Please put me out of my misery over...

Saxon_Jasmine

Saxon_Jasmine

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what to feed my mare. She is a 15.1hh, 9yr old TB. She needs to gain a bit of weight and have some sparkle added to her performance. I currently feed Simple Systems and Pure Feeds Co but they don't seem to be doing the job. She has 8hrs of grazing a day and is on ad lib haylige. She is very chilled out, even at comps, but is liable to have the occasional tantrum.

I'd like to feed a low starch, low sugar, high oil and high fibre diet. The problem is that there are so many feeds on the market I don't know which one is best!

From what I have researched I reckon Saracen EquiJewel and British Horse Feeds Fibrebeet seem a good mix. However I'm not sure if this is a balanced feed?

The other feeds I like the sound of are:
Dengie Alfa A Oil
Speedi Beet
Badminton Alfaffa and oil
Badminton Tripple Top Up
Saracen Releve
Saracen Fibre Mix

Could someone please put me out of my misery and reccomemend a cost effective feed that fits the above requirements?

Thank you in advance.
 
If you like Simple Systems feeds I'd suggest giving them a call to see what they suggest. They have feeds for everything from a veteran through to racehorses so hopefully should be able to help you.

We used to feed Simple Systems but unfortunately our local supplier has closed down and we don't need palletloads of the stuff so it wasn't viable for us.
 
Ring the manufacturers. I've always found them very helpful, even when discussing a rival's alternatives.

We've found Saracens Equijewel and their Releave to be good at putting on weight nice and steady, it hasn't fizzed up the DWB and the two ex-racer TBs that I know on it either :).

I found the combination especially useful as one doesn't have to feed a lot of it. Dizz is not the best at eating much hard feed in one go, seems to get bored, but so far she's tucked into the Releave and Equijewel no problem and not left any :).

In the past I've had her on: Blue Chip Pro; Outshine; sugarbeet; soaked oats; and Alpha A Oil. Cost a fortune and didn't put any weight on, so obviously not suiting her. I also had to feed a lot more of it, which made it three trips to the yard a day, or going twice and staying a couple of hours longer to fit in the three feeds.
 
my mum had a mare ike this, and as a result she discovered a winergy equilibrium feed to suit her perfectly.

as a result, now all of her's are on one of the equilibrium types (depending on the individual) and so is my sports horse who's in heavy work
 
I have a 13 year old ex racer TB who is an incredibly poor doer. However, he is now looking the best he ever has. He is currently being fed Badminton Care N Condition. It is an all in one complete feed with oil and fibre and is ideal for horses up to medium work. We started feeding Equilibirum before hand but Badminton version is almost half the price and has him looking amazing although you may want to add a bit more oil for coat shine since it has less than Equilibrium. He has plently of energy and finally looks like a horse rather than a stick! If it gets us through winter then it truly is a mircale feed! It is alfafa, a conditioning cube and a balancer to ensure all the vits and mins and it is alot cheaper to buy it this way than seperately. For winter we usually feed Sugar beet on top but have been looking at Fibre beet aswell this year. I wouldn't go by the feed reccomendations on the bag though - we currently feed 3 scoops a day with his haylage at night aswell and about the same hours of grazing as your horse during the day. For winter we will up it a bit but we will have to experiment a bit to get the right balance as this will be our first winter on it. The other benefit is that you don't have to feed bucket loads to put weight on. My boy will only eat so much and on Baileys for example he was having a ridiculous feed and wasn't eating all of it and not putting weight on either! I really would reccomend it!
 
One of mine can be a bit of a drama queen and the other is very sharp- they both have Alfa Oil and a small amount of Spillers Slow Release energy cubes, and that diet seems to really suit them the best (they have Pink Powder for added Vits/mins too)- very economical diet too!
 
Thank you so much for everyone's advice.

K27 - is pink powder from Naff?

So if I was to feed EquiJewel, Fibre beet, pink powder and added oil, would that be a balenced diet? Or do I need a 'main' feed such as Alfa A Oil in the combination too?

Thank you!
 
Saxon_Jasmine said:
Thank you so much for everyone's advice.

K27 - is pink powder from Naff?

So if I was to feed EquiJewel, Fibre beet, pink powder and added oil, would that be a balenced diet? Or do I need a 'main' feed such as Alfa A Oil in the combination too?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Hi

Yes the Pink Powder is from Naf, I feed it to mine as they need extra vits/mins/probiotics.

Maybe you could speak to one of the feed companies like Saracen, Dengie, Spillers etc and see what feed they recommend- they are usually very helpful!

The Equijewel is like a pelleted high oil conditioning supplement I think, think it has rice bran in it (which is already in a lot of the slow release feeds and in the slow release cubes my horses have)

I would have thought it's a good idea to feed an Alfalfa or some sort of chaff as well to bulk out the feed and add fibre.

Hope that helps you :)
 
K27 - thank you, I will have a look at the pink powder. I don't think she'll need anymore fibre as the fibrebeet is very high fibre, but may feed a small amount of alfaffa to bulk out her feed.

I have emailed lots of feed companies so am working with their advice aswell as HHO advice :)

Thank you.
 
I personally would try her on alfa a oil and some speedibeet with a broad spec vit and min supp added if you're not feeding to the recomended levels. keep it simple. You don't 'have' to feed any type of feed but fibre is a real must and it will help keep her warm and prevent her dropping weight in winter. The trouble with Balancers is that although they do work for some horses, they are an expensive experiment if they don't! try the relatively cheap option first and see how you do ;)

I know someone who had a similar TB and the speedi-beet alone made the world of difference.
 
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Ok, I think I'm slowly getting there.

I have come up with the following mixes:

A.
EquiJewel
FibreBeet
Pink Powder

B.
Alfa A Oil
FibreBeet
Pink Powder

C.
FibreBeet
TopSpec cool condition cubes

What do you reckon the best mix is? Or anyother suggestions?

Thank you :)
 
*bump*

I'm so nearly there with this! Please help me with the final decision :)

I think I'll ditch the Pink Powder and go with a combination of:
Equi Jewel
Fibre Beet
Alfa A Oil
Top Spec conditioning cubes

So... which feed? Thank you :)
 
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