Wits end with feeding Equimins!

[ApolloStorm]

So I have had my boy a few weeks now, and I’m totally at my wits end with feeding him!
At his previous owners they said they had him on Alfa A, pony nuts, lucie nuts and linseed. He was under conditioned and needed muscle put on. They didn’t seem to have much grass. My biggest issue is his feet are TRULY awful, they split,chip, and have lots of tiny cracks all round. Now I understand that good feet come from the inside.
While he’s been here hes put plenty of weight on, and definately doesn’t need any condition. But his feet are still awful. Ive been feeding him Alfa a Molasses free and Equimins Adv complete powder. But despite introducing it slowly he’s totally rejecting it, he won’t eat it mixed with apple chaff, or molasses or anything typically “tasty” -he’ll eat apple chaff without it, but as now started rejecting the Alfa. Which would be fine if he really didn’t need the adv complete. Has anyone has any success in getting it into a horse who has the nose of a bloodhound for it ??‍ Short of mixing it with applesauce and syringing it into his gob!

 

[ester]

some just won't I'm afraid, F is particularly fussy generally and did start leaving the pellets in his bowl at one point but was then ok with the powder.
have you tried the pellet too?

 

[Archangel]

It's a faff but have you tried putting it on a plate and leaving it to air for a while before adding it to the feed.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Try adding the tiniest amount with a few drop of peppermint essence and then very slowly increase, I have the most fussy Arab and I can get him to eat most things this way, it took me 2 years to convince him to eat a polo!

 

[buddylove]

I find the powder smells a lot less potent than the pellets, which smell like fish, yuck!

 

[ApolloStorm]

I find the powder smells a lot less potent than the pellets, which smell like fish, yuck![/QUOTE
I am using the powder,

some just won't I'm afraid, F is particularly fussy generally and did start leaving the pellets in his bowl at one point but was then ok with the powder.
have you tried the pellet too?

This is what I was Afraid off! I haven’t tried the pellets but I had heard they were less palatable!
I might try the peppermint as he was on peppermint tea for a week and he seemed to like it so maybe that will work.

 

[TPO]

It might be easier to mix it with a mash than chaff. Something like grass nuts/alfa pellets/ pink mash might do the trick. Most companies will send out samples so you can try before buying a whole bag.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I hesitate to say this - and I have no experience with Equimmins but the alfalfa is probably not doing his feet any good. I would swap it for dried grass chaff - Emerald Green is not rye-grass based, as most of them are.

 

[Goldenstar]

I don’t feed the supplement you do but I do feed forage plus balancer ( it’s a powder and an ID needs a lot ) which is not tasty .
I have very good doers so I can’t hide it in lots of tasty food I hide it in damp bran mixed with a few oats and grass cubes .
they eat it well .
Alfalfa is quite bitter it’s a good feed for horses its a great acid buffer for the stomach I would try dried grass .
The diet they where feeding your horse was a bit weird I would try just giving a mix like Saracens releve for a fussy horse needing to gain a bit of condition.
It takes about three months for diet changes to start to show in the feet .

 

[Nari]

It's too early to see an improvement in his feet from the diet, but getting a good farrier out to balance his feet up and take some of the pressure off the cracks will have an immediate effect.

 

[ApolloStorm]

I don’t feed the supplement you do but I do feed forage plus balancer ( it’s a powder and an ID needs a lot ) which is not tasty .
I have very good doers so I can’t hide it in lots of tasty food I hide it in damp bran mixed with a few oats and grass cubes .
they eat it well .
Alfalfa is quite bitter it’s a good feed for horses its a great acid buffer for the stomach I would try dried grass .
The diet they where feeding your horse was a bit weird I would try just giving a mix like Saracens releve for a fussy horse needing to gain a bit of condition.
It takes about three months for diet changes to start to show in the feet .

yes I thought it was a bit odd hence why I simplified it!
alfalfa because he could do with some help building muscle, and it’s higher protein and because there were some concerns at the start about ulcers but the concerns went fairly quickly.
I was debating trying the spillers mash which has an apple flavouring.

It's too early to see an improvement in his feet from the diet, but getting a good farrier out to balance his feet up and take some of the pressure off the cracks will have an immediate effect.

I am aware I will not see an improvement yet!! But in order to see an improvement I need to get the supplement into him!!

