Pink Mash

[Stenners]

Does anyone feed this and if so do you recommend it?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I have started feeding it this winter. Horses look fabulous on it. Highly recommend.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Yes and yes x

 

[irishdraft]

Yes, my horse who is not a good doer over winter has pink mash twice a day and is actually looking quite good and he waits for his feeds now whereas he was always not that bothered .

 

[Stenners]

Yes, my horse who is not a good doer over winter has pink mash twice a day and is actually looking quite good and he waits for his feeds now whereas he was always not that bothered .

This is interesting as I've recently tried my horse on some of my friends pink mash to see how she goes before I buy a bag and usually she walks off a few strides when i go to bring her in but the last few days she stayed right sat the gate happy to come in so not sure if it's the mash or the Dengie pure grass I'm giving her as she's not a massive hay lover so I combine the 2!

 

[VioletStripe]

I absolutely loved it to start with and everyone I know who feeds it does too - however, it made my horse horribly itchy... changed feeds and the itching stopped. Never had an issue with other feeds including alfalfa but this for some reason just wasn't for him! It's a shame because it's generally lovely stuff and he seemed absolutely over the moon with the taste of it...

 

[HeyMich]

We tried it, one of mine wouldn't eat a single bite and it also made my ID mare itchy. We now use Fast Fibre (A&P), which is a similar mash feed but with added balanced minerals, and there's clean buckets every day and no itching.

 

[Tiddlypom]

My 3 all loved it, however long term it didn't any of them any favours.

Their hoof health improved noticeably when I took them off it. I took one off it first, saw the result, then followed suit with the other 2. I blame the soya hulls - who'd go to the feed shop and ask for a big bag of soya hulls?

 

[Stenners]

My 3 all loved it, however long term it didn't any of them any favours.

Their hoof health improved noticeably when I took them off it. I took one off it first, saw the result, then followed suit with the other 2. I blame the soya hulls - who'd go to the feed shop and ask for a big bag of soya hulls?

Ooh really? I am still undecided if to buy a bag or not or just stick with what she's on!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Pink mash composition

http://keyflowfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Keyflow-Pink-Mash.pdf

Soya hull super fibre
Dried Beetroot
Micronised Linseed
Protexin® Probiotics and Prebiotics

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I used to feed it to my younger horse but I reviewed his feed / management after he was being a bit of a tool. He’s got a better work ethic now now and is more amenable but I did add a calmer as well as changing the Pink Mash to something without linseed. He’s also done a lot more this last 6 months so I’m unsure what has actually helped his overall attitude or whether it’s a combination of things.

 

[Squeak]

That's really interesting to hear less great experiences. It's been raved about on all the ex-racehorse fb pages I'm on so it's interesting to hear the flip side as well.

 

[I'm Dun]

I find it brilliant for poor doers and good doers. Ive never had one react to it either, but thats always a risk with soy, much smaller as its husks, but there will always be some that dont get on with it.

 

[ycbm]

Pink mash composition

http://keyflowfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Keyflow-Pink-Mash.pdf

Soya hull super fibre
Dried Beetroot
Micronised Linseed
Protexin® Probiotics and Prebiotics

It's got two things in it that feature heavily on the recent food intolerance thread, I'm not surprised to read of the reactions.
.

 

[millitiger]

Mine love it and lap it up.

the good doer has only mash and chaff.
The other horse is leaner by nature and also working very hard so is supplemented by linseed and ERS pellets too.

 

[Stenners]

Now i've seen some of these negative comments i'm not sure if i want to feed it! She's currently fed micronised linseed with no issues.

 

[NR88]

I have fed it with no issue for years. My horses are all barefoot so no issues there either. I've found it to be a fantastic feed and very adaptable from good doers to those that have needed help be it condition wise or ulcer related (OTTBs)

 

[samleigh]

I found my TB put condition and it settled her tummy nicely, but I did find her ridden work challenging especially as it was rehab walking!
Changed her feed and she's nicely chilled again.

 

[PurBee]

Pink mash composition

http://keyflowfeeds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Keyflow-Pink-Mash.pdf

Soya hull super fibre
Dried Beetroot
Micronised Linseed
Protexin® Probiotics and Prebiotics

when i looked at the ingredients a while back i thought the soy filler was dodgy, beetroot possibly too much sugar, and for the cost per bag, not worth it. I buy micro. Linseed and protexin separately for better prices, without the risk from the other ingredients.

 

[Stenners]

when i looked at the ingredients a while back i thought the soy filler was dodgy, beetroot possibly too much sugar, and for the cost per bag, not worth it. I buy micro. Linseed and protexin separately for better prices, without the risk from the other ingredients.

is that the protexin gut balancer?

 

[PurBee]

is that the protexin gut balancer?

Yes - it works well for my 2, its in a base of alfalfa, but as its a spoonful dosing, is insignificant for mine experiencing negative effects.

