditional mixes and cubes is to feed a different kind of diet, towards higher fibre, lower starch and sugar - good for ulcers, good for barefoot etc etc.

I get my feed delivered these days as I can't find it reliably at shops - I'm using a balancer and unmolassed grass chaff, and will add in micronised linseed or copra if it ever gets cold enough for them to need the added calories Have also had good results feeding rice bran to poor doers (saracen EquiJewel or Keyflow Key Plus)

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

For years I've had this idea in my head that I dislike coarse mix! Its mainly stemmed from having had a horse who had tummy problems, including having had ulcers and colic in the past. I did lots of research into feeding him and settled on the idea that mix was bad requiring more digestion and nuts being semi processed already were easier to digest and therefore kinder on the gut!
This has just stuck with me (along with other things, no molasses etc)
I aim for high fibre, no cereal.
This is great for current very good doers. I feed currently Allen and Page Fast fibre and Hifi.

New horse is obviously not as good a doer and requires more. He's probably in his early 20's so I figured a veteran feed. However after a tour of local feed shops my choice is mix or mix! A few different brands but no cubes
I can order some but its always a faff having to order unstocked stuff as inevitably I run out before remembering to order more or their deliveries are late.
Do I just go with mix? Not sure if my theory is actually valid or if its one of those random things I've decided to believe for years and years!

I hate any kind of mix and wont feed to my horses