 

[buddylove]

Mine eat it happily mixed in with speedi-beet, they also have aloe Vera juice, brewers yeast and micronised linseed. I have to mix it with oat straw chaff to slow them down or else they would inhale it

 

[ycbm]

I had one horse who would only eat it in Saracen Releve.
.

 

[irishdraft]

I put both of mine on the pellets expecting them to turn their noses up but both ate up . I mixed a few of their usual nuts and some sugar beet + salt . You could try a dose of salt with your usual feed + equimins see if it disguises it .

 

[Surbie]

I use a mix of agrobs wiesencobs and speedibeet to hide my powders in. I use the forageplus balancer, which doesn't smell nice, linseed and boswellia, so his feed smells a bit churchy. The soaked wiesencobs have made all the difference & he gobbles it very happily.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

This is what I was Afraid off! I haven’t tried the pellets but I had heard they were less palatable!
I might try the peppermint as he was on peppermint tea for a week and he seemed to like it so maybe that will work.

When my horses feet were crap I fed copper and zinc from progressive earth with magnesium and linseed it really made a difference and I got him to eat it without any issues.

 

[PSD]

Mine wouldn’t touch it in chaff, but she happily scoffs the lot with her pink mash and grass nuts.

 

[HashRouge]

Honestly if he's really fussy why not try something a bit more palatable like Formula 4 Feet? I know Equimins and Forage Plus are better (well I'm told they are) but I could just never get my Arab to eat them consistently, and Formula 4 Feet did really seem to help when she first came out of shoes.

 

[Follysmum]

One of my really fussy horses will eat the powder but not the pellets his hooves have drastically improved

 

[ester]

I did find it helpful to have other people's feed I could steal when giving anything really important.
Finding agrobs was a bit of a revelation for us, but being able to steal pure feeds from friends for antibiotics was very helpful.

I started using fastfibre which took a long time to transition on to but out of work native pony didn't need much else, pony nuts soaked worked a bit better, went onto grass chaff/beet/oats as required, which worked ish most of the time.
Then used the agrobs chaff
Now use soaked wiesencobs as teeth a little problematic.

 

[Michen]

My horses eat the pellet version. Neither will touch the powder including greedy fatso.

 

[dreamcometrue]

Mix it with Speedibeet and some chop x

 

[COldNag]

I did find it helpful to have other people's feed I could steal when giving anything really important.
Finding agrobs was a bit of a revelation for us, but being able to steal pure feeds from friends for antibiotics was very helpful.

I started using fastfibre which took a long time to transition on to but out of work native pony didn't need much else, pony nuts soaked worked a bit better, went onto grass chaff/beet/oats as required, which worked ish most of the time.
Then used the agrobs chaff
Now use soaked wiesencobs as teeth a little problematic.

For something quite minimalist, Weisencobs or Weisenflakes seem very tasty. I can hide anything (including Equimins powder or Pro Balance) in it.

I am currently feeding it with turmeric, brewers yeast and mint though so that is a right mixture!!

 

[skint1]

My mare rejected Equimins outright regardless of what I tried, but she is fussy. She has rejected various supplements and feeds.

 

[M&M&G]

Mine scoffs the powder just with honeychop lite n healthy - she seems to be in the minority but she seems to really relish it!

 

[palo1]

All of ours eat the equimins powder with no fuss at all and I have spent the last 8 years struggling to get 1 of those in particular to eat the FP supplement. I haven't tried adding in extra anything so far but I really do think that it is probably trial and error with similar spec supplements to see which a horse will tolerate best. I had always persevered with FP as I really wanted mine to eat that particular spec but it wasn't happening! It is SOOOOO frustrating. In fact, I think 'eating up his dinner' should be on a PPE...

 

[Chippers1]

Mine eats the pellets (most of the time ?) and he is super fussy. I feed them by hand as he won't eat a feed in summer. If he's going through a phase of not wanting them I put them in a little pot with a polo and by the time I feed them they all smell like mint and he gets a bonus polo!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Do you add salt to the feed?

 

[ApolloStorm]

Do you add salt to the feed?

I tried but that made him not even eat the apple chaff!
I wish I could tell him I know it tastes nasty but it’s good for him! I’ve ordered a few samples so I’ll see how they go down!

 

[PapaverFollis]

Currently using L-mix with added apple juice to get minerals down an unappreciative pony... fussy big horse is eating the minerals just with L-mix and water. Not Equimins though so don't know how it would compare but having to feed vast quantities of limestone flour, copper and zinc and a bit of magnesium. They can't be tasty!