What feed?

[tankgirl1]

Hiya

Just looking for a bit of advice. We are feeding speedibeet, mollychop veteran, balancer, garlic granules, supaflex and succulents at the mo, but he's such a great lazy thing, that we wondered if we should add something to fizz him up a bit

16.3 ID x, 16yo gelding. hacked out incl a little bit of fast work, 4-5 times a week for about 2hrs. Only in at night and then on adlib big bale haylage.

Thanks

 

[tallyho!]

I wonder if his system might be slightly overloaded with all that. Sometimes it's what you take out that can be the biggest help for a "lazy" horse. Their body may just be 'tired'.

Whats in mollichop veteran and balancer? Why are you feeding garlic? What is in the supaflex? Tbh, it doesn't sound like he's getting all that much.

Does his legs fill in the stable? What colour is his wee?

Have you tried the two-week detox? Do this first before you add anything else to his current diet or if you want to change it. If you did change it, perhaps just simple horse and pony cubes if he doesn't have any other metabolic issues. If he needs the flex stuff for his joints, maybe keep that in, except for the detox.

 

[Zargon_91]

Ditto above... But I would say if you are struggling I'm using spillers response comp mix- its a low(er) starch higher fibre comp mix that helps for a bit more go with much less fizz.

 

[Holding]

What balancer are you feeding? How is his weight?

If he needs a bit more energy, what about swapping from the chaff to a high fibre cube or mix? If he's on a balancer specifically formulated for veterans (e.g. TopSpec Senior Feed Balancer) he should be getting all his vits and mins, so you could just add something like Baileys High Fibre Cubes.

 

[tankgirl1]

I wonder if his system might be slightly overloaded with all that. Sometimes it's what you take out that can be the biggest help for a "lazy" horse. Their body may just be 'tired'.

Whats in mollichop veteran and balancer? Why are you feeding garlic? What is in the supaflex?

Does his legs fill in the stable? What colour is his wee?

Have you tried the two-week detox? Do this first before you add anything else to his current diet or if you want to change it.

Hi

Thanks for the reply

This is the balancer: http://www.equimins-online.com/all-products/117-equimins-pro-bio-supplement.html

The garlic my co-owner added as she'd read it was a good supplement

This is the mollichaff: http://www.millbryhill.co.uk/equestrian-530/horse-feed-583/all-horse-feed-593/mollichaff-veteran-12-5kg-7617.htm?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=7617&utm_campaign=froogle

His wee is quite pale, and his legs don't fill in stable.

I wouldn't know how to go about a detox...

 

[tankgirl1]

His weight is OK, if anything he could do with a bit more on going into winter. My friend who works for Donkey Sanctuary & has done all their training body scored him as a 2.75 - 3

 

[tallyho!]

I would still give him a detox - then you can see where you are with him and gives you a "blank canvass" to add/take away what he needs. If he picks up then you know perhaps he was getting too much. You can get a good herbal detox called Restore from Global Herbs or L94 from Trinity Consultants. This will help flush his liver and kidneys of any mineral build up and is a good tonic for the autumn.

Then I would tweak his diet. The balancer seems fine although without knowing what you are actually balancing against, you will never know if he needs it. However, best that they have a good mineral and vitamin supply. I often think we overdo mineral balancing in this country. An adult horse that has finished growing needs very little.

He is already getting calcium from his speedibeet. The mollichaff seems to have vits and mins too so I do think the vits n mins are causing him to lose a bit of spark. Too much IS a bad thing...

I would get rid of the garlic. It's not a great supplement really. It does nothing apart from stink. For horses it can actually cause anemia.

Obviously, this is a forum and I cant see the horse and its just going on experience of similar horses that made me think he could have a sluggish system.

 

[Holding]

For what it's worth, I had the Equimins rep in a few days ago who said that the Advance Complete vits & mins are the best/highest spec on the market:

http://www.equimins-online.com/all-products/2-equimins-advance-concentrate-powder.html

I would cut out the garlic too - no real need for it, especially at this time of year. And then on top of that I would use a cube or mix - either a high fibre one (Baileys and Spillers both do one) or something with slightly more energy (e.g. Baileys Working Horse and Pony Cubes). I'd cut out the Mollichaff entirely - far too sugary for me (although my horse adores it ). If you want to use a chaff, I'd go with the TopChop range, or something similar, as they have nothing added.

If you want more specific information about any feeds, let me know and I'll dig out my folder full of info given to me by various reps.

 

[Wagtail]

I would simplify his diet a great deal by feeding him Pure feeds Working, or if he really needs more energy, Pure feeds Racing. Drop the balancer and superflex (you are feeding animal derived additives to a herbivore). The pure feeds range contains a balancer (suitable for herbivores) already. Much easier.