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  Discussion on Feeding too much?
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Member:
adriaa

Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 12:07 pm:

Hi, I board my horse and haven't questioned how much grain she is getting until recently. I asked how many pounds she was getting, the answer was 8# Trotter and 4#Nutrena Ultra. 12 lbs.? She is a 15.1 hand TB, she weighs about 950-1000 lbs. I haven't taped her so I am guessing, but she's very petite .I guess I should tape her and weigh her feed myself.

She is not in hard work, max 3x week about 1/2 hour, right now since we are rehabbing her stifle. And not even that much this winter.

She's out 24/7 except on really bad days, blizzard, freezing rain, pasture completely icy.

She gets 2 flakes of timothy/clover/grass hay 2x day, sometimes more. I think she should have hay lunch as well. She has gained weight but she has more of a potty belly, but her girth has remained the same. But she is not fat and she is a TB

She was previously on safe Choice, and not that much.

thanks

Adria
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 12:32 pm:

www.nutrenaworld.com/Screens/ProductDetails_Equine.aspx?ProductID=174

It seems it's a sweet feed. Please forgive me my ignorance. This might be why she's been on her toes lately... Not herself. She is actually an extremely level headed TB mare.
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 10:54 pm:

Never mind!
It seems I've answered my own concerns. After a long conversation with the barn owner, although it seems like a lot she is not gaining weight so it must be all right, she must burn calories just thinking about being a TB. She also gets about 20 lbs. of hay a day. Personally I'd like to see her get free choice hay, but it doesn't seem to be an option at this time.

I am going to switch her to Safe Choice, the Trotter only has 3% fat and the Ultra is 10% and the Safe Choice is 7%. She was on the Safe Choice when I bought her, then the other barn I was at only served Trotter, which I think was not enough for her. The Ultra may be too much, considering her light level of work and her fancy lawn ornament status.

Adria
Member:
cgby1

Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 10:56 pm:

Adria,
Does she get any grazing? It doesn't sound like it. She would be a lot happier if she is fed at least three times a day. I have my own place so I divide my horses feed into 4 meals a day, the last one just before I go to bed.

Cynthia
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 11:25 pm:

She would be a lot happier if she had hay all day! Right now it's winter, no grazing though even in summer where she is pretty much picked but there is a little grazing. I need to correct her hay consumption, she gets 4 flakes AM before grain, sometimes she gets left in to finish since she's on the bottom of the heap with the mares she's in with, then they get about 1/2 bale in the pasture, 3 mares. Then 4 flakes before PM grain. Then hay in the pasture at night. But I have come to the barn early like 1:00 and they are all standing around at the fence looking for food, usually they come in at about 3 or 4.

She's not thin or fat at this point, I'm just trying to find the right feed for her, 12 lbs just seemed like a lot. But, if she's not gaining weight then I guess it's ok.

thanks

Adria
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 - 8:30 am:

You seem to have it Adria, it is not your "perception" of what is too much or too little but following the "Golden Rule of Nutrition" in the overview article that leads to a proper diet. Your attempts to get as much forage/roughage in the diet and to lower the starch content as a energy source are to be applauded. Reviewing the articles on Overview, Concentrates, and Feeding Difficult Keepers should give you some many more ideas about your current diet and possible other ways to achieve the above goals.
DrO
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 - 9:31 am:

Hopefully, just hopefully I'll be able to bring her home this summer, then she can graze to her hearts content and have free choice hay. I need to read the difficult keeper article, I guess she is one since she needs so much concentrates on such little exercise load.

I don't want to overload the people at the barn with special needs for my horse, so right now I'm just working on it. I'd bring her hay in the afternoons, but then I'd pretty much have to feed everyone...especially the other ladies.

The pasture she's in is only about 1/2 acre and three mares are in it. Also she is at the bottom of the pecking order and gets pushed from pile to pile.

Thanks
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 - 10:03 am:

After reading the discussion of difficult keepers I think oil is a good way to go for her, problem is I know the barn doesn't want to do that, they have different people feeding and in passing I've heard they don't want to do oil. So, if I want oil for her I need to do up her feed myself, which in itself is not a bad idea.

Now I just need to figure it out, too much math, if the Safe Choice is 7% fat and my goal is 10%, something to make up for the carbs in the sweet feed.

I'll just have to figure out the math. Plus, right now I'm switching from the Trotter/Sweetfeed to the Safe Choice gradually and then I have to figure out how to slowly add oil too.

Challenge!
Member:
adriaa

Posted on Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 - 9:07 pm:

Ok, I'm a bit confused and trying to figure out how to substitute oil for oats and molasses.

Currently she gets
8 lbs Trotter 14% protein, 3% fat
4 lbs Nutrena Ultra 10% protein, 10% fat
about 15 Lbs hay.

How do I average that to understand the total fat intake?

I'd like to switch her to Safe Choice 14% protein, 7% fat.

10 Lbs of Safe Choice and 1 cup oil to bring up the fat content.Does that make sense. 1 Cup oil equaling about 2.5 lbs of feed.

Argh, trying to make sense of percents of fat, is that per pound of feed/100 lbs horse?

Help
Member:
kriseyc

Posted on Sunday, Mar 9, 2008 - 3:26 pm:

Hi Adria,

You might take a look at "Purina Athlete" as a way to increase fat, without oil. It is typically used as a "supplement" to other grain and not intended as a "complete" feed.
It contains 14% fat 14% protein 4% fiber. I have used it with great results on and older horse that we were trying to keep a bit more muscle on (in addition to free choice hay and senior feed).

I now use it with my 12 yr. old QH 16hand about 1200# whom eats about a bale of hay/day or more. he only gets 1 cup of Adult grain and 1 cup of Athlete and 1/4 cup of oil 2 x/day. (he is on a high fat/low carb diet and has done VERY well)
He works 5-6 days/week training level dressage and some jumping and is in great condition.

Good Luck!
IKE
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Mar 10, 2008 - 6:26 am:

Adria, that makes sense to me. Make the change slowly then monitor for condition changes and make the appropriate changes.

IKE,
as I understand it your post is correct Purina Athlete is intended as a protein/cal-phos/energy supplement and last I looked an expensive one.
There is some confusion in the terminology of your post however. The term "Complete Feeds" as used in the industry means they provide significants amount of "fiber" and therefore may not need other forage (a bit of a falsehood in my experience). This is not a big deal but I like to stress the importance of fiber whenever possible and no diet is "complete" without it.
DrO
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