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Post by solomon on Feb 5, 2014 21:24:42 GMT
Following on from Zara's thread, thought it would be interesting to see what we all feed and why. Pete never had much hard feed pre Rockley, doesn't have much now. I used to feed healthy hooves (!) and spillers conditioning cubes double handful of the chaff single handful of nuts. No balancer occasionally he would have a breathing supplement sometimes a bit of salt or garlic mixed in, not very scientific at all. I relied rather too much now it seems on good grazing being the best thing for him.
Now he is Rockleyfied, he has un-mollassed speedi-beet, small handful micronized linseed small handful and the all- important ingredient Pro hoof balancer from Progressive eart on E-Bay. I checked with them recently and it does have vitamins etc as well as the hoof stuff!
Thinking of throwing in Brewers yeast and some extra magnesium to help Pete cope when the spring grass comes through. Oh and of course he will have plenty of well soaked hay.
Over to you!
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Post by zara on Feb 6, 2014 7:46:24 GMT
I've always tried to keep things simple and both my boys have Happy Hoof and hay with nothing added other than AJ's SuperFlex. AJ has always done really well on it and looks amazing but Tordi is overweight. If I were to follow ths Spillers feed advice they would be having 2.5Kg/day! Currently AJ gets 1.5Kg and Tordi has 1Kg so in theory they should both get a vit/min suplement.
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Post by brigadier on Feb 6, 2014 9:14:54 GMT
Based on the fact that working horses need a little extra that hay or grass alone cant provide I do small feeds of complete cool nuts with some hi fi to slow down eating. They always have natural rock salt licks. Other than that its fresh air and good clean water! If I had one that needed building up I would add seaweed and some mint. In summer I add garlic as a fly repellent but I dont think it makes much difference.
I very much believe in feed according to eye and don't waste money on fancy poo because if it isnt needed then that is what it becomes.
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Post by racaille on Feb 6, 2014 10:27:30 GMT
I'm starting to wonder if our hay tends to be better quality than UK hay - I know that is a huge generalisation! The hay I get is very varied: there is a variety of grasses and flowers, including some luzerne (but I never feed straight luzerne hay as it makes even Paco bonkers and the high calcium content buggers up the Ca/Ph ratio). No two bales I get will ever be exactly the same as the fields differ, as does the cut and we get at least three cuts a year.
I'm wondering whether the drier climate makes a 'better' hay? I'm only wondering since only a competition horse (or a livery, for reasons of speed of eating and therefore having the horse ready to ride at opening time) would get any kind of hard feed down here. All the club horses, who I would say are in medium work, eat nothing but hay all their lives. Many don't even have access to a mineral lick. And yet they are fine. So does this mean they get everything they need from the mixed hay?
It's fascinating to consider all the different feeding regimes. I think in some parts of the Magreb horses eat mostly palm leaves and dates and drink milk!
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Post by scattymare on Feb 6, 2014 13:06:26 GMT
Rac I think it's just the market availability available now which plays with horse owners conciences and makes us believe that our horses should be fed.
When I was younger horses were barely fed a hard feed. If they got a token feed it was pony nuts and chaff. If you had a poor doer you added a bit of sugar beet in winter.
Nowadays there is so much available. Chaffs, mixes, balancers, nuts. All claiming to work this that and the other magic. And if a feed can't do it, you can be sure to find a supplement that will! Certain things seem to come in and out of fashion. Whilst I believe that knowledge and research has improved over the years, hence the varied choice available, I don't recall skinny horses, unhealthy horses or any worse. I do also think that a lot of people supplement good quality hay by upping hard feed - I think the price of hay has a lot to do with this.
I include myself in those 'sucked in' by marketing as I feed Eddie a balancer (Spillers Lite). She gets this with a handful of Dengie Good Doer in the evening and just a handful of good doer in the morning as everything else in her barn is fed.
My reasons for feeding a balancer are that she spends all year on poor grazing and soaked hay due to battling with her weight. I'm sure she would survive without it but it makes me feel better! The good doer just makes it last a little bit longer. In summer when the grass is a bit better she gets nothing.
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haffyfan
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Post by haffyfan on Feb 6, 2014 18:43:06 GMT
Mine have hay and then a token feed of Hifi lite and alfa beet, because they like a bucket. They also have a broad spec vit supplement, currently in their feeds but more often I buy the paddock licks type instead and they always have salt/mineral licks available, oh and yeasacc at min as Murph can be a bit loose when i change bales.
Sol what is the brewers yeast for? The ducklings had it for the niacin until they were fully grown...now they have peas instead!
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Post by solomon on Feb 6, 2014 20:41:45 GMT
Good question, I think it's for palatability as much as anything although it's probably got hoof friendly properties of some sort or Nic wouldn't add it in!
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Post by ernieburt on Feb 16, 2014 8:41:04 GMT
The Dude has fibrebeet, unmollassed alfa a with oil and diamond omega (linseed based) vit/min supplement, Nobes being an older chap has fibrebeet, conditioning fibre, pro bio vit/min supplement and supplease gold. All fibre based but I like to cover all bases with a general vit supplement, one with extra pre/pro biotics and a joint supplement for Nobes just to help him along and I like linseed oil so a linseed based one for The Dude gives him a lovely coat and is also good for feet. They would both have alfa a oil to keep thing simpler for me but Nobes wont eat it!
