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Discussion on Problems with sweet feed
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Member:
Alden
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 10:27 am:
Hello everyone,
I had an interesting experience, although not scientific, last month with a 13 yro foxtrotter of mine. I was riding him last month while guiding an Elk hunt here in Colorado. This is rough country with elevations from 8500ft to 12,500ft. The outfitter uses sweet feed to encourage his mules to be at the gate in the mornings (works very well  ), so I started feeding my gelding about ½ cup along with the mules. As the week progress my gelding was becoming more and more jumpy, he was spooking at horse apples in the trail. This is very unlike him, he is always very aware of his surroundings but not normally a spooky horse.
This horse has spent lots of time in the mountains and is a good reliable mount. By the fifth day of hunting he was really bad, he was acting like he was drugged. He would literally walk off the trail into a bush, stop and just stand there, just like he was in a trance. I'd encourage him forward and he would spook at a stick or some other thing that had been there all alone. I was so frustrated with him and he was making the hunt very difficult, so I put him out in the pasture and changed to another mount.
I gave the gelding a day off and switched from sweet feed to a cup of crimped oats. The change was incredible, I used him for another six days and he was back to his normal self. I'm posting this because I see posts from time to time about horses that are acting up for reasons unknown. A good trainer friend of mine (50+ years training horses) had told me to avoid sweet feeds, he had experienced that some horses don't handle it well. Now I'm with him and will only feed straight grains.
So if you're having training issues don't forget to look at your feeding program.
Good day,
Alden
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 12:31 pm:
Ok, sweet feeds are what? There are so many feeds out there...it's confusing to me
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Member:
Lhenning
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 12:48 pm:
This would be feed that has added molasses, I believe. I was feeding this to my horse up until two months ago. Before that he was spooking at everything and anything, dogs, other horses, dust monsters, you name it. See my thread "Spooky, Excitable Horse". Since then, I've been working him twice as much and that may have something to do with his change in behavior, but I've also taken him off sweet feed. Now he is much calmer. Even when he does see something scary, he doesn't have the HUGE reaction he used to have. I think that "sugar high" is just like you get with kids. Some can tolerate it, many can't.
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Member:
Alden
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 12:54 pm:
It can be confusing, this was a combination of rolled grains and molasses (I could smell the molasses). Normally I don't feed any kind of complete feed, just hay (grass/alfalfa) and, if I need more energy, I add some crimped oats or a rolled corn. In this case it was what the outfitter supplied and I used it. I don't have the label from the bag so I can't be for sure of all the ingredients.
Like I said this isn't intended to be a scientific analysis, but a good reminder, for me mostly, to follow the KISS principle when things are going down the drain. Keep It Simple Stupid
Good day,
Alden
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 12:59 pm:
OMG, that KISS principle is hysterical. Do you get crimped oats from your local feed store? I've only had experience with Safechoice and some Allegra brand feed. I feed them in the winter because my horses seem to lose weight in the winter if I don't feed this stuff. I have two TB's and a 6 month old paint/QH filly.
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Member:
Jgordo03
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 1:52 pm:
I know the feeling. My TB cannot touch sweet feed without going insane. It took me a while, but I switched to a pellet food with very little protein and more fat. The change is remarkable. Before when she would see me coming to the barn, she would lap the pasture twice, pee, and then come storming at a full run into the paddock to a skidding halt in front of her feeder. I was only feeding her about two pounds of the sweet feed per day in two feedings. She is a hard keeper so I will add a little beet pulp (without molasses) in the winter. I'm sure once you get your guys diet back to normal he will improve. I think sugar of any kind can be poison to some horses. Good luck.
Judi
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 2:13 pm:
Judith or Alden, have either of you used Safechoice brand? It's supposed to be good but it does smell like theirs something sweet in it.
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Member:
Jgordo03
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 2:44 pm:
Patricia,
I feed Strategy now, and it's made a lot of difference. I had always been around QH who gained and kept weight on by blowing food across their noses. The Strategy only has about 6% (I think) of protein and more fat. I'm trying to get a few extra pounds on my TB by the time winter comes around, so I'm adding some Soy oil to her food.
