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  Discussion on Does this regiment make sense?
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New Member:
lizzotp

Posted on Friday, Apr 2, 2010 - 4:19 pm:

I switched my horses' feed recently from a 14% text sweet feed as it contains molasses, which I don't want my horses to be eating - plus I was once told that ready-mixed feeds contain many waste products that are of little/no nutritional value - so I decided to make my own mix... Currently, I'm mixing rolled oats and barley with cracked corn. The cracked corn is, in part, to help wear sharp edges off their teeth - and because most of my horses are hard keepers, not hyper and on a regular moderate exercise regime. All the horses are in good condition, I was just wondering if my feed mix is ok.... for the calcium/phosphorus ratio and in general. They have salt blocks and get ok quality hay 3 times a day - and free-choice Hoffmann's mineral mix.

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Apr 2, 2010 - 5:37 pm:

Friends of mine did this for quite a long while until they got tired of the labor involved. They have since embraced grain mixes without molasses that are safe for insulin resistant horses.

I personally prefer not to feed these grains to my horses and use pelleted Triple Crown Lite or Low Starch, depending upon the needs of the particular horse. Neither contains molasses and the formulas are based upon research and sound nutritional principles.
Member:
stek

Posted on Friday, Apr 2, 2010 - 5:47 pm:

Elizabeth, welcome to HA!

Our feed store carries a product called COB (corn, oats and barley) that can be purchased wet (with molasses) or dry. I feed a mixture of that (the dry) and a commercial feed more than anything just to provide something to mix supplements into and give the horses an excuse to come in to be looked over.

I have never heard of feeding cracked corn to wear down teeth .. Dr. O curious if there is any validity to that?

How much grain and hay are you feeding in pounds per day? If your hay is good quality and you aren't feeding an excess of grain your cal/phos ratio should be fine.

For hard keepers I usually turn first to corn oil and then to beet pulp/rice bran/alfalfa.
New Member:
lizzotp

Posted on Friday, Apr 2, 2010 - 7:12 pm:

Thanks guys... I feed a lot of hay - not sure how much in pounds, but it is enough for them to often leave left-over hay in their stalls in the morning - so they are pretty much free-fed hay. As for the amount of grain, depends on the horse. My yearling filly only gets a hand full, my TB show horse gets around 4 pounds per day.

I fed beet-pulp for ages - especially to my youngsters, as it is supposed to be high in calcium. Just recently I read an article about beet pulp that put me right off it though. Here a quote:
"Excess amounts of oxalates ( form of salt) may be present in these plants-halogeteon, greasewood, BEETS, dock , rhubarb-(Beets =product beet pulp) - If the horse consistently eats theses plants over a LONG extendend period of time, calcium deficency will result. Insoulble oxalate crystals will deposit in the kidneys resulting in kidney damage"
For the whole article (with even more cons to beet pulp) go to: https://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Beet-Pulp-Toxic-To-Horses---The-Real-Story&id=75947 4.
I am not totally convinced by the article, but convinced enough to lay off the beet pulp... has anybody else heard of this? Does it make sense?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Apr 3, 2010 - 2:25 pm:

Welcome to HA Elizabeth,
Many feeds and most forages contain oxalates it is always a question of the amount and to some degree other factors in the diet and blood. If the concentration becomes excessive it will precipitate and damage the kidneys. I have never heard that the concentration in beet pulp is dangerous. for more on the proper feeding of beet pulp see Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Beet Pulp.


The three grains are all likely to be a tad low on calcium but since hay makes up the large bulk of the diet it will be the determinate on whether your diet has correct levels of calcium and phosphorous. Adding a legume like alfalfa to the diet would go a long way toward balancing many aspects of the diet. For more on this see the article on Horse Care » Equine Nutrition, Horse Feeds, Feeding » Equine Nutrition an Overview of Feeding Horses.

Lastly I don't see how cracked corn will prevent or slow the formation of points on horses teeth.
DrO
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