Veteran mix/nuts or Supplement?

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Hazel and Arnold

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I'm changing my horses feed and I'm thinking I'll feed him Alfa a oil, alfalfa pellets and a veteran supplement. I need condition on my boy. Would I be better to use a veteran mix/nuts and scrap the alfalfa pellets rather than a supplement to make it more cost effective? What do you think?
 
Ok I've spent a lot of time looking into this and I'm just not sure what to do. I want a feed that is cost effective (to keep husband happy!) and a feed that is going to put condition on and give him the vits and mins etc that he needs as he is getting older. If I feed D&H 16 plus cubes I need to give him 4kg per day!!! (according to website) - that means a bag would only last 5 days. Seems a lot to be eating. So should I go with cheaper grass nuts and then supplement? But Dengie Senior vits and mins are £24.85 and only going to last 17 days. There is so much advice I just don't know what to do!!!!
 
I would keep it really basic and go with the grass nuts esp if he/she is does well on grass. Then add in a supplement and if he needs more condition over the winter then get some micronized linseed. Ive got my oldie on the thunderbrook base mix which ishe is doing really well on but Ill prob add in some grass nuts over the winter if she startsx dropping off as she does so well on grass. The reason I choose thunderbrooks is because she needs quite a lot of sup in her diet and it was cheaper to go with this than et them all indivivually and Im so pleased I did. Shes doing brilliant on it. it looks expensive initially but a bag last forever as you feed so little. If you are happy with a standard vit and min then go for something like pro balance from preogressive earth.
 
Linseed is great for putting condition on and is known to be a Anti Inflammatory..I am a recent converter to Spillers Lite Balancer as well instead of feeding loads of different supplements..I needed to put condition but not fat onto my Lami and IR horse and fed him Linseed,Speedy Beet,Dengie molasses Free Chaff and Spillers lite..He now looks fab but not fat..
 
Well worth having a chat with the lady at Thunderbrook. She's very knowledgeable and will advise for your horse. Both my oldies are on it in winter and look fab. Very cost effective as well.

I add a few soaked grass nuts and some home made hay chaff and a couple of carrots.
 
We sound like reps for thunderbrooks lol! Yeah it might put you off when you look at the price but I'm feeding a 250grams a day which is a mugful. My bag is still going at eight weeks. I figure just over twenty quid a month is pretty reasonable. It's so highly concentrated that's all you need for the rda but you can feed more. It has linseed in it along with pre and pro biotics, magnesium, vit e and tonnes of good stuff. Defo worth a try. My girl has gone from footy to not, her poo has hardened up, she has a spring in her step, she's shinier despite being on linseed before, she loves it despite being ridicously fussy and other stuff which I can't remember. Hope you manage to find something that suits your oldie:)
 
Yes thank you. I think it was my vet (who is great) that confused me really. She suggested Alfa a oil to put on weight with a veteran feed to ensure he is getting what he needs as he heads into old age and a general vits and mins supplement. But I've noticed a lot of repetition of things in the veteran feeds and vits and mins and you have to feed such massive feeds!
 
Feed a balancer to start and then add something conditioning like micronised linseed. You want all the vits and mins but you may not need the amount of condition that would come from feeding the recommended amount of your current feed. The recommended amount is for the vit/min levels.
 
Hi Alphamare, would balancer and linseed be enough to put the weight on him? Also, he's living out at the minute and I'm hoping that he will most of the winter (other horses live out and I think he'd just go crazy and box walk all night if he was in on his own), he's got quite good grazing at the mo but I'm wondering if I should give him some hay at night to help with condition?
 
What are you currently feeding and how much work is your horse doing? How does your horse currently look?

I always start with just plain old vit and mins. Then I add linseed

What you choose to add after that will be down to many things and what's good for one doesn't always work for another. With a senior horse though they need more protein so alfalfa pellets are a good idea, dodsen and horrell ERS pellets pack a punch calorie wise and contain alfalfa and oil. That's what I would consider feeding next for a senior increasing the amount fed slowly.
 
If his grazing is good he may ignore the hay but you can always offer it. Grass nuts may be your friend here. You can feed them in large amounts, I give them soaked in a tub trug over night when mine come in. Keeps the condition on well and doesn't cost the earth. I give hard feed on top of this only if necessary and fed separately.
 
Well he's currently on fast fibre and Pure Feeds Easy. He has lost a lot of weight due to having breathing issues throughout the summer which I managed by bringing him off the grass. I could probably get the weight back on him with what I'm feeding him now but he would need a lot of it and its just not going to be cost effective. I just wanted to see what else I could feed him that would be more beneficial to him - the vet mentioned giving him a veteran feed. He is hardly worked to be honest - I've got small kids and he has got a back problem so cant do too much anyway. I put some hay out tonight and he seemed very happy to have it. Which vits and mins are good?
 
Both those feeds are low in calories. You could continue to feed the fast fiber but as a carrier for linseed and maybe Naf pink powder. Start with something like this and weight tape your horse every week. Then assess the changes and decide on feed changes accordingly. Build the linseed up to a cup a day as you would gradually introduce any new feed. Possibly offer soaked grass nuts when your horse comes in too. You don't want your horse to be skinny but its better to be a little lighter than too fat. It may be worth rugging lightly against the wet weather if you are not already. Nothing worse than feeding the weather not the horse.
 
Personally... Life Force by Alltech!!! How I wish I'd discovered it for my old guy before he left for the pastures in the sky!

I have a young Connemara pony who honestly looked like a rescue case. I had vets involved, feed companies involved, huge vets bills, feed bills and nothing was working. I genuinely thought I was going to lose him. I then trialled LF for a month and we haven't looked back. He is now on a handful of chaff, 2 scoops of supplement and ad-lib hay per day.

I have been so convinced that I have put all my guys on it. My total feed for 1 month for 6 horses is 2 bags of non-mollassed Alfalfa and 1 bag of nuts (for treats balls, IF they get them) and 4 round bales of hay.

In the past I have tried all the usual (in some cases VERY expensive) feeds / supplements / herbs for condition etc (not a fan of cereal feeds - especially for oldies!) But I can honestly say, hand on heart that this has worked wonders for all of my horses.
 
Crazy Friesian said:
Personally... Life Force by Alltech!!! How I wish I'd discovered it for my old guy before he left for the pastures in the sky!

I have a young Connemara pony who honestly looked like a rescue case. I had vets involved, feed companies involved, huge vets bills, feed bills and nothing was working. I genuinely thought I was going to lose him. I then trialled LF for a month and we haven't looked back. He is now on a handful of chaff, 2 scoops of supplement and ad-lib hay per day.

I have been so convinced that I have put all my guys on it. My total feed for 1 month for 6 horses is 2 bags of non-mollassed Alfalfa and 1 bag of nuts (for treats balls, IF they get them) and 4 round bales of hay.

In the past I have tried all the usual (in some cases VERY expensive) feeds / supplements / herbs for condition etc (not a fan of cereal feeds - especially for oldies!) But I can honestly say, hand on heart that this has worked wonders for all of my horses.
Click to expand...

This^^^^ I absolutely cannot say enough great stuff about Lifeforce, I am almost 100% convinced that if i hadnt found Lifeforce i'd have sold my boy. His behaviour changes, his coat/hooves etc change and his 'stomach' is significantly improved on it. Plus its economical compared to a lot of supplements out there, and it acts as an 'all round' supp too.
 
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