Top spec lite & Alfa A oil

[Hairy Horror]

I feed my 15h HW cob as title, he has 2 meals a day each consisting of one cup of Top Spec lite and a large scoop of Alfa A Oil, he looks and feels good, my question is do you think this diet is giving him everything he needs. He also had about half a bale of hay a day. His grazing is not great. He is out in the day, in at night and ridden 3-4 times a wk.

 

[p87]

I'm no feed expert, but my 14.2 arab used to get top spec balancer and alfa a oil and wasn't in great condition. I bought him in January and he has spent spring/summer out at grass 24/7 with no bucket feed and looked great, and now that he is in for the winter he gets hifi molasses free with speedi beet and pink powder and he is keeping his condition well. I also probably ride/lunge 3 or 4 times a week as well.

The selling point with topspec is that you shouldn't need to add any extra vits or mins because it contains everything that they need, and if your boy is doing well on it, looks good and you aren't worried about him then he is probably fine. But again, I'm no feeding expert, I just wanted to let you know my boy was on pretty much the same thing, and now that I see the comparison between then and now I see that back then he looked dreadful!

 

[Limit]

But there is no comparison between an Arab and a HW cob IMO for what it is worth as far as feeding is concerned.

I'm no feed expert, but my 14.2 arab used to get top spec balancer and alfa a oil and wasn't in great condition. I bought him in January and he has spent spring/summer out at grass 24/7 with no bucket feed and looked great, and now that he is in for the winter he gets hifi molasses free with speedi beet and pink powder and he is keeping his condition well. I also probably ride/lunge 3 or 4 times a week as well.

The selling point with topspec is that you shouldn't need to add any extra vits or mins because it contains everything that they need, and if your boy is doing well on it, looks good and you aren't worried about him then he is probably fine. But again, I'm no feeding expert, I just wanted to let you know my boy was on pretty much the same thing, and now that I see the comparison between then and now I see that back then he looked dreadful!

 

[p87]

No there isn't, but the point of this forum is to share your own experiences, advice etc with others. And like I replied with, if her boy is doing well on it and is looking good, then she likely doesn't have to worry that he isn't getting what he needs.

My horse didn't look good on it. Hers does. Unless my reply is giving out the wrong answer then I dont see a problem with my post?

 

[flintfootfilly]

Having my hay/grass analysed convinced me of the value of feeding a daily vit/min supplement or balancer. My forage routineley comes in deficient in copper, zinc and selenium, and this is apparently common across a lot of the UK (it is estimated that 70% of the UK is selenium deficient). I only came to find that out because all my gang had muscle problems resulting in raised muscle enzymes and work intolerance (some vets described them as "stubborn" or "bored". Others might call them "lazy" but of course it wasn't that at all! Selenium is really important in muscle health, and inadequate amounts can lead to muscle damage and reluctance to work.

Organic selenium (selenium yeast or Selplex) is known to be more bioavailable than inorganic selenium (sodium selenite), and so I would only use a balancer or vit/min supplement providing around 1mg of selenium in the form of selenium yeast per day per 500kg horse. My favourite ones are Blue Chip or Dengie Alfa A balancer for this reason.

I also discovered during liver problems that a horse can look glowing with health on the outside but be very compromised internally. I think the way a horse looks probably reflects their calory intake, but it does not necessarily show whether they are getting adequate minerals.

Sarah

 

[Limit]

No there isn't, but the point of this forum is to share your own experiences, advice etc with others. And like I replied with, if her boy is doing well on it and is looking good, then she likely doesn't have to worry that he isn't getting what he needs.

My horse didn't look good on it. Hers does. Unless my reply is giving out the wrong answer then I dont see a problem with my post?

Sorry, Didn't say ( or Imply there was a problem with your , or, any ones post) Just expressing my opinion , as you have expressed yours. as you so rightly point out , it is a forum.