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 3:17 pm:
Those TB's are a challenge. Mine now is actually a little chunky..
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 3:49 pm:
I feed Safe Choice to a couple of older horses I have. It is put out by Nutrena. If you go to www.nutrenafeeds.com it will give you a pretty good breakdown of what's in it. I think it's the yeast that is sweet smelling. I've tasted it and it didn't taste like it has molasses in to me.
IMO Alden's principal is a good one unless you have a horse with special needs like an older horse, lactation mare, foal, etc. Then when feeding supplemental feeds you have to be careful not to over feed. I never use feeds with a lot of molasses in them. I know what sugar does to kids, and assume it does the same to horses.
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Member:
Christel
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 4:40 pm:
Judith I am pretty sure Strategy is 14% protein. I use to feed it until my feedstore quit Purina and went with Nutrena. I now feed Safechoice, it is supposedly the equivalent to Strategy and is also 14% protein.
Chris
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Member:
Dsibley
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 12, 2006 - 9:53 pm:
I like the Strategy product; however, all my problems with my 4-year-old gelding, Mister, boiled down to that. I was feeding him Strategy; he developed colicky symptoms, and started acting like he was going to join the Lippizaners with his '4-off the floor' mid-air pirouettes and piaffes. (see posts about six months ago). The horse was a mess...by vet's advice, I added wheat bran and oil to his feed, plus Tums to see if that would calm his tummy down. I gave him Quietex if he was stalled, as he kicked thru the walls of his stall. Thank you very much.
Bottom line...as nothing worked well, I started weaning him off all the 'stuff' until the Strategy was all that was left. Once he was off that and on straight oats, he has been a totally different animal. Granted, he is high-strung for a QH, but I think the feed exacerbated his anxiety for some reason, resulting in the colicky behavior.
I still feed Strategy to my other youngsters; the yearling geldings love it and are thriving. The five=month=old filly picks around it and eats oats (I feed half-and-half). I am in the process of switching her to another feed, as it is way too expensive to toss out.
The moral of the story is that, as with everything, you need to take each animal's unique physiology into consideration. I feel like a pharmacist mixing all the meals...but they are better off for it. I hope.
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Member:
Vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Oct 13, 2006 - 10:13 am:
You are right, Diane, about how horses can be different. I feed pelleted feed (either Low Starch or LITE, Triple Crown), but at one point I used straight oats for a while because I had to wait to get the feed, and they were getting so little I didn't think it would matter anyway. One of my Arabs gets very hyper on straight oats, and if given alfalfa he has more energy that he knows what to do with.
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Member:
Reese3
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Posted on Friday, Oct 13, 2006 - 10:21 am:
Our curlies are really sensitive to rich feed and I found soaked Beet pulp + cocasoya oil a wonderful addition to my feeding program. Our hay is top notch 100% timothy hay (tested and meets most of their daily requirements except Sel)So when I need to add weight to my horses, the BP and oil are amazing. Our horses LOVE it too! They hear those buckets and come a runnin!
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Member:
Pellis
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Posted on Friday, Oct 13, 2006 - 1:07 pm:
Here's a link to a site that provides a comparison of a number of brand name feeds. It give the percentage of molasses, protein, fat, and fiber.
Note: link has been removed because it redirects to an advertising site, trafficmarketplace.com.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 14, 2006 - 9:16 am:
Hello Everyone,
We compare and contrast various grains in the topic Grains and Concentrates in the Horses Diet.
DrO
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New Member:
simba3
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 - 2:06 am:
Okay, for the last time...is feeding molasses a good idea? I say no, what are your thoughts.
Thanks!
Pam Faubus
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008 - 6:58 am:
It is like most things Pam, the amount is the key. Molasses is usually added to feeds in very small amounts to help keep the supplemented ingredients like protein, vitamins, and minerals evenly distributed through the feed. I see no problem with this for healthy horses with no history of carbohydrate metabolism problems.
DrO
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