Too much of one thing in this feed conbination? *Please help!*

Saxon_Jasmine

Saxon_Jasmine

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 February 2010
Messages
581
Location
Suffolk
Visit site
Good evening.

After the current threads on the dangers of feeding too much protein, and adding not needed extras to already balanced feeds, please could I have your opinions on if what I'm feeding my mare is ok?

She is 15.1hh, 9yrs old, TB (ex race), correct weight (finally!) but lacking topline and is currently in light work. She is out during the day on ok grazing and in at night with ad lib haylage. She is a poor doer.

She is fed the following for breakfast:

1 scoop Dengie alfa a oil
3/4 scoop TopSpec cool condition cubes
5 handfuls TopSpec balancer
3 handfuls micronized linseed (from Charnwood Milling)
1/5 scoop (dry) speedibeet (measured dry, not fed dry!)
1 teaspoon brewers yeast
3/4 cupfull of camomile calmer

For supper she has the same again.

What are your opinions on this mix?

Thank you.
 
OK, there is a lot of duplication there. Alfa A oil is basicly for digestable fibre and oil,Micronized linseed is also for oil (but in my opinion a bit better than the alfa a oil)Your speedibeet again is digestable fibre for hind gut digestion.The Brewers yeast ,great,camomile I diont know about but suspect it is probably irrelevant. Whilst top spec isnt my own personal choice ,for no reason other than my loca lmill for the last 40 years has now become Saracen:D, I think that your cool codition cubes and ballancer pretty much fit the bill. For me this is a diet for a possibly excitable horse ,and emphasises hind gut digestion and slow release of energy. If you feel the need for a bit more "pep" ,Oats . They are not some sort of demon feed but are great for a horse in work. Remember Topline is built up by correct work not feed. Hill work at a slow pace is good . A slow collected trot up a hill does more good than an extended lopeing trot.
 
Gosh, that must be costing you!
My friends old TB had been ill and dropped a lot of weight. She fed him and still is even though he looks great again, Hifi, Alphabeet, conditioning cubes and pasture mix.
Ive fed top spec before and really like it but I didnt feed anywhere near as much as you are. I fed 3 small cups a day which was what I believed was the reccomended amount for a 16.2.
 
Umm ok, she does seem like she is getting a lot of expensive things and you are doubling up quite a lot. For example you are feeding straight linseed but the cool condition cubes also have linseed in! Also the balancer will have yeast extracts in it so you don't need the brewers yeast if you feed that.

From what I can see you should either feed your topspec diet or your straights diet.
I would feed either the top spec cubes with the top spec balancer as this is a complete feeding regime and will contain everything she needs...
Or feed the Alfa oil, beet, linseed and yeast which are straights that you are adding together to give the same effect of the cubes but maybe add a vitamin and mineral powder.
I've recently found out that my TB doesn't need half as much bucket feed as I thought he did! I was feeding him loads and I wasn't sure it was helping and I decided enough was enough! I've cut my horse down to a scoop of Alfa and a mug of balancer twice a day with ad lib haylage. He hasn't dropped off at all!! In fact he's blooming and a lot calmer too :). Don't underestimate the power of good hay, haylage and grass. If your horse is getting enough good quality forage she may not need as much feed and it's healthier for her too :)
 
Mike007 said:
For me this is a diet for a possibly excitable horse ,and emphasises hind gut digestion and slow release of energy. If you feel the need for a bit more "pep" ,Oats . They are not some sort of demon feed but are great for a horse in work. Remember Topline is built up by correct work not feed. Hill work at a slow pace is good . A slow collected trot up a hill does more good than an extended lopeing trot.
Click to expand...

She gets silly on starch which is why she's fed a high fibre and low sugar/starch diet. It's also more natural for the horse which is my other reason.

Yup, we are doing lots of hill work, trot work and long and low work to help her topline develop.
 
Louby said:
Gosh, that must be costing you!
My friends old TB had been ill and dropped a lot of weight. She fed him and still is even though he looks great again, Hifi, Alphabeet, conditioning cubes and pasture mix.
Ive fed top spec before and really like it but I didnt feed anywhere near as much as you are. I fed 3 small cups a day which was what I believed was the reccomended amount for a 16.2.
Click to expand...

It's not too bad as my BF owns half of her so pays for half of everything.

TopSpec reccommend you feed 3 scoops a day for conditioning a small-medium sized horse.
 
firewell said:
Umm ok, she does seem like she is getting a lot of expensive things and you are doubling up quite a lot. For example you are feeding straight linseed but the cool condition cubes also have linseed in! Also the balancer will have yeast extracts in it so you don't need the brewers yeast if you feed that.

From what I can see you should either feed your topspec diet or your straights diet.
I would feed either the top spec cubes with the top spec balancer as this is a complete feeding regime and will contain everything she needs...
Or feed the Alfa oil, beet, linseed and yeast which are straights that you are adding together to give the same effect of the cubes but maybe add a vitamin and mineral powder.

Don't underestimate the power of good hay, haylage and grass. If your horse is getting enough good quality forage she may not need as much feed and it's healthier for her too :)
Click to expand...

Dengie advise you feed 5 scoops of alfa a oil per day, which is too much for her to manage. So we feed half the reccommended amount of alfa a oil and half the reccommended amount of topspec cool condition cubes. The linseed was added for extra condition and to help maintain weight.

She has good grazing and ad lib haylage, so not lacking on the forage front.
 
Saxon_Jasmine said:
Dengie advise you feed 5 scoops of alfa a oil per day, which is too much for her to manage. So we feed half the reccommended amount of alfa a oil and half the reccommended amount of topspec cool condition cubes. The linseed was added for extra condition and to help maintain weight.

She has good grazing and ad lib haylage, so not lacking on the forage front.
Click to expand...

Dengie recommend up to 5 scoops if feeding as the sole concentrate which you are not so one scoop is fine twice a day if you feel this is what she is happy with.

1 scoop Dengie alfa a oil I think this is good and adds roughage and fibre to your horses diet
3/4 scoop TopSpec cool condition cubesagain, a good conditioning source if fed with TS Balancer as you are.
5 handfuls TopSpec balancer 5 handfuls I doubt is enough for your horse. 3 mugs is what is recommended and the balancer is pointless really if you are not feeding at recommended levels. I would only recommend feeding less if you are using half rations of a complete feed which you are not.
3 handfuls micronized linseed (from Charnwood Milling) I would either feed this for condition or the TS CC Cubes but not both. I would choose which ever I felt more effective
1/5 scoop (dry) speedibeet (measured dry, not fed dry!) Again a good source of digestable fibre and would probably stick with it for the winter.
1 teaspoon brewers yeast Not required as already in balancer
3/4 cupfull of camomile calmer There is a good amount of Magnesium in the balancer. Also keeping yor diet free of starch and sugar will also have a calming effect so I would probably lose this too

Hope this helps :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top