Winergy Equilibrium feeds

Ginn

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I have recently upped my mares workload (from hacking twice and schooling once a week to hacking 4-5 times and schooling/lessons/competing 1-2 times a week) and have noticed that while she is muscling up and getting fitter she has also dropped quite a bit of condition and when schooled gets tired mentally very quickly.

She is 3/4 tb and not a poor doer but not a good doer either but the biggest problem I face is that a lot of feeds give her way to much energy and she becomes a nightmare to handle!!

At the moment she gets a small scoop of Hoofkind chaff and a glug of oil.

I don't want to shovel loads of feed into her as I'd probably end up in hospital but feel she could do with more than she is getting so having done some reading wondered if Winergy is the way to go as I cannot give her cereal based or Dengie Alfalfa products as these seem to blow her brains and she becomes an absolute pig to handle.

Secondly, having looked at the Winergy range I am not sure whether from a condition point of view she would do better on Equilibrium Growth or Equilibrium Condition?? Condition has a higher starch content (5% vs 10%), a lower fibre content (14% vs 24% but she gets loads of fibre in her diet anyway) whereas protein and oil are the same (15% and 10% respectively). The vit and mineral levels are slightly higher in the growth aswell.

Any ideas?
 

scotsmare

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How old is she? The growth version is intended for youngstock. I have fed my 4 yr old warmblood mare who is still growing a little on Winergy Condition for the whole winter and she is looking fab - didn't drop weight at all.

Remember though that they are designed to be complete feeds and it looks like you're feeding masses of it but by the time you factor in not buying alfa a or whatever you feed it does work out about the same cost.
 

Ginn

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SM - she is rising 5 so still growing (bum high again and has a lot of filling out to do)

CM - have spoken to the advice line and they suggested either would be good for her and I try her on one or other and see how we go. They've sent me a sample of condition (have to admit I am very impressed - it smells gorgeous and looks very appetising) but also *looks* very alfalfa-ery which I know may well give her unwanted fizz (I cannot ride her even on any of the Dengie stuff as the alfalfa seems to send her totally loopy!)

The cost isn't so important but the effect on her behavior is!! What I want is high fibre, protein and oil for condition and muscle development but low starch, sugar and energy....

Other option is to leave her on the Hoofkind and add Topspec conditioning flakes or cubes as I know she has been OK on these (god knows why?!) in the past but tbh would rather a complete high fibre feed as with work commitments Mum does a lot of the care and would rather keep it as simple as possible!
 

BobbyMondeo

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I have used the Growth version for a horse that sounds just like yours all through the winter her condition is brilliant and it has kept her sane. Would recomend to anyone. And it doesnt have to just be used to yougsters my girly is 10
 

Ginn

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Cool - nice to hear people with older horses using the growth. My main concern with it was that I don't want to overload her system with growth promoting ingredients but looking at the info there isn't a huge difference between them except the starch and fibre levels.

Do you feed the full rda? And do you feed anything alongside? Other problem I have is that she is the dominant one in the field so important she has enough bulk in her food that she doesn't finnish first! My thinking is I could add a handfull of Hoofkind to bulk it out a wee bit if necessary?

How long was it before you noticed condition and any behavioral differences?
 

scotsmare

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Roobear - you feed loads of it!! Up to 4.5kg per day depending on the size of your horse - my girl has two full stubbs scoops morning and evening (and that's still slightly under the RDA
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Maggie2

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I have one very similar in nature to yours and Alfa is the biggest nono with her, closely followed by anything with a cereal component. I have had her on Low all winter at less than rec. rate but with a small amount of Surelimb added to make up the vits and mins.

For some reason the Alfa doesn't affect her.
 

Chestnuttymare

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Roobear, i know you say alfalfa sends her loopy, but do you think that perhaps it is the starch levels in some of the feeds with alfalfa that are to blame. I had been thinking the same way, then moved to the winergy senior as it had the lowest starch content. She was on it less than a week when I noticed a distinct difference.
 

Ginn

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Good point CNM re starch levels! Have just looked it up and it looks pretty much the same, infact the main differences I can see is that the Winergy has a higher oil content and an added balancer.

I am convinced it is so much the starch content as have had her on the topspec conditioning flakes in the past which have a very high starch content with no problem. Might try her on them again or go back to the drawing board then as she'd be better on a cereal based feed than an Alfalfa based one.
 
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