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Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 24, 2014 19:28:02 GMT
As you have animals with such differing needs you will need different types of feed. It will also depend on the height/breed of the horses and whether they are underweight, overweight or just need to maintain their condition.I have had good results from calm & condition, Top Spec conditioning flakes and Top Spec grass and alfalfa, Rowan Barberry ready mash extra. Each animal is different though and what suits 1 may not suit another. I tried Baileys conditioning cubes on one that needed a bit more weight and noticed no improvement at all yet TS conditioning flakes made a great difference!! There are several balancers available too. There was no difference at all to my ponies when I tried TS balancer yet with Blue Chip there really was a visible difference. I tried 2 ponies on Dodson & Horrell show and win or maybe glow and win, can't quite remember the name!! Within a couple of weeks 1 had a lovely coat and a much improved topline and overall appearance, whereas the other pony there was no noticeable difference whatsoever!!! Feeding is a minefield and most of the time is trial and error to see what feed suits what pony
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sarahp
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Post by sarahp on Nov 25, 2014 8:43:50 GMT
Must admit I have a completely different view to brindlerainbow. I believe in feeding fibre and oil based feeds, avoiding starch and molasses, for all equines, and I believe varying amounts of a small range of feeds will suit all the scenarios mentioned above, you don't need lots of different brands. I find it much easier to have a limited range in my feed bin too! I breed Ds and As, no riddens here now, and they do basically live out 24/7 on carefully managed grass and/or hay depending on the time of year, ideally with mineralised salt blocks if I've remembered to order them, and they only get extra feed if coming in for part of the time. I've always been a Top Spec fan, but now find myself feeding more straights rather than compound feeds. Currently I have a 2yo A colt and weaned foal coming in, and my bin contains Top Spec chaff, sometimes the pure alfalfa and sometimes the light version, TS balancer, alfabeet and micronised linseed. I do have a bag of the TS grass chaff by mistake at the moment, long story, but won't again because it says not suitable for laminitics, presumably too high a sugar content, and I feed everything as if it were laminitic as a precaution and to guard against any developing it in the future. The exception to all this is stallion fertility supplement for the old boy, used here last year at 22yo and bought with fingers crossed the autumn before. I don't know if helped by the supplement (can't remember the make) but I'm expecting two foals by him next year! He will go back on it later in the winter, but is fighting fit and out with the boy herd at present.
I won't use TS conditioning flakes because of their cereal content, but have used their conditioning cubes in the past with great success - these are cereal grain free. I do feel that if using compound feeds it's best to stick to one consistent brand as they are formulated to go together.
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Post by nici on Nov 25, 2014 9:31:08 GMT
At the moment we have plenty of grass and only my daughter's hunting pony is getting anything more. In my feedbins at present I have a bag of Dengie Hi Fi molasses free and a bag of Top Spec lite balancer. In the past, when I've needed to give higher calorie feeds I've used TS Cool Conditioning cubes, Speedibeet or micronised linseed, depending on the pony and its needs, but fortunately this year we're doing so well with the grass that I'm not generally having to supplement.
We currently have 3 ponies in the herd who have had laminitis, although only one with me (6 years ago before I knew better), and another that I reckoned was borderline laminitic when I bought her a couple of months ago - she's a lot slimmer, fitter and healthier now - so they are all treated as laminitics. They do all live out 24/7 but the grass, like SarahP's, is managed to be suitable for them - no nitrogen-rich lush green dairy grass in our paddocks!
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Post by inkjet on Nov 25, 2014 11:53:17 GMT
I do think each horse is different and different situations can alter what feed requirements are. I currently feed baileys endurance mix and hoof kind chaff with linseed lozenges.
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Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 25, 2014 13:27:23 GMT
Sarahp, I should claryify as I didn't make myself clear. My ponies don't get fed all of those brands of feeds together!!! Those are just brands that I have tried over several years. I only feed 1 or 2 brands together, although at the moment all mine are on calm and condition and ad lib hay
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Post by tct2912 on Nov 26, 2014 22:15:58 GMT
Topspec all the way and a little bit of Baileys Outshine
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dis
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Post by dis on Nov 28, 2014 10:51:44 GMT
i feed as basic as possible. so adlib hay and grazing as first choice and a base to add anything to. i have 3 in decent work (competing to PSG level) so they are on their forage plus soaked whole oats, copra cool, pro balance plus and salt.
the retired mare nearly 30 gets a tiny bit of copra, as its excellent for her coat and joints plus salt and pro balance. i stay away from mixes and cubes as many contain things i dont want to feed- like fillers of little/ no value and molasses or molasses based products to bind it together and improve palatability. for a horse not getting enough from their forage i add a simple base such as fast fibre or grass nuts plus a balancer powder like pro balance and then add energy based feeds like copra if needed.
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sarahp
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Post by sarahp on Nov 28, 2014 11:43:09 GMT
I work on roughly the same principles, forage first, then add what the horse needs on top of that starting with in my case a balancer as I like to make sure they are getting their essential aminoacids, which wouldn't be provided by a vit/min supplement. Some of these cannot be made in the body but have to be provided in the diet. No cereals or molasses are fed here, the starch and sugar they contain predisposes to insulin resistance and hence EMS and laminitis and I breed native ponies. Then an oil feed of some sort for more energy if required. I won't use copra because of all those transport miles!
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dis
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Post by dis on Nov 28, 2014 16:51:03 GMT
probalance has lysine in it which is fine for most horses in terms of amino acid provision when you consider a normal diet.
as out of the 22 amino acids, many can be made within the tissues of the horse but the rest need to be provided in the feed. they are usually all readily supplied by a basic diet except possibly Lysine, which can be lacking in many feeds. hence feeding probalance is highly likely to address this need (as copra for my horses diets is quite low in lysine and they do not get chaff.)
as an example- 5 Kg Meadow Hay / Grass at crude protein (CP) 8% is 400 gms of CP (and most horses will be getting more than this in total if having time at pasture as well as hay- more like 800g CP), then add in a Lucerne chaff at 180 gms per kg and most horses amino-acid requirements are met. (a working horse in normal work needs 1.8% CP of their bodyweight.)
Lysine is the first limiting amino acid in the horse and threonine the second. A limiting amino acid is described as one, that if not present, will prevent protein from being made even if other amino acids are present in adequate quantities. hence this one is the most important to work out. you can buy lysine in pure powder form.
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sarahp
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Post by sarahp on Nov 28, 2014 17:07:15 GMT
Thank you for the facts and figures dis expanding what I said re essential aminoacids. I haven't met the probalance before and most powdered supplements don't contain any protein, so please forgive me that one! I will go and look it up. I do use alfalfa here as part of the forage for that reason, and most of mine are breeding stock or growing youngstock so do need their quality protein.
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sarahp
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Post by sarahp on Nov 28, 2014 17:17:29 GMT
Website and FB page not working. Do you have a link?
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dis
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Post by dis on Nov 28, 2014 17:37:44 GMT
Definately, breeding stock have very different requirements to working or retired horses
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