Recommend me a good winter mash please

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HaffiesRock

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For all of 4 weeks this "summer" I have been able to do away with a bucket feed for my pony. I have still had to hay all winter though due to lack of grass.

Anyway, just got back from 2 weeks abroad and cannot get over how much my pony's coat has changed and how autumnal it feels! He is looking a tad ribby already so need to start thinking about his winter feed.

He is a Haflinger and when I bought him last year he was majorly overweight. I took advantage of winter and left him out 24/7 unrugged with ad lib hay and a small feed of fast fiber with vits and minerals. He came out of winter a little too lean, but over summer he looked just perfect.

He's now getting am and pm hay totaling about a third of a bale, but this will be ad lib once I put him in his winter paddock.

I like to feed soaked feeds as it has more bulk and I like that he's getting water in his feed when its freezing outside. Can anyone recommend me a good feed that I can soak (preferably shortly before feeding but happy no problem if its a long soaking feed) Something that will provide a decent amount of calories but not fizz him up and ideally have vits and mins included. I will also be adding micronised linseed this year for the first time. Suggestions on how much linseed to feed a 13.2 Haffy who will need to add a little condition over winter?

Thanks all x
 
Have a look at the Rowan and Barbary ready mash range. They have a high oil one (save you adding the linseed potentially) and a high fibre one too.
Can soak hot or cold and only takes minutes.
 
I use Rowan and Barbary mash for one of my horses he is 17hh and pure T/B Aged 25 years He is not a very good doer and I struggle in the winter to keep weight on him.
About now I start to feed R and B mash the red one (Soft n Soak ReadyMash Extra) at a flat scoop twice a day with 1/2 scoop rolled barley and a flat scoop of unmolassed sugar beet.
If it gets very cold or snow he gets 2 scoopsper feed .He lives out with all my other horses well rugged with a huge open barn they came come into if the weather is bad or in summer if the flies are bad .The barn is kept well hayed wih 8 large piles of hay am and pm (for 4 horses).They have 8 acres of standing grass that had a hay cut off in July I move them onto that in November.Usually they are on 2 fields of 3 acres alternately grazed
I have done this for the last 2 years and he has never looked better coming out of the winter no need to add oil or supplements. Look at their web site there are a range availible and they are ready hot in 5 minutes
 
Apparently they are very helpful if you call them! The Readymash Extra smells amazing (I would consider eating it myself!). A pony I bought came with some to ease the change over period. All the previous owner's ponies look amazing and shiny on it. It soaks in 10 minutes in warm water - same amount of water as dry mash. Otherwise I have seen barley rings do amazing things, and they can be fed soaked.
 
Ready mash extra is a fab feed, I have started using it this year for my poor doer instead of sugar beet and he looks so much better for it. I feed it one stubbs scoop per feed, mashed with one scoop of water along with micronised linseed, conditioning cubes and alfa A oil.
 
I'm sure it must seem like I work for them, but I can't rate Simple Systems highly enough.
My two (TB and TB/ID) look well on the Lucie nuts and Pura beet soaked, with some chaff, some sunflower oil, and feed balancer, and the TB gets some grass nuts if he starts losing weight at all. They are also sane on it too. I can't feed them cereals on the light work they are doing, and to be honest I would be loathe to ever feed cereals again.
 
My old girl has Speedybeet (6% protein) and grass nuts (12% protein) with some alfalfa nuts (16% protein) *I think the protein figures are right, if not they are thereabouts*, all soaked, which has the added benefit of being low sugar/cereals. She can't manage fodder so that is a hay replacer diet as well, and the Speedybeet only needs 10 minutes, less if you use hot water.
You can add a decent balancer if you feel there aren't enough vits and minerals
 
My girl did really good on fast fibre and linseed last year. It's cheap, soaks easily and worked fo my poor doer last year. You can feed quite a lot of it too and it's cheap. If you pony needs more help then try some grass nuts in the mix too.

With the linseed I'd do a cup a day and see how you go from there.
 
My old boy is on the rowan and barbary ready mash extra hes quite a fussy feeder wouldnt go near slobber mash tried him on it and he loved it wolfed the whole thing hes put on weight and hes got a lovely shine on his coat it also smells so nice but does not taste nice ... dont ask how i know -_-
 
I use speedibeet / quick beet for bulk and add Dengie Healthy Tummy for the vitamins and minerals. It smells lovely when you add warm water during the winter.
 
If you go onto their website you will get their phone number, ring them, ask for Becky and she will answer all your questions and give you good advice if you need it. Its great to see this feed being recommended by so many people. Well made and home produced by the owners of Rowen Barbary.
 
The mashes sounds very good but I have stopped short of feeding it as I've been told that at least some of the products in that range are very high in starch
 
HaffiesRock said:
Lots of praise for the ready mash extra! How much is it a bag and how long does it last you all?
Click to expand...

It was nearing £14 a bag when I used it on a sick horse 2 years ago. I rate it but found my horse was over faced by the quantity I needed to get into him. He is a very big horse and although he eats well most of the time, he gets 'fed up and picky' if there is too much quantity.

The mash increases when soaked to large quantities, which is fine if, a) you are on the yard enough times through the day to feed little and often, or b) your horse will pick rather than gorge the lot in one go, if left with a bucket full. Of course this may not be a problem if you are not feeding very big horses.

It really did pick my lad up and I would use it again. At present I use soaked grass nuts, unmollassed SB, linseed and a cheap unmoll chaff, plus ad lib hay. The horse is low level cushingoid and at the moment, is doing very well.
 
Im another one to recommend Rowan & Barbury Ready Mash - I used to feed it by soaking it in boiling water on a snowy morning, it smelt amazing and the horses all loved it. Might put them back on it again this winter actually.
 
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