Veteran Feed - Are we being ripped off

[rockysmum]

Following my thread on feeding my oldie I have been researching the ideas.

Before anyone jumps on me I will buy him what he needs.

I hadn't noticed before as his veteran stuff is just part of my feed bill, I haven't broken down which costs what etc.

I think the feed companies have worked out that us oldie owners are a soft touch. Adding veteran to the name seems to jump the price up beyond what I consider reasonable.

Anyone else noticed this.

 

[Rosehip]

Its been a while since I fed a veteran, but yes, I remember the Old Faithful I used to feed being significantly more expensive than the other mixes!
I dont know if it has something to do with the amount of minerals etc the put in, but as with everything in the horse world, put "equine", "foal", or "Veteran" in front of the product name and stick about 20% on the price tag!

 

[mulledwhine]

Totally agree, think we are being ripped off all round.

It is nearly £12 just for a bag of good doer, which let's face it, is just a bag of chopped up stuff

 

[badgerdog]

Definitely! When I had my oldster I used to feed him bog standard feed with added supplements and that worked out much cheaper. He always looked well on it.

 

[thatsmygirl]

Iv recently looked at what feed I'm feeding and cost, it is stupid the price off horse feed these days.
The good doers only get a topspec measureing cup level off fast fibre now with added vits. I measure it now instead off chucking it in to try and save a few £ that way.
The foal stud nuts aren't to bad I suppose at £9.50 a bag but the baileys no 4 now is neally £12 a bag!!!! I'm so tempted to try mole valleys own which are around £7 a bag but would they be as good?

Anyway so yes horse feed I feel is geting stupid prices. Maybe go back to old fashion sugar beet, oats and barley???

 

[rockysmum]

Glad its not just me.

Actually I might have worked out why. They are putting entirely inappropriate ingredients in, at least in the veteran mix he is already on.

Why on earth would you add glucosomine to a veteran mix. Its expensive and most veteran owners feed it as a supplement anyway.

I just dont see the sense. Glucosomine has to be fed at certain levels, if your veteran needs a lot of feed they might end up with twice that level, if they are a good doer they could end up with half.

 

[thatsmygirl]

Oh and just to add I honestly feel a lot off these pre baged mixes for horses have a lot to answer to when it comes to laminitis,ir etc but that's just my thought.

I hate feeding sugar/starch and try to keep it to a min but my friend feeds mollichop £5 a bag, basic sugar beet £4.50 a bag and cheapest pony cubes £5.50 a bag and hers all look well and non the worst for the sugar.

Iv recently cut out speddibeet as I refuse now to pay over £10 a bag and cut out the alfa a as it's got to expensive but the tbs that were on it still get the baileys and linseed and lost no weight so iv saved quite a bit there. So I'm happy

 

[thatsmygirl]

Rockysmum it's good marketing!!!! if the companies can state it has this and that for the oldies people will buy it. My old lad gets fast fibre with his vits and devils claw added and looks well.

 

[Oberon]

I feed my 26 y/o, Arab with poor dentition:

Daily turnout (if he wishes to got out - he refuses to wear a turnout rug and refuses to go out if he feels it may rain

)

Pm

Large haylage net (emptied on the floor or in large buckets)
1 Round scoop Fast Fibre
1 Round scoop Speedibeet
1 Round scoop unmolassed hay chaff
balanced minerals according to forage analysis (copper, zinc, magnesium, biotin)
25g salt
100g micronised linseed
2000iu Vitamin E
10g Lysine (protein)
turmeric
fenugreek
yea-sacc
pinch of Cat's Claw

herbs mixed in a barrel (mint, clivers, dandelion, nettle, hawthorn, marigold, chamomile, neem, milk thistle) depending on season.

It may sound like alot of faff - but I can adjust the mix depending on how he is feeling.

You can see the difference;

Fed Allen and Page's 'Old Faithful' when he suddenly became 'old'!

This Nov, after being on the above feed since August

He's had many compliments from the other liveries about how well he is looking this year. I know why

 

[thatsmygirl]

Oberon that makes my topspec measuring cup full off fast fibre look pretty poor, and that incl a 21 yr old boy but he's fat

 

[russianhorse]

Now my lad is 23, I spend a fortune on his feed (he's not or ever has been a good doer)

He gets:

low cal balancer
No4 Topline
Speedibeet
Alfa A Oil
Soya oil

Also out 24/7 with a round bale of hay

 

[Oberon]

Forgot to mention the first pick was from 2009, when he was 23.

Second pick was from Nov 2011, at 25.

He'll be 26 this April.

 

[Oberon]

Oberon that makes my topspec measuring cup full off fast fibre look pretty poor, and that incl a 21 yr old boy but he's fat

It's not the quantity, it's the quality

Your Top Spec and commercial feeds will have their own Frostie's Secret Formula of vitamin and mineral premix.

I just have my own, based on the forage. I call it Magic Powder

I feed the same Magic Powder to my young, good doer - he just gets a token scoop of FF to mix it with.

 

[Beausmate]

I'm so tempted to try mole valleys own which are around £7 a bag but would they be as good?

The new range is apparently made by Spillers. I'm feeding the stud cubes at the mo. Smell nice and they're not dusty like another well known brand.

 

[mirage]

When we bought knobberpony,we were told that she had to have Veteran feed,so carried on with it until last month,when I bought some Country Store basic mix [at about half the price] and started swapping her over.There doesn't seem to be any change,apart from her being more forward going [which could be for any other number of factors].So until I notice any stiffness or any other problems,we'll stick with the cheaper stuff.

 

[CrazyMare]

This is my mare - shes 20. On the day this was taken, she hunted for 5 hours

She gets fed 2 scoops of Alfa A, 400g of TopSpec, 3/4 of a scoop of SpeediBeet with NAF Superflex. Doesn't work out that expensive, and she looks fantastic.

Lots of the cheaper mixes increase the number of times a year she has a bout of azutoria and her behaviour is markedly worse when fed mixes!

Plenty of fibre is the key really - Mine gets more Alfa A, and Readigrass/Good Doer added if she goes off her hay, so she gets plenty of fibre through her gut.

 

[Oberon]

Plenty of fibre is the key really - Mine gets more Alfa A, and Readigrass/Good Doer added if she goes off her hay, so she gets plenty of fibre through her gut.

 

[rhino]

Mine is still just on ad lib hay/haylage mix and a multivit in a handful of speedibeet Same as he has been on all the time I have had him really - managed to ht/teamchase every week quite happily

He was 19/20 here

And lolloped round the course twice (nannied a friend round the pairs (to win) and then 3rd in the open - time penalties for going too fast!)

 

[stencilface]

Our oldie (28 yo TB) hasn't been on a veteran mix this year, just sugarbeet, fibre cubes, alfa a, linseed oil Topspec 10:10, a multivit, and a few oats, but he's been getting significantly more hay this year being a companion for mine in restricted turnout. He looks better this year at the end of winter than he has any other year. This is except his hair falling out in odd patches, but doing a liver detox on him now to see if its that - taken him off anything high protein too. His coat where its not fallen out looks amazing, shiny, soft and thick - but just has odd patches that fall out

Of course, hairloss could be a reaction to all the hay he's eating this year, or oculd be onset of cushings? But he's fine in himself still and vet will be coming out soon enough for other things so will ask then, but it will likely have disappeared by then!