Feed my horse

eventerbabe

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2004
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just curious....
15.2hh ID cross who is 23/24. In light work 2-3 times a week hacking at walk and trot only (annular ligament injury limits us). Stabled overnight where he is currently offered adlib hay and halleys Timothy grass hayblox. On good grazing for 15 hours a day. Struggles to hold weight. This isn't a new issue but was bad this winter. Currently ok condition wise (ribs just covered). I'll reveal what I feed later. It's a LOT of products and I'm sure I must be able to streamline to a more effective regime.
 
How is he on haylage? If he's fine on a good haylage then I'd swap some of his hay ration for that.

Feedwise I don't know him or his likes so I wouldn't even want to start! I've always based everything around hay or haylage, so I'd start by gradually adding haylage & see where to go from there.
 
Coming out of the winter (where he'd just been on hay) I added in haylage. It didn't make a massive difference. In spring he was being offered a choice of hay, haylage and hayblox whilst stabled. I cut out the haylage with grass coming through and issues getting the haylage Toby likes. He is VERY fussy with hay/haylage. He only likes silvermoor veteran haylage and after eight mouldy bags I'm despairing getting a decent supplier. I'm ordering some good local stuff for the winter. I do buy the haylage when I can get non mouldy bags!

He isn't fussy with feeds ironically. He doesn't hot up easily and eats most things.
 
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Should add he also has a choice of hay! I have old (but excellent quality) round bale stuff in addition to square bales of last years hay. He gets a net of each to give him a choice. That's in addition to 2-3 hayblox a night and the haylage. I read oldies should be given a choice of forage but I do sometimes feel Toby is taking the mick! He's a huge choice of what to eat and if he's not happy I hear about it (stables next to house and he can whinny very loudly!!).
 
Oldie at work couple years ago couldn't really eat hay anymore and struggled with long grass, we gave her 4 buckets of soaked grass nuts and fast fibre with micronised linseed over 24 hours, she came out of winter looking too well and had to go on a diet! She also had cushings but wasn't on any medication for it at the time. Worked really well for her and didn't cost the earth, we soaked the FF and Grass nuts in the same buckets so even that was easy :)
 
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I feed fibre and oil as Kia can't have anything with a real content of more then 10/12% so I mix

Equerry condition mash
Purple solutions mash
Alfalfa/senior fibre
Linseed
Beetpulp/grass nuts
(this I feed in a bucket mixed with linseed on its own available at all times in his stable if he drastically loses weight)

I have fed in the past some to Eowyn and some to Kia ( before he went off it)

Veteran vitality (Kia)
Barley
Corn
Oats
Power and performance
Calm and condition
Alfa oil


Just what I have tried and tested and found to work, a friend swears by cool stance copra but I cannot feed it as I'm allergic to coconut :(

EtA I'm a bit of a freak and need to soak everything, not just for oldies, I have seen too many choke and colic cases (not my horses) to feed even a damp feed anymore.
 
Either grass nuts or something like fast fibre as a base, with micronised linseed or copra. I would probably feed a digestive supplement such as pink powder or some pre/pro biotics to help get as much from the food too.

I find simpler the better. And slow release energy rather than sugar based feeds such as mollasses.

You could look at readi grass as a substitute for hay, but higher calorie per gram is usually easy as they don't have to consume such a large volume of feed to get the calories

Would also probably have vet/dental checks of teeth/ulcers/worms/cushings done too if not done :)
 
Veteran vitality by Allen and page, I swear by their calm and condition too. Also HB formula, I've had excellent results with this in the past, I got mine from the vet and it's not cheap but it worked wonders imo. I've used it mainly when competing a lot on a poor doer or if I've bought a horse that really need condition and I'm struggling to make a change with feed. x
 
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I like the A&P fibre products, they offer a good range for various needs.

Those weren't about when I had pheonix, his teeth were like glass they were so worn so he couldn't manage hay so I put him on grass nuts and barley rings, he did great on 4 feeds of that a day :)
 
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So, toby is currently on-
Hifi lite
Spillers high fibre cubes
Baileys no4 top line cubes
Neoflo (oil supplement)
Pink powder
Super flex
Garlic

In the winter I up the quantities and add speedibeet. Because of the larger volume it's split in two feeds. Currently he's on one feed a day.

I've had input from Rowan Barbary and simple systems both suggesting soaked products including lucienuts and soft and soak extra mash.

I don't want to make drastic changes suddenly, plus there are products I feed my other two that Toby also gets.

He's had a full health check- negative for cushings, zero worm count and his teeth are in excellent condition. Only observation was a few small gaps but no food was collecting in them. He is quite capable of eating his hay but if his haynet is not completely emptied and refreshed he won't touch it! He will not eat hay that's left over from the night before. He's always been the same!

So, I'm thinking of introducing the mash or lucienuts with his current feed and phasing out the fibre nuts and top line cubes.... A good starting point?
 
Spillers do a slow release cube that's very similar in fibre, starch & sugar to their high fibre cube but has a much higher DE. I used to find it very useful for Jim. It would also do away with the need for top line cubes.
 
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Just a quick update..... I opted to go with simple systems as my feed supplier seems to be able to get it easily. Toby has been on his regular feed but phasing down the cubes and fibre nuts. As per their advice I've been giving Toby an increasing amount of lucie nuts overnight. What a difference! He's put on condition and his coat is blooming! For winter I'll move completely to simple systems with lucie nuts and purabeet.
 
I think the Simple Systems products are wonderful. The lucie nuts are gorgeous. My horses love them, but they are hard to get in our area. I may try to get some for Mattie in winter though as although he loves his Veteran Vitality and coconut fibre I think he could do with more greens.
 
Simple systems will ship direct to you if you order a certain amount, from memory it wasn't masses that one or two horses wouldn't get though in a reasonable time :)
 
I think the Simple Systems products are wonderful. The lucie nuts are gorgeous. My horses love them, but they are hard to get in our area. I may try to get some for Mattie in winter though as although he loves his Veteran Vitality and coconut fibre I think he could do with more greens.

I've not come across coconut fibre sounds interesting?
 
It's Coolstance Copra. All the horses like it, it is high fibre, high fat, low sugar and makes their food smell like Bounty bars.
 
Older horses often struggle wth hay/haylage due to dental issues. We have a 35 yo we nurse through winter on a soup of high fibre cubes, alfa a and veteran mix four times a day.. He look good as soon as spring grass emerges despite the fact we say every summer will be his last.
 
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