Saracens Re-Covery Mash

[Leo Walker]

Does anyone feed this? I am losing the will to live with Bobbie at the minute. She wont eat any feed at all now really. She has a few mouthfuls of her pink mash/grass chaff then leaves it if there is any sort of supplement in it at all. If theres even a dusting of salt she kicks the bucket over and wont touch it. Normally Saracens isnt something I would feed due to the ingredients but this one isnt too bad. The main attraction is the electrolytes as she sweats fairly heavily most days and I cant get any salt into her. She is working hard but doesnt need extra calories really. I'm waiting to hear back from Saracens about how much she would have to be eating to get any benefit from the electrolytes.

The other option is to syringe it down her but I really dont like the idea of syringing loads of salt water into her with nothing as a buffer!

 

[Trouper]

If the supplements are the critical issue then I would treat as if they were essential meds and not worry too much about the sugar/weight aspect. To get my post-KS spine op girl to take hers, the magic ingredients were a bit of grated apple, grated carrot and dampened down with a weak molasses solution. I know it is not an ideal diet but I limited the feed to a small amount to ensure that she hoovered it all up before she got bored with eating. The base before meds were added was only Thunderbrooks chaff and balancer so pretty bland and not much use in hiding anything nasty-tasting!!

 

[scats]

I had this problem with Diva, LW. She needed supplements all year round and winter was no problem but she wouldn’t eat any feed in the summer, no matter what i tempted her with.

Could you try something like some apple sauce? Even if it’s just a blob to stick her electrolyte in her?

 

[Sasana Skye]

Glad it's not just my horse going off their food. Neither of mine will eat their feeds with powder balancers, they were eating all their feeds and asking for more a month back but since around 2 weeks ago they won't even take one bite even though nothing changed, just a sniff and then off to find grass. I have tried every trick in the book, big feeds, small feeds, mint, you name it they just aren't interested. I have one that in the summer won't even take an apple from you but in spring, autumn and winter she'd take your arm off for one. I've just given up on trying to get their supplements and balancers down them at the moment it's costing me too much in wasted food so they'll have to go without until the grass goes.

I did read about this one when it came out. Of all Saracen's products the recovery mash is probably the most passable but contains a lot of soya which I don't like, and the sugar/starch levels are moderate to high, not to mention that my diva of a mare won't touch any soaked feeds ( ) so no good to me. Can you ask for a sample pack to see if your horse will actually eat it? Nothing worse than buying 20kg of something that your horse won't touch - I know that one all too well


Eta: Am I missing something? Just looked it up again...
"Feed alongside any diet – no vitamins or minerals to cause nutritional imbalance"
....
"Vitamin E to support normal muscle function & recovery"

 

[Leo Walker]

They are sending me a sample out. This is mainly soya hulls, and pink mash is basically soya hulls so I'm ok with that bit. I'm not so keen on the soya oil, oat feed, barley or molasses, all things I wont normally feed. but needs must with her now. I also think she could do with a small amount of energy from her feed with the work shes doing. Not a lot but just a little bit of slow release energy, so this might kill two birds with one stone.

I've tried mint, apples, carrots, all sorts. I've not tried apple sauce, mainly as i need to go to a supermarket and get some, but its on the list. I'm going to try an apple cordial tomorrow. Apparently people have had success with that in the past. The problem is shes on to me now and knows I am trying to hide nasty things. Even when the nasty things arent in there shes side eyeing me and picking through it, leaving of it most behind.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I was going to suggest it in a previous thread but know you're not keen on some of the ingredients! However, out of all the "mainstream" feed companies Dengie and Saracens were always the ones to impress me the most when I had to listen to their reps and sell their products. I like the look of recovery mash for what it is designed to do. In terms of horses eating it we always got good feedback from customers with fusspot horses when we put them onto Saracens feeds.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

If you are worried about replacing electrolytes could you add them to her water, rather than to her feed?

 

[Brownmare]

Does she really need the electrolytes? My grazing is high enough in salt that I would only need to supplement it for endurance riding or 3 day eventing etc. Inerestingly I have a Himalayan salt lick and new horses will usually lick it regularlyfor the first couple of weeks then stop bothering with it altogether which tells me enough. Maybe your grazing is the same?

 

[Foxglove]

I use recovery mash with my horse that can be fussy with water when away competing. She absolutely loves it and thinks of it as a real treat after she’s finished!

It’s very palatable but I make mine so wet it wouldn’t be any use as a conduit for supplements

As much as I like it, I wouldn’t really think of it as an everyday food stuff

 

[Leo Walker]

I think she does. Shes sweating heavily most days and shes not getting it in her feed unless I add it, so shes going to be deficient. The work shes doing is to get her fit enough for eventing s well. Driving trials are the driven equivalent of three day eventing. I've not had the grazing analysed but the soil is showing in the 0% to 10% percentile so very low.

 

[Leo Walker]

If you are worried about replacing electrolytes could you add them to her water, rather than to her feed?

She rarely drinks in the stable and she shares her little paddock with someone elses pony. I can ask them but not sure how it will go down. Given how she reacts to salt in feed I cant see her voluntarily drinking it in water either!

