Which element of a horse's feed causes fizziness?

[skint1]

Is it the oil, digestable energy, protein or other?

None of the feeds I am looking at provide a sugar % but I know this can make them hyper. I know there are some great feeds out there like Simple Systems etc but I think for the moment they may be out of my price range.


Our horse was on Bailey's No 2, with Hi Fi chaff, during early autumn she lost some weight so put her on Calm & Condition, put weight back on but is not especially calm.

So now I am looking at going back on the No2 and adding some fibre beet (she has haylage now which she didn't have when on it before which may make all the difference) or perhaps trading over to Ride and Relax which has less oil, protein and digestible energy.

 

[TGM]

Most people seem to feel it is the starch/sugar content of a feed which can be responsible for sensitive horses becoming fizzy. If the manufacturer doesn't put this information on the bag or on their website, then email their helpline and ask for it. The more consumers ask for this information the more likely the companies are to actually publish it on their websites!

The digestible energy is the calorie count - a feed can have a relatively high calorie count but still quite a low sugar/starch level, and these feeds are less likely to cause fizziness than ones with a high sugar/starch level. If your horse loses weight you need to get extra calories into her - so feeds with a high digestible energy content are good - just look for ones with low sugar/starch levels.

 

[autumn7]

It's the low starch, low sugar feeds you should consider for sensible attitude since these feeds release energy slowly and consistently so don't provide an energy rush. Any feeds that state they are suitable for laminitics fit the bill, along side ad lib hay or high fibre haylage.
Adding oil is a way to add calories ie, increase the DE of the feed whilst retaining the slow release aspect. Have you considered something along the lines of Alfa-A Oil to help your horse maintain weight?

 

[amandap]

It may well be the grass atm.
It's such a complicated subject from my basic searching but if you think about it most energy will be coming from hay/grass/haylage as this is the bulk of the diet (or should be) so I tend to look there first if I have any changes/problems.
Try adding magnesium oxide/calmag, possibly reducing grass and/or soaking hay when in and see if that helps.

 

[bensonthewonderhorse]

I believe sometimes too much protein (especially if they are not working much) can be a problem, also I once had a horse that went mad on any supplement with selenium in!

 

[domane]

From reading hundreds of posts, these are what I know can potentially cause fizziness so far...

- sugar (mollasses/carrots/apples)
- sugar beet (even the "unmollassed" or low-sugar brands)
- alfalfa
- cereals like oats, maize, barley
- magnesium (yes, really - it's branded as a calmer but sends Roo mad)
- vit & min supplements in a glucose-based powder (sugar again!)
- grass in autumn and spring
- haylage

- and any combinations of the above! Doesn't really leave a lot of choice, does it?

 

[thatsmygirl]

From reading hundreds of posts, these are what I know can potentially cause fizziness so far...

- sugar (mollasses/carrots/apples)
- sugar beet (even the "unmollassed" or low-sugar brands)
- alfalfa
- cereals like oats, maize, barley
- magnesium (yes, really - it's branded as a calmer but sends Roo mad)
- vit & min supplements in a glucose-based powder (sugar again!)
- grass in autumn and spring
- haylage

- and any combinations of the above! Doesn't really leave a lot of choice, does it?

Magnesium can send horses a bit scatty if they are not deficent off it. Hence why you should get your horse tested before feeding a mag calmer.
I feed topspec balancer, great feed for every horse I find.