Rowan Barbary Mashes

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SCMSL

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To anyone who uses either the Solution or the Extra...

- Do your horses like the taste?
- How much do you feed?
- If feeding for condition, did it work?

I'm considering making the switch but as I'm currently in Portugal I would have to order (literally) a ton. Just wanted other people's opinions on it as it sounds really perfect on paper.
 
I've used both mashes - I started with the Readymash Extra as a weight gain product for my TB as she had been very ill and was in very poor condition. As I remember I had to add some mollasses for a couple of days to get her to eat it, but then she was like a hoover with it - absolutely loved it and it worked a treat. If you look back on my posts, I put two photos of her on a thread the other day about "how to improve a low set neck" - one was the before picture and the was after some time on the readymash extra and lots of long-reining on the roads. She is a very fussy eater, but once she got the hang of eating wet food she couldn't get enough of it. When she gained condition I changed to the solutions mash - not a chance of her eating it - I tried adding everything, but there was no way on earth she was going to touch it - I even left it in her stable overnight and it was still there in the morning. It smells completely different to the readymash extra. So that was another bag of food in the bin!
 
The company is local to me and donated a couple of bags for the rescues. Problem is most of the rescues need a low sugar, low starch diet and their mashes contain cereals. Caspar quite enjoyed it though :)
 
I have just started feeding my very fussy TB mare Ready Mash Red. Took a few days of disguising it before she would eat it, but yesterday we had a clean bowl! Miracle!!

I am feeding it for condition, and am hoping that the fact it is calorie-laden will put a bit of cover back on her.
 
I used the rowan berry mash in the red bag, can't remember the name of it.

Very poorly and big (17.2) hunter. He loved the stuff but to get enough into him was a problem.

A level stubbs scoop weighs approx 2lb and needs 2 and a half bowls of water to soak. The end result was a water bucket size full of mash and that just overfaced him.

He did pick at through the day but 2lb of grub was nowhere near enough to sustain a big horse who did not have much interest in his haylage.

It certainly is a useful feed and I would turn to it again but quantities are a problem if it is being used as weight gain. I found linseed, top spec conditioning flakes and DH build up cubes easier to feed as I just give small amounts and mix it with soaked grass nuts and speedibeet.

They are all different. This horse gets very excitied at a bucket with just an inch or two of feed in it, clearing the lot and doing the washing up, but given a huge amount like the mash was, he just picks at it and leaves most of it.
 
The extra sent mine crackers. I've been using the solution mash over winter & took him a while to get used the taste but likes it now & kept weight on fairly well.
 
Thank you all for your answers.

My horse is quite used to being fed wet food. In fact, the only way we get her to eat her grain (currently Main Ring Gold) is to mix it with Alfa A Oil (about 2,5kg) and add water until it all has a soup-like consistency.

Holly, I think I read your post and thats actually what made me take a second look at their feeds.

Lorraine is the most ulcer prone horse I've ever owned. In June she was scoped and came out with grade 4 ulcers. Treated those and rescoped clear in August. Decided to rescope again in January and bam, grade 4 ulcers again. I think a diet change is a must for her right now, so I have been looking into low starch feeds.

She is also a bit underweight still, despite the massive amount of feed I give her.

The ReadyMash Extra isn't exactly low starch but its still much lower then the Main Ring, and maybe I could mix it with the Solution to bring the global starch level down.
But what would be perfect would be to just feed the Solution and still have her put on the much needed kgs!
 
I use the red bag of Rowan Barbary mass and my fussy tb loves it! She used to leave her morning food but now she licks both bowls clean. She has never looked better condition wise either.
I don't have any other of my horses on it as they aren't in much work or are good doers but planning to put my 4 year old on it next winter when she is in more work.
 
I used the Solution Mash on my very fussy 7/8ths TB who doesn't do well on cereal. She initially ate it willingly which is a miracle in itself and she looked and felt good on it, however 2 bags in she decided not to eat it anymore. This isn't unusual for her though.

However my cob x hoover also ate it initially and then went off it which is strange because it's very hard to put her off her feed.

I've heard from a few people that they've had similar issues if they could get their horses to eat it at all. Mine gradually started leaving bits of it, then rather a lot of it until they stopped eating it all together. I left some in with the TB for 2 days (cruel mother) in the hope she would eat it when hungry but not a chance.

