speedi beet? fibre beet? fast fibre?

[isobels07]

as we have now approached spring, I have noticed my nf still has a lot of weight from winter on her. its my first winter owning her so wasn't sure how she would be. Coming out of it, i have realized that i fed her too much and am now trying to devise a new feeding plan for next winter. im looking to feed her the pure feed company fibre balancer, however she would scoff her ration of that in 2 seconds, so looking for something to bulk out the bucket with minimal calories, i don't feed molasses or anything that sugary due to a history of ulcers so was thinking of putting her on a beet/ something similar just for extra fibre. what do people recommened?

 

[ester]

Why do you want to bulk out the bucket? Is she not getting her fibre needs from hay/grazing? Or do you just want to keep her busy longer?
I ask because I have been known to hand feed equimins pellets and job done.

really minimal calories would be plain chopped straw say from honeychop.

 

[meleeka]

I read on here recently that beet isn’t the best thing for ulcers. It is also conditioning so if you don’t want anymore weight, I’d feed Honeychop Lite and Lean chaff with your balancer. Out of the three feeds you’ve mentioned Fast Fibre would be my preference.

 

[isobels07]

I read on here recently that beet isn’t the best thing for ulcers. It is also conditioning so if you don’t want anymore weight, I’d feed Honeychop Lite and Lean chaff with your balancer. Out of the three feeds you’ve mentioned Fast Fibre would be my preference.

wow, thank you!! i didnt know that, will be ordering some honeychop asit has been suggested to me before

 

[isobels07]

Why do you want to bulk out the bucket? Is she not getting her fibre needs from hay/grazing? Or do you just want to keep her busy longer?
I ask because I have been known to hand feed equimins pellets and job done.

really minimal calories would be plain chopped straw say from honeychop.

its mainly just to keep her busy for a bit longer. also as she is on straw, if she gets a bit fuller from her feed if she ever runs out of hay shes less likley to eat her bedding

 

[Starzaan]

Firstly you need to ascertain whether or not she actually needs hard feed.

Most horses look fantastic on just ad lib forage. I would be cutting out all hard feed, giving her access to ad lib forage, and going from there.

 

[Dusty 123]

They say speedibeet is good for fat horses but I now people who were able to put weight on there bad doers useing that product . I would be using a light chaff

 

[Dusty 123]

Firstly you need to ascertain whether or not she actually needs hard feed.

Most horses look fantastic on just ad lib forage. I would be cutting out all hard feed, giving her access to ad lib forage, and going from there.

A balancer is not hard feed it just vitamins they are made for overweight horses.

 

[NOISYGIRL2]

If she holds her weight, I'd be inclined to just give the balancer, if you have to add anything pure feeds do a feed called EASY low sugar starch and just give a handful, no need to bulk out feeds if not needed better to have small feeds anyway, other low sugar/starch chops are available, topspec do zero or lite, spillers have low sugar starch ones, fibre beet is very conditioning so I'd avoid that one

 

[HeyMich]

I feed Pure Feeds Fibre Balance to all of mine (3 x good-moderate doers) with a cup full of Fast Fibre. It's a good combination in my mind. They are all looking great on it, and scoff the lot in seconds!

.

 

[Leo Walker]

Pink mash is brilliant. Good for ulcers, 0.5% sugar and you only feed 500gms a day which soaks to being a decent size feed Pure feeds balancer is not the best. I'd look to change that to something with a better spec, I use Equimins Advance Complete but there are a few others

 

[Starzaan]

A balancer is not hard feed it just vitamins they are made for overweight horses.

Yes, I agree, but to get the vitamins and minerals right one needs to have ones forage and grazing tested to ensure horses aren’t getting the wrong concentrations.

Most horses do incredibly well on ad lib forage. I work closely with vets as I have horses in for rehab after illness, surgery and injury, and they all start off with me on just as lib forage. Better to build from the ground up than to over complicate.

 

[isobels07]

Firstly you need to ascertain whether or not she actually needs hard feed.

Most horses look fantastic on just ad lib forage. I would be cutting out all hard feed, giving her access to ad lib forage, and going from there.

