What do you feed?

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alicejefford12

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Im moving my horse away from his livery yard where at the moment he is out at night being fed on

1/2 scoop horse and pony nuts
1/2 sugar beet
and a Double handful of chaff.
He has ad lib hay.

As i will be on my own i am thinking of feeding a mix but there are soo many out there to choose from.

A little about my horse
5 year old irish sports horse
last winter was very poor but looking great at the moment.
He is full of it and has just found his strength.
He will be hunting probably about once a week, and other odd things.
From mid october he will be in at night

I was thinking about allen and page Hacking mix
any thoughts or suggestions very helpful!

Thanks soo much, sorry if a bit long! xxx
 
Mixes generally have more cereals and therefore starch than cubes, so if he is a bit 'full of it' then you might be best to go for a cube - a high fibre one might be a good one to start with to keep cereal content to a minimum.

If you find he starts to drop weight then you could either swap to some form of conditioning cube, or add an source of oil, either straight oil, or something like Bailey's Outshine or Saracen Equijewel.
 
I really like the Allen & Page feeds (they have a great website, helpful staff and a wide range of reasonably priced feeds) although I prefer to feed a fibre based diet topped up with a feed balancer.

Currently my two natives (one is prone to laminitis) who are in light work are on Baileys Lo-cal, Black Sunflower Seeds, a handful of Happy Hoof and a tablespoon of salt.

During the winter I will increase the Happy Hoof and add some Speedibeet or Fast fibre as well as feeding them ad-lib hay whilst they are stabled (during the day, they are turned out at night all year round).

If they start to lose condition I will probably change the Happy Hoof to Alfa A Oil or something similar and maybe introduce some Allen and Page Slim and Healthy.

I feed mine on feeds that are very low in starch as I don't want them to be fizzy or increase their chances of getting laminitis.
 
Both very good doers. One is 18 and the other is 7. 18 year old is Welsh D and 7 year old is Warmblood. 18 year old is 15.1hh. 7 year old is 17.3hh.

18 year old:
As we go into winter he's on 2 small feeds a day of 1 scoop hifi, handful sunflower seeds, half quota of F4F and some garlic. I will add speedibeet if he begins to lose condition but I do not feed pasture mixes and the like.

7 year old:
2 feeds a day of 2 scoops hifi, large handful sunflower seeds, half quota of F4F and garlic. Again, I'll add speedibeet if he begins to drop condition.

George is on 1-2 slices of hay at night when he's in, and Lanky is on 3-4 slices when he's in at night. Both out during the day and in lightish work. I don't mind slight drops in condition - it's what you want to be honest - but if they lose drastically then I will probably change the chaff as well.

Between spring and autumn they'll be on hifi lite instead of original.
 
I agree with TGM, mixes probably not ideal if he can be a bit full of himself. if you want a traditional feed cubes will be better and you could ad oil or alfa oil if he needs it - i use winergy equilibiurm which is also high fibre but complete so you don't have to add a chaff or balancer or any supplements. i'd start on low and then you can use the new condition one if he drops off a bit as it gets colder or his work increases when he's hunting. much easier and IMHO healthier.
 
spillers horse and pony nuts and dengie alfa a together with dengie performance vits and mins, NAF superflex and garlic
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I've got an RID mare who is a good doer she's fed on Spillers High Fibre Cubes and Happy Hoof. She doesn't get the recommended amounts so she also gets equi bites to ensure she gets sufficient vitamins. She's out in the field every day for about 5 hours and in at night. She's also on adlib hay.
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I've got a poor doer. She is fed a double handful of alfa a oil, 2/3 of a scoop of baileys no. 4, about a 750ml of speedibeet (i think), garlic and cod liver oil. When it gets to winter everything will be increased into 2 feeds, and she'll also get barley rings.
 
Gee (little trakhener, medium dressage, med work on flat) is on 3kg of Winergy Equilibrium Medium, ad lib haylage and gets a few hours turn out (summer is all day, but in cold weather she tends to "self evacuate" her field!)

Monty (ShetxFalabella very little work goes on horsewalker hehe VERY good doer) has hay soaked for an hour, 2kg of Happy Hoof (Used as a partial hay replacer) and a handful of high fibre cubes in a ball. He goes out most of the day on VERY poor grass with his little friend George.
 
I feed my two on Dodson and Horrell safe and sound and high fibre nuts twice a day plus ad lib hay. The feeds increased in quantity as the weather gets colder as both are not particularly good doers but do well on this diet.
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George is a very good doer and even at 16.3 he needs very little feed, he has ad lib soaked hay at night and just under one scoop of hi-fi lite and a mug and a half of baileys lo-cal twice a day. Poor soul is still in his muzzle as the grass is so lush!
 
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