When she was eating it my TBs condition was very good on it considering she struggles to hold weight and I was feeding 3/4s of a round stubbs scoop 3 times a day, alongside a balancer and a mug of EquiJewel in each feed. Any more than that per meal would overface her and she would refuse all of it.

The good doer cob was getting half a stubbs scoop twice a day (dry weight) alongside balancer and she was gaining weight on it.

I have also tried ReadyMash and ReadyFibreMash with some success, the ReadyMash seeming to be the most palatable for my girls but I wasn't too happy with the sugar/starch/cereal levels.
 
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We feed it along with alfalfa, linseed meal and beetpulp to the TB to keep the weight on him :)

Our supplier ran out so he hasnt had it for a week or so and you can tell! Some people havent had results with it on their horses though.
 
I have used the extra in the past but just found that its starch level is just too high for mine.

and, if you are dealing with ulcers then I would suggest that the starch is a contributing factor. If you were able to cut it out and feed a fibre and oil based diet you may find a more permanent solution to the issue.

if the horse is used to a wet feed then can you feed a large bucket full of unmollassed sugar beet or alfabeet for her to pick at over the course of a night? we use this technique for putting weight on horses - the first night they will probably just gorge on it, but thereafter they eat it steadily overnight, and their haylage, and you can then feed a small, nutrient dense short feed.... something like micronised linseed meal, a balancer and a bit of alfa a oil (or speedibeet if you prefer)...
 
I can't get Pure Feeds, unfortunately.

She can't get beet pulp, or at least large quantities of it as it gives her hindgut issues - her poo turns very smelly and wet.

I do give her two large buckets of mash per day, one in the morning and one just before I leave at night. Each one has 3 stubbs scoops of Alfa A, 2 stubbs scoops of Alfalfa cubes, 2 stubbs scoops of bran (going to cut this out as soon as I sort the rest of the feeding program out) and 0,25L of linseed oil. On top of this she also gets two large haynets per day and doesn't finish the second one, and 4,5kg of Main Ring Gold divided by 3 meals.

She GORGES the mash down, and actually will eat anything I put in it. If going the Rowen route, I would just add the solution mash to the Alfa A/Alfalfa cubes "soup".
 
Just started using their Solution Mash for a very picky Tb with metabolic issues - and he loves it !!
Smells lovely, and he doesn't seem to notice his additives in it, so it's a big thumbs up, so far.
 
Hi
Just received a sample of Solution Mash in the post from Rowan Barbary in preparation for my new winter feed regime (lo cereal, hi fibre without weight loss). What does anyone else feed it with or do you feed it on it's own? (Assuming she will eat it?)
 
I am sorry to say its a struggle to get my horse to eat it. I was hoping she would be the exception to the rule but no. I mix it with a ton of Alfa A, which is proving to be quite expensive, and still some days she won't eat it.
 
No it doesn't need to be mash - that is the one they sent me to try, I will bowse through their other products in the brochure, am going to feed 1/2 the sample tonight to see if she likes it!
 
Mine loves the Forage n Fiber as well, its actually the only feed I've tried that she'll lick the bucket clean - and I have tried over 20 feeds. I am currently feeding FnF and some Sumo MB to up the protein and energy levels. Yes, the MB is a bit high starch but looking at the big picture it really is minor.
 
I'm a big fan of ready mash extra. For my last horse I used it for weight gain and it worked a treat and for my current horse I'm using it with calm and condition to build up muscle mass and it's really working... both horses loved it, I have not had any problems with them eating it :)
 
Our old toothless Shetland looks 100 times better since he has been on this. He gets the ready fibre mash in summer and the extra in winter. He looks great now after looking really old and ill a couple of years ago.
My pony gets ready fibre mash and does well on it. Once he got a bag of 'extra' by mistake and was turbocharged.
 
Tried it on our 2 TBs but didn't really work, but then they are in fairly hard work ( one competing PSG and schooling GP and the other competing elem and schooling advanced) so mAy be ok for something doing less intensive work.

Can you get havens feeds? The slobbermash HAS put super weight and condition on the PSG horse.
 
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