Sound about right (Spillers 'response' feed enquiry)

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Scribbles

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Maybe some of you will remember my post about feed problems...


I emailed Spillers, and I got a reply saying to try the response slow release energy.

So - firstly, how much is this product, to check they've not just told me to get the most expensive thing they do.

Secondly, my horse is a rising four year old with one half hour schooling session and one hour and a half hack once a week. He doesn't sweat up or do anything strenuous in either, but now it's winter he is dropping weight and has lost a lot of topline condiiton (he is in his MW). Anything 'conditioning' tends to make him lose his head a bit.

What do HHOs think?
 
OK, I don't know much about the Spillers stuff but I can recommend the Winergy Conditioning Feed which is approx £11.95 per bag. It is a complete feed, fibre based and my stressy warmblood youngster trialled it earlier in the year with good results. The only thing I would say is that feeding it at the recommended rate means you go through huge amounts of it but I suppose you can fiddle with the quantity if your horse looks well. If you search new lounge for feed trial then you should find the posts.
smile.gif
 
rising 4 ... as in 3 now and 4 next year?
If so I personally think 90 miutes hacking is too much in one go, you'd be better off with 2 x 45 mins, if that.

As for the feed it will probably be a case of try it and see. What are you feeding him now? I'd be inclined to feed plenty of alfa oil, sugarbeet and ad lib haylage then add concentrate as required.

Given the horses age you might just find he is having a growth spurt. My 3 coming 4 year old (now 4) was turned away last autumn and grew 2 inches in 3 months and looked very poor coming into the spring.
 
He's 4 in 2 1/2 months.

At the moment he's getting happy hoof, a dollop of cod liver oil and horse cubes, as I find other oily chaffs give him very loose droppings. Yes I did think of starting him on sugar beet for the energy - is speedibeet just as good?

I'm quite keen to stay with spillers, bit daft having brand loyalty I know, but just because I have found them so good in the past, and they *are* cheaper than winergy.
 
Agree with B&J that the best way to go is probably a combination of oil, alfafa and beet - so avoiding the cereals that seem to make him fizzy. Various ways you can go with this - you could combine an unmollassed beet product (such as Speedibeet) with an alfafa product - such as alfafa cubes or an alfafa chaff - either an oil enriched one, or add your own oil as you do now (although personally I prefer vegetable based oils to CLO). You can also get feeds such as Fibrebeet or Alfabeet which are beet and alfafa combined. Dengie or Simple Systems would be your best bet for advice on feeding this way.

If you are interested in the Winergy Condition, the threads about the feed trial are here:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=NEWLOUNGE&Number=3254771

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=NEWLOUNGE&Number=3259063

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=NEWLOUNGE&Number=3384073

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=NEWLOUNGE&Number=3306029


Opinions were quite mixed! Bear in mind that the price of £11.95 is for a 15kg bag, not the standard 20kg bag that most feeds are in. If it was sold in 20kg bags it would be priced at around £16, something to consider when comparing price with other conditioning feeds.

Haven't used Spillers Slow Response Cubes myself, but there are 12% starch, so higher than Winergy, but significantly lower than most traditional conditioning feeds. At 11 MJDE/kg, they are a bit lower in energy than some conditioning feeds which are usually about 12 MJDE/kg. However, they are quite cost effective at about £9.40 a 20kg bag - it will cost you 42p for each 10 MJDE you feed, whereas supplying the same amount of calories using Winergy Condition will cost you 65p.

ETA: If you are using Spillers Horse & Pony Cubes at present, they are 14% starch so higher than the Slow Response Cubes. So if he is not fizzy on what he is on now, he is unlikely to fizz up on the Slow Response Cubes either.
 
Corn oil is great for gaining weight (and a nice shiney coat). I also tend to stick with Spillers, as I have never had a problem and they cater for everything.

And Winergy and Spillers are both owned by the same company.

I think that Winergy is expensive for what it is.
 
Thanks for your replies (especially TGM for such a lovely long reply!)

I find he gets the runs with alfa, so I'm going to try to response along with some speedibeet.


Thanks!
 
Slow Release energy cubes are just fab- my horses are fed on them , they are high fibre, high oil, low protein and the starch levels are low too so they are safe to feed but they do contain lots of calories so great for putting on topline and condition and don't cause overheating. Think I pay approx £10 a bag.
 
Scribbles - re loose droppings on alpha. I have our horses on readigrass which is a dried grass chaff as opposed to apha which is a alfalfa based chaff.
Has the same energy (slow release) as a comp mix, and would be worth a try combined with the mix of your choice.

Good luck

Fiona
 
[ QUOTE ]
Scribbles - re loose droppings on alpha. I have our horses on readigrass which is a dried grass chaff as opposed to apha which is a alfalfa based chaff.
Has the same energy (slow release) as a comp mix, and would be worth a try combined with the mix of your choice.

Good luck

Fiona

[/ QUOTE ]

Mixes contain cereals whereas Slow Release Cubes don't contain any at all, so a mix would be more heating.
 
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