I agree with this quote completely! shes out from 5am till 4pm all winter pretty much everyday and then out 24/7 from april to november and the grass is lovely quality, and when shes in she has a VERY large double netted small holes haynet to help her trickle feed all night. she is also on straw so if she got very hungry she could eat that, however i know she isnt the biggest fan of it so wouldnt eat any unless absoloutly starving. she always has access to soaked hay all night, however i need something to help her get her supplements and any extra vitamins and minerals she doesnt get from the hay as its soaked, and doesnt get as much from the grass. I do think ad lib forage is the way to go, even if your horse is on the fatter side, just soak it to release most of the sugar

 

[isobels07]

If she holds her weight, I'd be inclined to just give the balancer, if you have to add anything pure feeds do a feed called EASY low sugar starch and just give a handful, no need to bulk out feeds if not needed better to have small feeds anyway, other low sugar/starch chops are available, topspec do zero or lite, spillers have low sugar starch ones, fibre beet is very conditioning so I'd avoid that one

cant use the spillers one as has molassas in which i am completley against feeding. and the topsec one is highly processed apparently. I do like the look of bailyes light chaff however

 

[P.forpony]

For added fibre and to bulk out the bucket a bit here’s another vote for pink mash, digestive health bonus points and if you want to slow them down just make it wetter, takes mine forever to slurp up her soup if I overdo it!

 

[isobels07]

For added fibre and to bulk out the bucket a bit here’s another vote for pink mash, digestive health bonus points and if you want to slow them down just make it wetter, takes mine forever to slurp up her soup if I overdo it!

thank you, have never used the stuff but lots of people seem to like it!

 

[P.forpony]

thank you, have never used the stuff but lots of people seem to like it!

I only started feeding it last year but will always use it now, totally converted!

 

[isobels07]

I only started feeding it last year but will always use it now, totally converted!

I only started feeding it last year but will always use it now, totally converted!

it sounds like everything i need to be honest, have requested a sample just to make sure she will eat it first

 

[Starzaan]

I agree with this quote completely! shes out from 5am till 4pm all winter pretty much everyday and then out 24/7 from april to november and the grass is lovely quality, and when shes in she has a VERY large double netted small holes haynet to help her trickle feed all night. she is also on straw so if she got very hungry she could eat that, however i know she isnt the biggest fan of it so wouldnt eat any unless absoloutly starving. she always has access to soaked hay all night, however i need something to help her get her supplements and any extra vitamins and minerals she doesnt get from the hay as its soaked, and doesnt get as much from the grass. I do think ad lib forage is the way to go, even if your horse is on the fatter side, just soak it to release most of the sugar

That’s fantastic - awesome that you’re already making sure she has access to enough forage.

A good idea is to get your grazing and hay analysed so that you can establish which vitamins and minerals she actually needs. That way you can find the right balancer for her that will have the best results. ?

 

[isobels07]

That’s fantastic - awesome that you’re already making sure she has access to enough forage.

A good idea is to get your grazing and hay analysed so that you can establish which vitamins and minerals she actually needs. That way you can find the right balancer for her that will have the best results. ?

have never thought of this before, i'll look into it though as it sounds really beneficial

 

[Leo Walker]

Yes, I agree, but to get the vitamins and minerals right one needs to have ones forage and grazing tested to ensure horses aren’t getting the wrong concentrations.

Most horses do incredibly well on ad lib forage. I work closely with vets as I have horses in for rehab after illness, surgery and injury, and they all start off with me on just as lib forage. Better to build from the ground up than to over complicate.

Except you don't need to have it analysed. There are a few different suppliers who make balancers to match the average UK grazing. My preference would always be to analyse grazing and then tweak it, but for most people its just not feasible sadly. Theres a website you can use that will tell you the breakdown of your top soil, so should give you a good starting point, and I always use that for my grazing, but hay is much harder as it can be from different suppliers, or even vastly different locations even with the same supplier.

OP forage plus will do mineral analysis for you then recommend what you need to feed. I think dodson and horrell do analysis as well, but could be wrong on that!