 

[Leo Walker]

I use recovery mash with my horse that can be fussy with water when away competing. She absolutely loves it and thinks of it as a real treat after she’s finished!

It’s very palatable but I make mine so wet it wouldn’t be any use as a conduit for supplements

As much as I like it, I wouldn’t really think of it as an everyday food stuff

She isnt a fan of sloppy feeds. I suspect she will like this as its more sugary and has more taste than her current feed. If thats what we need to do in the summer when shes working hard then I can live with it I think, so long as shes only getting a token amount and doesnt go off her rocker. I cant imagine she will, shes not unduly affected by feed, but I have seen some go absolutely nuts on soya oil!

 

[Lois Lame]

Listen to your horses. At the moment they are happy with the grass.
[smiley face]

 

[blodwyn1]

Have you tried black salt from global herbs?

 

[HorsesRule2009]

How about saracen re-leve.
It's flavoured with blackcurrant.
Ii didn't think horse would go for the blackcurrant but apparently they do.
I used to work in a tack shop and most people raved about this.
We had a few customers who had fussy horses and they all ate this.
They smell /taste of blackcurrant may help with hiding supplements?
Worth a try with a sample if they'll send you one

 

[Foxglove]

She isnt a fan of sloppy feeds. I suspect she will like this as its more sugary and has more taste than her current feed. If thats what we need to do in the summer when shes working hard then I can live with it I think, so long as shes only getting a token amount and doesnt go off her rocker. I cant imagine she will, shes not unduly affected by feed, but I have seen some go absolutely nuts on soya oil!

Just a thought but have you considered soaked grass nuts? You can make them a little drier and they are completely additive free?

 

[shortstuff99]

Have you looked into equidgel? It is a really good feed for upping horses hydration etc and fussy horses like it and it has no fillers in it and low sugar/starch! http://www.equidiet.org.uk/

 

[Peter7917]

Add caramel because salted caramel is delicious

 

[milliepops]

Add caramel because salted caramel is delicious

haha! brilliant.

Saracen do seem to have a way of making feed super palatable
Re-leve is like crack to mine.

 

[Annagain]

It's counter-intuitive but have you trired just giving it to her in a tiny amount of feed? If I give Archie his danilion in his normal feed (in winter) he will only eat about 1/2 the feed but if I give it to him in a tiny hanful it's gone . It's like he has time to realise something's not quite right if he has a bucketful but if it's gone in two mouthfuls he doesn't even notice it's there. I look at it and see more yellow granules than feed but it's obviously not what he sees! Saracen Re-Leve seems to work for me (and it's cereal and molasses free). I think the blackcurrant flavour gives it a strong smell and it seems to disguise other things.

 

[SEL]

Listen to your horses. At the moment they are happy with the grass.
[smiley face]

Ah - but I would be happy with a day of eating crunchie bars. Not the healthiest option, but makes me happier than lettuce.

 

[Annagain]

I've got a load of Re-Leve that will probably go off before the boys get through it (at one small handful a day between them!). I could send you some if you want to try it? PM me your address if you do.

 

[Leo Walker]

Ah - but I would be happy with a day of eating crunchie bars. Not the healthiest option, but makes me happier than lettuce.

Indeed! I'm never sure why people still believe that grass is good for horses. Most of the grass in the UK really isnt. But shes also not getting much grass as shes heavily restricted. She would be incredibly happy out on the long, lush grass stuffing her face until she died of laminitis. Unfortunately thats not an option for her.

She needs salt, I would strongly prefer she had her oestress and general vitamin supplement as well. There is a noticeable difference in her feet without the supplement and she is working her feet hard at the minute so needs all the help she can get. And having just had to have the vet out this morning to scan her to make sure she wasnt in foal after she smashed down a post and rail fence and jumped two lots of electric fencing to get to a newly gelded colt, I'd rather her seasons were damped down a bit as well, as that wasnt fun!

 

[Leo Walker]

I've got a load of Re-Leve that will probably go off before the boys get through it (at one small handful a day between them!). I could send you some if you want to try it? PM me your address if you do.

Brilliant thank you so much. Will PM you now!

 

[PapaverFollis]

Have you tried adding a splash of Ribena to her feed, LW? That worked for me when Granny horse got really fussy in summer but needed her meds.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Talking about the blackcurrant flavour in Re-leve reminded me.

 

[charterline]

Glad my piggy horse is still running up to me for his feed, even though he’s got plenty of grass!

 

[SEL]

Glad my piggy horse is still running up to me for his feed, even though he’s got plenty of grass!

The day my mare didn't want her breakfast was the day I made an emergency vet call!! Some horses have no off switch....

 

[charterline]

Mine doesn’t have an off switch. You can put a full dose of a new nasty supplement in his handful of feed, and will still gobble it up and lick the bowl clean

 

[Leo Walker]

I hadnt thought of ribena, I'll def try that! My previous horse used to eat metformin tablets from my hand like polos. I take metformin. They taste foul! He used to happily crunch them up. Nothing stopped him! Shes still stuffing hay down like its going out of fashion and would like to drag me to patches of grass, but is too polite to actually do it. Shes just decided I am poisoning her with the feed now!