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Post by spotti on Feb 16, 2014 20:04:16 GMT
Faith has hay (soaked when the weather permits - wish she could have it all year round but turning the yard into a skating rink isn't appreciated much) and a mug of Happy Hoof split between two feeds. Technically she doesn't need the Happy Hoof, but she needs something to put the supplements in, which I have tested her without and she gets crippled without them, hence giving her a token feed. She has a scoop (15g) of Glucosamine for her joints, 15g scoop of dried Devils Claw Root and a 15g scoop of garlic powder - again split between the 2 feeds. That's it. She has grass as and when it's safe enough for her, but generally her diet is hay-based. I nearly always double her hey nets and weigh them when I can (most of the time she has a measured amount...unless it's winter and for some reason I go soft and give her loads! No idea why 'cos she has snuggly rugs and spends her time indoors if she doesn't want to go out, so it's not Ike she neeeeeds the extra hay...I'm just a sucker for a sad face. Not doing it anymore though. Learned that lesson. Bad Spotti!). I tend to aim to give her no more than 10-12kg of hay in 24 hours, and that is reduced if she's had grass (she's always muzzled) - anyone else surprised how quickly the 'recommended' amount of hay can disappear? Doubling nets and hanging them in awkward places (I.e. not against a wall) helps slow Faith down.
Oh, she has a natural salt lick available all the time in her stable.
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Post by scattymare on Feb 16, 2014 22:35:23 GMT
Spotti have you tried a trickle net? They're not cheap but it's the only thing which slows ed down. Even double netted small holes are pigged within hours but the t.n does last longer. I recently saw a cheaper type on fb. Think it was called martsnet or something like that. Might be worth a try.
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Post by spotti on Feb 19, 2014 8:37:55 GMT
I have looked into the Trickle and Eliminate-a-Nets before and thought they look good, but they are rather expensive and have never managed to justify buying one when I have piles (should I say, HAD) of regular nets which can be doubled up. At the mo she's on double netted dry hay - hopefully starting to soak again soon - but I'm thinking of going back to her Hay Ball (I'll try to find a pic), putting some form of tiny holed net (Eliminate-a-Net?) over the top and then hanging it from he ceiling slap bang in the middle of her stable...that way it will swing and spin and will hopefully take her so long to eat that she won't eat quite so much! To be fair, the double netting has slowed her down quite a lot (and she generally still has some left when I come back) but it would be nice to know that I can give her even less without worrying about her standing around with nothing to eat/do. She spends a lot of time in her stable these days (grrrr grass!) and I could really do without creating yet another issue if I can help it!
My dilemma at the minute is deciding which size net I would need! Volume wise, she could do with 4.5kg Pony one, but if the net was going to go over the top of the Hay Ball then it would need to be bigger (the ball is RATHER ROUND)...hmm...might send someone an email from the website and see what they suggest...
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Post by spotti on Feb 19, 2014 8:43:06 GMT
This is what Faith has...it's not as good as it makes out (and the 'soakable' bit is pants! It's essentially a hosepipe attachment on the top so that water can dribble over the hay...personally I would have at least out holes down the central bar so that the water soaks the hay from the inside out, instead of just wetting the outside stuff, but hey ho) BUT I like the idea that it's semi-rigid and if I end up putting a net over the top, it should make those last bits of hay quite difficult to get out - since they can't just be shoved up against the wall OR as faith likes to do, put the net in her mouth and somehow suck it out LOL - it's just a case of finding a net which will do the job!!!
Argh, the stress of having an EMS-suspected horse.
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Post by spotti on Feb 19, 2014 8:43:39 GMT
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Post by brigadier on Feb 19, 2014 21:42:37 GMT
Isn't brewers yeast a really rich source of b vits? And biotin is one of the b vits? Seem to remember that from somewhere
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Post by brigadier on Feb 19, 2014 21:48:13 GMT
It worries me that there is so much variety in feed, I feed nuts and chop, carrots when there is no grass and a salt lick, I'm goin to give basil tumeric and I give garlic during fly time. My horses look fantastic, if they are too fat I cut the hay slightly, if too thin they get more- simples!
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Post by fimacg on Feb 20, 2014 12:08:23 GMT
Spotti - in terms of nets have you seen the shires greedy feeder nets they have 25mm holes. I have the small pony sized ones for all my guys and they are plenty big enough - I made the mistake of buying a large sized one and its HUGE - I could fit inside it!
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Post by rainbow on Feb 23, 2014 19:16:47 GMT
Sol - how much linseed are you feeding? I was going to suggest the shires greedy nets as at £15 so its not too expensive. Slows Rosie right down!
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Post by solomon on Feb 24, 2014 13:00:55 GMT
Not very much Rainbow, less than quarter of a scoop. It is good stuff for their feet.
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Post by rainbow on Mar 5, 2014 12:21:54 GMT
which scoop? I give Rose 3 of those 25ml scoops.
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Post by solomon on Mar 5, 2014 21:22:43 GMT
Probably about the same amount. I use a big Stubbs scoop but as I say it's only a quarter. He is eating his pro hoof well now :-)
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Post by rainbow on Mar 6, 2014 8:29:30 GMT
I checked its the 50ml scoops. Have you noticed any weight gain being on that much of it? Thats what worries me with it. It took rose awhile to eat it properly. But I soak baileys fibre plus nuggets and mix it in with the speedi beet and she wolfs it down now  |
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for so much hard work we thank ye!!
