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Discussion on Trotter pellets enough?
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Member:
Miamoo
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Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 10:53 am:
Hi,
I have a new Draft/TB cross. He is a great guy and easy going but does have a motor inside. I don't want to feed him any of the high fat or protein feeds. He is a naturally easy keeper and nicely fat and round. I would like to put him on just trotter pellets with Source Hoof which is full of vitamins and nutrients as well as hay and turn out on grass. Do the trotter pellets provide enough (they are more of a complete feed rather than a grain) for him nutritionally? Trotter is a Blue Seal product.
Ella 
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 11:14 am:
Hi, Ella,
It probably depends on the horse and the level of activity. I fed Trotter Pellets (soaked), almost exclusively, for 10 years to two of my old fellows. They had grazing during the summer months (but they couldn't masticate much of the grass, so grazing was just busywork), but still received 8 one pound coffee cans of Trotter each day (split into two feedings). One was a 14.2h Arabian gelding that was used for lessons, and the other was a 14.3h, heavy-boned Appy, also used for lessons. Neither became overweight or over-energetic and both maintained excellent condition. I think Strider is the lower protein pellet and doesn't include chopped forage . . . and if your gelding is getting plenty of hay and grazing, he might do well on that. Depends on his metabolism and how much work you are asking of him. If you don't want to feed Pacer (I think it's got whole grains and molasses) or Demand or Hunter (which have more fat and higher protein) then you can always supplement the Strider with alfalfa mix hay. I had one TB/cross that was getting both Trotter and hay, and he was losing weight. The vet said he was getting TOO MUCH roughage and that I should put him on something other than Trotter . . . so I put him on a higher fat pellet and plenty of hay, and he regained his weight. If your horse isn't old, I would think that the Strider and the hay/grazing will be enough, especially if you have good hay . . . and if your guy IS overweight, you might not need the Strider at all.
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Member:
Miamoo
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Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 7:34 am:
He does tend to be fat and round. As long as he stays fat the Trotter is enough? He wont be missing out nutritionally?
Ella
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 7:51 am:
A fat horse is not healthy Ella and if your horse is fat perhaps the amount of concentrate needs to be adjusted down. What you are really asking is "how do I feed my horse?" which cannot be answered in a simple post. You should study the article Care for Horses » Nutrition » Equine Nutrition an Overview of Feeding Horses and it might be good to review definitions of condition as many confuse a big round belly with being fat, off the same menu see Weight, Condition, and Eventual Height Estimation. After studying these two you should be able to answer your questions taking all the important factors into account, but if you have any questions please post them.
DrO
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 12:07 pm:
What are Trotter Pellets? I like Safechoice for my roundies.
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 11:31 pm:
Blue Seal Feeds is a regional feed company based in New England . . . They manufacture feeds for a variety of farm animals, including cows, sheep, chickens and horses.They have a resident nutritionist who will meet with clients for consultation, and they formulate their feeds from local (Canadian, too) feedstuffs. Their feeds can be purchased in most of the feed/tack stores in the north east.
Trotter Pellets are their complete pellet . . . It contains roughage and is balanced to feed without additional roughage, although, in the winter, I often added soaked alfalfa/hay cubes to the ration to provide more chewing time for my old guys who couldn't eat hay.
It looks like Guinea Pig/Rabbit pellets. They have a very good variety of horse feeds, and tend to be more reasonably priced than some of the national brands.
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