Feed query

[chewitmonster]

Silver is on full livery and from arriving we decided to go with the standard feeding regime they provide (if you want anything different you have to pay for it and when we first arrived we were panicking about everything so YO took over which was fair enough).

At the moment he is on a heaped scoop of hifi-lite and 1/2 pasture mix, with oil, cortaflex (we get discounted prices :D) and fruit & veg in teas (breakfast is just pasture mix and hifi-lite). YO was on holiday last week and so A (full time groom) had to make up the feed. YO also said that because of spring that the feeds should be cut down and they should only have access to one slice of hay at a time (more or less ad lib just cutting down on the amount). Unfortunately A cut down the amount of Hifi-Lite and not pasture mix (i.e. 1/2 scoop of HL and 1/2 scoop PM) so feeds were looking a bit :eek:! YO also expressed concern that some of the horses were a bit high and A seems to not understand (has got qualifications mind) that you can keep the HL, just need to cut down/out the PM.

I know its what the YO intended because on the Sunday when she came back she did the feeds and there was plenty of HL (bout 1&1/2 scoops) and a sprinkle of PM. Today A did feeds and it was back to no HL and lashings of PM. Confused yet :p ;)

Anyway my query is...can I cut out PM and just give him hifi-lite with veg and oil (linseed) with him being out on grass from 8/8.30am till 3/3.30pm? Does he need anything else? Reason I ask is because I want to stop the confusion and just have him fed the forage so A doesn't give him silly amounts of PM but I don't want to sound like I'm insulting her! :o I also really don't think he needs it at all - he has plenty of energy (when YO put a sprinkle in he was still his usual self), or am I missing something...does PM have another function? Oh and he certainly isn't underweight, I think he's over weight but YO thinks hes okay for his size and age (16.2hh 5 year old) - she doesn't have major bearing though, can change what I like.

Any help is much appreciated - this was only going to be a quick thread! :o

[Sooty]

Personally I wouldn't touch PM with a barge-pole. Horses just don't need it and I've seen it turn horses loopy :eek: . Forage feed alone is just fine (possibly with some oil if the horse is losing condition, but sounds like your boy doesn't need it!). You could add a broad spectrum supplement - I use Feedmark's Benevit - just to make sure all nutritional requirements are covered as pasture can sometimes be lacking in minerals such as magnesium and selenium.

[Pink's lady]

No reason at all that he should be having pasture mix. At that amounts it has little of the RDA vit and minerals, so is fairly pointless. Yes, Hi-fi lite only would be ideal (and you can give him a lot more so he feels he's doing well out of it too ;)). Depending on what you're grazing and hays like, you might want to feed a general supplement too.

[Bay Mare]

I don't understand how your YO can cut down on hay but still have it ad-lib ... oh well :)

I have to third the evil Pasture Mix. I don't know if you remember our 'Pasture Mix Episode'? It sent Saff off the scale and she actually DROPPED weight on it quite apart from the behavioural problems that it created.

I've got Saff on a forage diet now and she's fine. We use Simple Systems and have finally (for now) settled on Meadowbix and Lucienuts with a couple of apples which she LOVES. She has 24/7 turnout and ad-lib access to hay. That's *all* she's had over the winter too and has maintained her weight really well even despite the poor grass.

I'd be concerned that a full time member of staff who had been put in charge of feeding made that kind of basic error :o

[eventerbabe]

another pasture mix hater here! sent toby absolutely berserk!! i wouldn't ever feed it again. i agree with the others, keep him on the hi-fi lite and add in a vitamin supplement. i use the dengie fibre mix easy combined with the hi-fi for toby aswell. means he has the energy to do whats been asked of him but he's not hyper like he was on the pasture mix.

[dcp]

Take the mix out theres no way it's needed.

[chewitmonster]

Thanks guys. My feelings were right then. I don't really like PM either and can't understand why the others are on it (bar two, YO's own and another livery who is on Top Spec) :rolleyes:

Baymare: did say more or less ad lib. There are a few on the yard that absolutely gorge themselves when full to brimming. They are encouraged to eat slower. When Silver comes in YO only gives 1 slice rather than 2 which means he can de-bloat himself (he really puffs up) and have a sleep then he gets some more. It works and no-one is without hay in their stable - they are chosing themselves to leave some, have a sleep/be ridden then finish it off, they are just having less to start with. :)

Have been idly researching broad spec supplements but what am I looking for (other than a decent price)? Good concentrations of magnesium and selenium? anything else? I might ask how good the grazing is and see if YO thinks he would need it...would he need it anyway seeing as he is only on grass for about 7 hours a day but fed good quality soaked hay for the rest? xxx

[Yann]

As I understand very little grazing in this country is anything like nutritionally complete, the advice always seems to be to give a broad spectrum vit and min supplement, especially to working horses. There are plenty about, I used to feed Benevit, it looks and smells nice for a start:D
More expensive but definitely worth it is TopSpec Comprehensive, which is basically the feed balancer without the protein.