(Mine get a bit hyper on alfalfa forage of 20%+, i only know this as a hay company sent me ‘mixed meadow grass hay’ but loaded mainly with alfalfa and alpine clover….cow food basically! I’ve been working through a tonne of the stuff giving 1kg here and there.)

 

[Pinkvboots]

Mine ate it then one wouldn't after a few months so I stopped buying it they both have spillers speedy mash now and really like it and it smells of apples when you soak it.

 

[Bluewaves]

I've just started using it to carry supplements - that's all i need it for really. I was using micronised linseed with chaff and salt but he didn't really like it and then was leaving the expensive supplements at teh bottom of the bucket.

Then handful of horse and pony nuts but he didnt' really like that either.

I tried a sample of pink mash, he liked it so have stopped the nuts, chaff and linseed. Hope he doesn't turn nutso on it now.

 

[Tiddlypom]

when i looked at the ingredients a while back i thought the soy filler was dodgy, beetroot possibly too much sugar, and for the cost per bag, not worth it. I buy micro. Linseed and protexin separately for better prices, without the risk from the other ingredients.

Agree.

The first horse that I took off it is my mare with the hind gut issues, and it since turned out that she is reactive to micronised linseed, so that alone would explain why she didn't do well on it. She is still on protexin, though.

The other two do well on micronised linseed and still get a mugful of micro linseed twice a day, plus protexin (and other stuff). So it must have been the soya and/or the beetroot from Pink Mash that didn't agree with them.

Anyhoo, it's been consigned to the fad food discard bin now, I will never bother with it again.

 

[I'm Dun]

when i looked at the ingredients a while back i thought the soy filler was dodgy, beetroot possibly too much sugar, and for the cost per bag, not worth it. I buy micro. Linseed and protexin separately for better prices, without the risk from the other ingredients.

Its the lowest sugar and starch food you can buy, so I dont know why you would think beetroot contained too much sugar?

A months dose of protexin is about £13, then the cost of linseed means the £16/17 a bag I pay makes the feed almost free That was my logic behind feeding it originally, esp as it was for good doers and I wanted the lowest calorie feed that would soak to hide minerals with the lowest sugar/starch

 

[PurBee]

Its the lowest sugar and starch food you can buy, so I dont know why you would think beetroot contained too much sugar?

A months dose of protexin is about £13, then the cost of linseed means the £16/17 a bag I pay makes the feed almost free That was my logic behind feeding it originally, esp as it was for good doers and I wanted the lowest calorie feed that would soak to hide minerals with the lowest sugar/starch

Initially when looking at the ingredients i thought beetroot is high sugar fed as a proper feed, and i wasnt interested in soy hulls for various nutritional reasons- i already know that soyhulls affect their gut and they spook easily, as i tried a balancer that was soy hull base with minerals added, pressed into a pellet. The only ingredients therefore of use for my horses nutritionally was the protexin and linseed.

looking at their datasheet for sugar and starch being less than 4% and energy 9mj/kg - that suggest there’s not much beetroot in there. As they recommend 500kg horse to have 500g pink mash, i suspect that’s to get the small spoon of protexin dose, and a meagre amount of linseed judging by their 35g/kg of oil - most of the content of the feed is soya hulls, hence the 40% fibre listed.
The fact they dont say how much (grams) of each ingredient is in each kilo is annoying. Soya hulls are 35% average fibre, so its an expensive bag of mainly soy industry bi-product unsuitable feed imo.
At 27euros per 15kg bag, thats 54 euros per month for a ‘base wet mix’ to add their dry minerals into. I currently spend 45 euros p/month for beetpulp/great quality linseed/probiotic without the undesirable soy ingredient.

If your horse isnt reactive on soy hulls its a workable solution, but the troubling aspect is not knowing the dosage of protexin and linseed per recommended 100g/100kg feed.

The prebiotic nature of beetroot isnt necessary as they get that from fibrous hays and protexin anyway, the beetroot is sales gimmick and to appeal to the pink yard brigade ??

ETA: linseed is 45-50% oil average - so the 17.5g of oil per 500g pink flow feed (lets presume its all from linseed, none in soy hulls)= 35g linseed per 500g = 6 teaspoons/3 desert spoons - very low dose :

200-264grams of plant omega 3 is consumed on average a 500kg horse eating grass during spring summer.
https://forageplus.co.uk/omega-3-importance-in-horse-diets/

p.s - the RDA of omega 3 official figure for horses isnt easily found - all that can be deduced is by what is obtained when theyre out 24/7 with access to grass/shrubs etc.

 

[I'm Dun]

They will tell you if you email them. I just find it brilliant stuff, that works better than the individual ingredients do. The main thing for me was the absolutely minimal starch and sugar. I couldnt find anything else comparable. Absolutely ideal for getting minerals into good doers. I'm always a bit surprised when it does poor doers equally as well.

I might feel different if I had one react, but hasnt happened yet. I did have a pony mare who reacted to pretty much everything, and 2 out of the current 3 get ridiculous on alfalfa. They all seem relatively sane with pink mash though thankfully.