Those with multiple horses

AutumnDays said:
Thanks for your replies all. To echo what most of you have said, I don't generally feed for the sake of it, it's usually because there is an issue/need. The only reason I am looking into a balancer type is because at the moment our land is struggling, it was cleared, ploughed and reseeded 18 months or so ago, and it's been so wet and miserable since it isn't doing as well as we'd hoped. They do have as lib forage, but I'm just buying from wherever has it available, so it isn't really consistent high quality. @Landcruiser I do agree a high quality balancer is worth spending on, only if they eat it though! The mare seems to have a bloodhound nose, and instantly tips a bucket over if she detects anything unsavoury in there. Linseed is a good shout, I hadn't considered that (always thought of it as conditioning as in weight gain, so don't really tend to look at it). Herbs is another of my things @Jambarissa, I have a well stocked apothecary! A lot of grazing herb seeds were planted with meadow grass when we did our work, as well as herb "beds", so when it does establish well, I won't need to buy them!
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I like adding linseed as you don't need to feed a lot of it (unless you want it for conditioning means) for it to give their coat and overall well being a boost. As I also try to keep my feeds small, horses only have a small'ish stomach so trying to feed mountains of feed does no good, I've never had one react to it and have seen better results for when you're wanting that extra than I have when adding a balancer, but horses for courses!
 
AutumnDays said:
Exactly what I'm trying to avoid! I do just think they need a little boost as the forage quality has been low, same as when we haven't been eating great and it shows in your skin etc.
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Honestly I swear by Outshine, a bag does me the whole winter between one horse and one pony, and they look fabulous and are bouncing along (in a very mannerly fashion!).
 
Another with 3.
Pony 1: Highland. Good doer in summer, poor doer in winter to the point she drops too much in condition and muscle. - she gets speedi beet, 1 mug linseed, powder vit supplement, gut balancer due to scouring in winter and now on psyllium husk too as thats helping. (Speedibeet is a round scoop in winter and a tiny amount in summer).

Pony 2: Arab. Good doer all year. 1/2 round scoop speedibeet, 1 mug linseed, powder vit supplement. In summer less speedibeet.

The 2 above also get ad lib hay.

Pony 3. New Forest. She has just moved to Harbro One scoop Supplement as its pelleted and not too expensive. She has danilon daily but it's hit and miss with that too.
The last 3 years at this time she decides not to eat her food. I can change it, she eats for 2 weeks and then refuses it. I've added and removed to find out what she isn't liking but it seems to be powder in general. She was on same as Arab but less amounts.
She is on limited hay but can forage from gorse. She is fat but with a track system in summer we are slowing getting there.

I use progressive earth but Arab hooves are doing better but not great so he's going onto the next best one. They were all on the very basic one.
 
I've got 9. Their diet is mostly forage - hay for most, haylage for the one who needs it. They get something in a bucket to carry their vit/min powder and any supplements they need (one needs biotin for example). The thing in a bucket just needs to taste good. High fibre cubes wetted go down well, fast fibre is apparently also yummy if more weight gain is needed, and some nice chaff to round it out. Disguises the powder and anyone fussy would get apple juice or something to add flavour. The cost would be astronomical if I was feeding 9 of them a pelleted balancer! We use NAF vit/min powder or the mole valley copy. Coats are shiny, everyone's full of (sensible) energy.
 
Owner of five here 👋 As many others have said - best quality forage you can get is a good start. Then I feed the mollichaff calmer with the balancer included as I find that cost effective and add any additional supplements from gold label as required for individual requirements. For example, if extra condition needed, I add linseed plus vitamin E as the linseed can unbalance vit e requirements. If hoof supplement needed, I will add additional biotin from gold label, if joints I add boswellia and so on. This means I know they are all on a balancer but the five can all eat the same so I can buy in bulk and then tailor to their additional needs.

This is added to a mash, generally speedy beet and sometimes grass nuts in the winter if I feed they could do with some added extras.
 
