Copra Coolstance

[haffyfan]

Anyone any experience of feeding it? Good or bad?

The dogs have coconut oil (since we had Erik and his skin issues) and their coats are fab, even old boy Rory who won't let us brush/trim his very scraggly bits.

So i was wondering about it for the horses coats/general conditioning.

[brigadier]

Mine prefer it natural Haffy!! ha ha!
www.facebook.com/lesley.robinson.52035

But seriously Ive heard great things about it- highly digestible, non fizzy- great conditioning. But do you need it? Its really for horses that are poor doers and you have the other issue? Coconut despite its high calories is utilized by the body much better than any other fat- Ive found out quite a lot about it since feeding turmeric as it is the oil of choice for mixing with that. Its tricky to get hold of around here so you may have to order it in. Used as a staple feed after New Orleans flooding where its worth was realised.

[haffyfan]

Haha, do they crunch through the outer too then? I'd be worried harry would just swallow it whole!

Not sure they do need it but harry is starting to get on a bit and doesn't look as great this winter as normal, not lost weight just his coat/topline. Sensible head says he hasn't been ridden since summer so of course he has no topline and it's barely stopped raining until this last fortnight and he's not been rugged so of course he looks a bit rough!

They stock it at local feedstore, so that's a bonus too. Whether penny and Murphy will eat it though i have no idea. I had to buy a new bucket recently, just a trug type as normal but feels a bit funny as from asda, and neither of them will eat out of it!

[zara]

Sol feds it to Peter and I'm considering it although not on our suppliers list.

[solomon]

As Zara says Its main part of Petes feed now. He loves it and can be fussy. It's a soak first feed but you don't have to wait long. A little goes a long way a bag is about £21 here.

[pboy]

Pocholo and Indio are both on it. Indio used to be on speedibeet but I wanted something lower in calcium (we're on limestone so there's already a lot in our grazing). Indio looks great on it; Pocholo's only been on it since he arrived in UK so it's hard to tell yet. P did turn his nose up at it on the first day but happily ate it by the second. Indio's coat is amazing, people at the yard think I must spray him with 'mud off' but it's just the copra and linseed!

Our YO is planning to put all of her horses on it now. She said she used to use it but then her supply ran out (Sol - interestingly she used to feed 'Boomerang copra' that Russ supplied!), however she had a long chat with the coolstance people at BETA last week and she's decided to start on it again. The fibre and oil-based calories should be better for her competition horses as it provides energy with lower risk of ulcers.

[haffyfan]

Thank you - i've been and bought a bag, it was £17.50 Sol.

Only fed a little bit tonight, Pen and Murph had a sniff but then ate it all (mixed it in with their fast fibre/chop) so i will gradually wean off the ff and increase the copra. Harry licked all 3 buckets until spotless, instead of munching hay which is his norm on finishing, so i guess he liked it too!

Do Argo not stock it Zara?

Pboy i've read about others feeding it alongside linseed, is their a specific benefit to combining them? I don't know if feeding linseed has changed since i was a child but don't you have to boil it up and stuff? Always shied away from anything complicated!

[pboy]

I think it's down to us 'barefooters'! Linseed is great for feet and coat, while copra is a good low starch feed so it's quite common for barefoot horse owners to feed both.

You can get micronised linseed these days, which doesn't need any preparation thank goodness! Charnwood Milling is a good supplier, or a lot of feed stores have it these days. I feed a mug a day so a 20kg sack last months.

[brigadier]

Haff they crunch it right up. Some bits get left but all the flesh is nibbled off. It's funny but I had them all round the arena for ages and they barely touched them then when I got back from my hols they had all gone! Floss and Toudle love em too.

[zara]

Haffy, I e-mailed Argo and they do now stock it as there has been quite a lot of local demand! They advised ringing first to make sure they've got some but I think I might get a bag for the Tordmeister.

[haffyfan]

Mine seem to really like it, i checked with cobbs and they sell micronised linseed so i'm going to give that a try alongside it when i get chance to pop over for a bag.

[solomon]

Pete has copra and linseed and half an apple each feed with his supplements. Used to add agrobs musli until vet said not to because of his teeth. He seems happy with his bucket