fibre diet and probiotic???

[Ex-racer]

In another thread "anything missing in feed?" it was suggested that i change my very spooky mare from cool mix on to a fibre based diet. What would a fibre based diet include? Also can anyone recommend a good probiotic for a laminitic?

[Roofio]

J used to be on cool mix. he now has lo-cal balancer and fibrebeet added when he needs to keep weight on. previously he was having to have 2 round scoops of cool mix a day to keep his weight on, now he just has a generous-dollop-from-a-wooden-spoon (highly scientific!)

not sure about the probiotic, i used pink powder on W'jits recommendation when they moved house.

[No_Angel]

fibre based diet- fibre!

chaff, sugarbeet, hay, haylage that sort of stuff.

Personally i prefer not to feed mix and nuts as they have too much added stuff in them.

I am feeding Shay topspec fibre plus and he seems to like it, its in a nut form, but does have molasses in it, molasses and sugar do not mix with a spooky horse.

I feed my ex racer pink powder, it helps her utilise her feed and keep her weight on.

[Ex-racer]

Any other recommendations? Have been reading around and am now completely undecided. lo-cal balancer, speedibeet, sugarbeet, fibrebeet??? how do u know what to use?
She's a 15.2, 8 year old TB ex-racer. Very spooky. In none/very little work. Out during the day and stabled at night with haylage. Doesnt keep weight on very well.

[Joyscarer]

Well I would steer clear of sugarbeet as this has mallasses added.

Speedibeet doesn't have mollasses added and contains less than 5% sugar.

But fibrebeet contains even less digestable energy than speedibeet and is better for horses that don't need to gain extra condition or are prone to laminitus. It needs soaking for longer than speedibeet but isn't a problem if you make that your first job of the day. It depends on how much energy your horse needs, go for the speedibeet if he needs a bit extra.

I use Pink powder as a balancer and that contains pro-biotic :)

[Ex-racer]

do u guys feed pink powder daily long term? i just read that it can be used for max 30 days as a pick me up?

[Joyscarer]

It can be used as a pick me up but you halve the pick me up dose for everyday feed balancing.

Take look at the back of a tub next time you go to your local feed merchants, all the info is on there.

Or you can find out more here: :)

http://www.naf-uk.com/downloads/pinkpowder.pdf

[Ex-racer]

ok, thanks

[Stella2]

In another thread "anything missing in feed?" it was suggested that i change my very spooky mare from cool mix on to a fibre based diet. What would a fibre based diet include? Also can anyone recommend a good probiotic for a laminitic? I feed my mare on Badminton High Fibre Nuggets (no cereal, very low starch, low protein) and their Herbal Chaff. Other than that she has hay (less protein than hayledge). She has been on this for over 2 years and is fabulous on it.

I also feed the probiotic Biotal Equine Gold. It was highly recommended to me and I'm very happy with that too.

[Roofio]

i found fibrebeet put weight on the boys much quicker than speedibeet, are my two weird?! (wouldn't surprise me! ;))

fibrebeet is more expensive and did make my two poo for england to begin with, if yours is stabled you might want to consider speedibeet instead!! :D

[mogadoga]

Id use a mug/2 mugs (weight depending) of baileys low cal plus 1-2lb of chaff. And hay/grass. Then you have your vits and mins covered with the fibre to bulk it.

I feed pink powder every day and have done for over 3 months :)
My horse has gut damage and it works brilliant to help him absorb all he needs and stop pooing!! Thumbs up to it :D

[Pink's lady]

I'd def go with Pink powder - great probiotic and is also an alround mineral and vit supplement.

As for fibre, go and look at what your feed store has.

I would be feeding two types of fibre - a soaking sugarbeet type and a chaff type.

The 'suagrebeety' one depends on what they have and what you need. Two mains ones are sugarbeet and Fibrebeet. If she's a poorer does I'd got with Speedibeet, if she's a fatty go with fibrebeet. The differnce ism't huge however, so whatever the feedstore has.

Then I'd feed the chaff. The type depends again on what the feed store has and also how much weight she needs to put on/loose. If she's a poor doer I'd got for an oil chaff like Dengie Alfa-A-Oil. If she's a fatty I'd go with Hi-Fi Lite. There are loads of others but have a look on the back of the bag. You want something with little or no mollases (i.e not mollichop!)

[Stella2]

I wouldn't use Alfa-A-oil if, as you say, she is spooky. Alfalfa can make some horses spooky and those that are 10 times worse :eek: If you want to add oil (and it is great for weight gain), I also use Baileys outsine to great effect. If you want to go with a liquid oil, Soya oil is good for weight gain.

p.s. as far as I know Pink Powder is not a vitamin suplement - just a probiotic!

[Pink's lady]

Pink powder (http://www.naf-uk.com/downloads/pinkpowder.pdf)is a very good vitamin supplement - it has everything under the sun in it. It's advertised as a probiotic mostly but is also a very concentrated balancer too.

[Stella2]

I stand corrected :)

[Pink's lady]

I thought the same too, until I actually bothered to read the back. Turns out I had been needlessly wasting money feeding a general supplement along with the Pink Powder :o :rolleyes:

[Skippys Mum]

I'm away to buy pink powder :)

[gordysgirl]

Firstly pink powder rocks!!

I also feed my TB unmolassed sugar beet (either speedi beet or simple systems pura beet), grass nuts (ace for tbs!), tiny bit of conditioning mix & some alfa a oil. And of course pink powder!

He is looking better coming out of winter than going into it.:D

[Skippys Mum]

I'm jumping on this thread for a bit of advice too:)

My little shetland is a poorly looking wee soul. He has Cushings (we think, couldnt get a positive diagnosis despite endless testing). He is a skinny wee thing BUT if I try to feed him up he gets laminitis:(

I tried speedybeet but it gave him L in the first few days. He was on happy hoof but seems to prefer Hifi Lite. He is turned out during the day with a grazing muzzle as grass just does his wee feet in, and has ad lib hay at night (but he's not a big eater so thats only a leaf or so). Any ideas for putting weight on him without knocking his little feet off?

I like what I'm hearing about Pink Powder and I like him to have a big forage feed morning and night. All suggestions appreciated.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Ex Racer but its on the same lines so hope no one minds
xxx

[Stella2]

Again I'd try the Badminton Fibre nuggets and oil.

[charlotte+jill!]

echo the others ...PINK POWDER! lol!

my tb was on all fibre.... hifi light(would eat other chaff randomer!) and speedibeet

and he stayed exactly the same so is now on build up mix too :D

but yeah high fibre pencils and the like are good.