@maya2008 9! I thought 3 was trouble enough! Definitely agree great forage and lib is the best thing, just looking to boost up while my poor reseeded fields try and establish, this weather would have been fine if it was pondweed! Simple and (cost) effective is what I want, the pelleted balancer sample was the only thing they ate without issue typically.
@Barklands interesting to know about the linseed and vitamin e, I did not know that. Thank you, that's something else I need to remember
 
AutumnDays said:
@maya2008 9! I thought 3 was trouble enough! Definitely agree great forage and lib is the best thing, just looking to boost up while my poor reseeded fields try and establish, this weather would have been fine if it was pondweed! Simple and (cost) effective is what I want, the pelleted balancer sample was the only thing they ate without issue typically.
@Barklands interesting to know about the linseed and vitamin e, I did not know that. Thank you, that's something else I need to remember
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As I understood it, one of the advantages of feeding linseed was because it didn't upset vit E and that it's veg oils that mess with the vit E 🤷‍♀️
 
marmalade76 said:
As I understood it, one of the advantages of feeding linseed was because it didn't upset vit E and that it's veg oils that mess with the vit E 🤷‍♀️
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My understanding is that like with other oils, linseed does affect the absorption of vit E (although I very well may be incorrect). I think it does depend on how much oil they are getting in their diet and isn't necessary for a small amount but I always add vit E when I am feeding linseed just to be on the safe side - particularly in winter when there's not much grass!
 
Herd of 9 atm, native ponies, age 3 to 21. I've stuck to good quality hay/haylage with reasonable grazing. They are designed to take the best out of their forage, and generally don't need anything extra. I have fed balancer in the past so some.
I would feed grass nuts/unmollassed beet/linseed if I needed to, but today I'm feeling a bit smug as I can feel ribs on most of them
 
AutumnDays said:
Thank you for your reply, how you manage is what I'm aiming for, just haven't had the best start with the grazing. What mineral lick do you use? And do you have just the one or two on the go to stop arguements?
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In fairness anything that's on offer as long as its not molasses based or they gorge on it.

Salt licks in shelter barely get touched but always there. In summer I put salt in one water bucket but that's about it.

Linseed lozenges are handy for extra weight as only need to feed a small quantity.
 
marmalade76 said:
Or is that something feed companies tell us so we'll buy their products?
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I'm fairly sure it's a fact that our soils aren't what they used to be since the industrial revolution due to intensive agriculture, but will have to look into it further.

I don't doubt that feed companies are trying to sell us many products that our horses don't need, though. I'm just not sure that balancers are one of them.
 
tda said:
Herd of 9 atm, native ponies, age 3 to 21. I've stuck to good quality hay/haylage with reasonable grazing. They are designed to take the best out of their forage, and generally don't need anything extra. I have fed balancer in the past so some.
I would feed grass nuts/unmollassed beet/linseed if I needed to, but today I'm feeling a bit smug as I can feel ribs on most of them
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I can feel ribs on mine and see the outline of them in a certain light! They just look a bit dull and flat. Have ordered myself some vitamins and minerals for a similar issue!
 
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Miss_Millie said:
I'm fairly sure it's a fact that our soils aren't what they used to be since the industrial revolution due to intensive agriculture, but will have to look into it further.

I don't doubt that feed companies are trying to sell us many products that our horses don't need, though. I'm just not sure that balancers are one of them.
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Then that would apply to arable land and not permanent pasture. My horses have lived between a wildflower meadow and an old orchard for the last six years, neither have been ploughed up for at least 50 years.
 
marmalade76 said:
Then that would apply to arable land and not permanent pasture. My horses have lived between a wildflower meadow and an old orchard for the last six years, neither have been ploughed up for at least 50 years.
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Similar situation, although we did plough ours 8 months ago, as it hadn't been touched for 30 years, and the blackthorn and brambles had taken it over and it needed digging out
 
marmalade76 said:
Then that would apply to arable land and not permanent pasture. My horses have lived between a wildflower meadow and an old orchard for the last six years, neither have been ploughed up for at least 50 years.
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That's interesting, I'm tempted to test my soil based on this as it has only ever been grazed and cut for hay. I imagine it also depends on how well land is maintained and if it is overstocked - that could also lead to soil erosion and depletion of minerals.
 
Miss_Millie said:
That's interesting, I'm tempted to test my soil based on this as it has only ever been grazed and cut for hay. I imagine it also depends on how well land is maintained and if it is overstocked - that could also lead to soil erosion and depletion of minerals.
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Overstocking certainly wrecks it (not a problem for me, though 😁) and I do wonder if poo picking is really the best thing for the soil. More cross grazing would help but I don't have that option ATM.
 
I swear by Emerald Green feeds- mine get a 50:50 mix of soaked grass and alfalfa pellets. I buy in bulk and have it delivered, it has a long shelf life so I only order a pallet once every 2 years. It is really good quality and does a great job of topping up the good stuff when winter grass loses its goodness. I don’t feed much because they also get ad-lib haylage, so it works out as 1 Stubbs scoop between the 5 horses plus a bit of feed merchant own-brand chaff to mix.
Winter feeding 5 horses costs me about £300 in total
 
TheMule said:
I swear by Emerald Green feeds- mine get a 50:50 mix of soaked grass and alfalfa pellets. I buy in bulk and have it delivered, it has a long shelf life so I only order a pallet once every 2 years. It is really good quality and does a great job of topping up the good stuff when winter grass loses its goodness. I don’t feed much because they also get ad-lib haylage, so it works out as 1 Stubbs scoop between the 5 horses plus a bit of feed merchant own-brand chaff to mix.
Winter feeding 5 horses costs me about £300 in total
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That's good going! I tried the meadow magic emerald green pellets, and they weren't that fussed on them to be honest. I don't know if it was them or the powdered balancer though to be honest, they became tainted by association so they didn't even eat them without anything in. The sheep enjoyed them though 🙈
 
I have 2 both in work and both good doers. one is 10, the other 21. Both look fabulous at the moment. The younger one is competing at medium and jumping 1m tracks. The older one just hacks out now after a busy life out competing.

I base their winter diet on good quality meadow hay, our grass is now pretty non exsistant. In the summer they eat grass, which has to be slightly restricted.
They both have 1/2 stubbs scp of dry weight speedibeet a day and a coffee mug of linseed. They have baileys performance balancer but at 1/2 the recommended amount, as they will be getting some nutrients rom their other feed.
In the summer they just get their 1/2 rations of balancer.

I have always found that the most important thing is to get the forage right.
 
My four get plenty of good quality hay, with one having it soaked as he’s a very good doer.

For hard feed they all get a varying amount of the following, depending on age/size/weight etc.

Speedybeet
Plain straw chaff
Honeychop apple chaff (just a handful to make it tasty)
Micronised linseed
Salt

The one that gets soaked hay also gets Spillers Lite n Lean balancer, to replace any nutrients lost from soaking the hay. I don’t give it to the others and they are all looking and feeling good, have great barefoot hooves and lovely shiny coats.

I think if grazing was really poor I might consider some grass nuts.

I like to keep it simple and didn’t notice any difference when they’ve been on expensive balancers/supplements.
 
Mine (and mums) all get selenavite (pasture bordered by sycamore) as a general vit and min supplement and other supplements (various) according to age and habit. I find the selenavite is well accepted by all, having tasted it myself (yeah, I've tried all the horse feed 😆) it is a nice yeasty flavour and pretty palatable.
A lot of the supplements I'm willing to accept are a waste of time/money, but modern pasture is lacking in vits/mins, so I'd always be inclined to include a broad spec powder balancer unless you have access to "unimproved" pasture or a really good hedgerow. I have heard of people grazing their horses in hand over hedgerows/moorland to supplement poor (i.e. Mostly PRG/IRG) grazing, but that is pretty time consuming!
 
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