what to feed.

[H & Bailey]

what should i buy for bailey ..usually in the summer he is on a handful of happyhoof and veggies...
this winter he was on hi fi and cool mix and haylage,he dropped abit of weight so bought him some alpha a lite instead of hi fi ,he has put the weight back on and dont really want him to get too fat going into the spring. he is a bit slow but perkier on the alpha a than he was on hi fi..
i am down to a few scoops of alpha a lite and want to know what i should replace it with
the feed shop said to give him mollichop and cool nuts.. my friend said to give him mainly nuts or mix and a bit of alpha a lite to liven him up..or should i start the happy hoof and get a working mix to give him the bit of go..

 

[Skye94]

I think you should put him on Winergy Low energy or if you dont want condition on him use winergy senior(the names are a bit confusin) its an amazing feed made by the same people as spillers! I trust winergy 100%

 

[eventerbabe]

if you are wanting extra energy, i'd be inclined to either go to alfa-a original or alfa-a oil and scrap mixes. I'm not a fan of mixes/nuts and firmly believe that fibre diets are much better for them. You can always add oil too for that extra pizzaz.

is he a native type/laminitis prone/histroy of laminitis? if he is, then i'd probably go back to hi-fi lite, but supplement that with one of the dengie fibre feeds. I use the fibremix easy, but there are 2 grades above that that provide them with more energy. the fibremixes and dengie chaffs are perfect for mixing together.

 

[Jessey]

If he is likely to gain to much weight through the spring summer then definatly stick with the lowest energy feed you can, that may be happy hoof or HiFi lite, and then just add vits and minerals (either a supplement or balancer) to make sure he is getting everything he needs.

If he is still sluggish then getting him fitter should help, but feeding a round pone for extra energy is really hard work cause good doers don't tend to get much energy (fizz) from their feed and tend to lay the extra energy/feed straight down as fat - you could try some fast release energy like oats just for the days you really need extra spark, but be very careful when trying it, he may or may not react to them and until you try you wo't know how the extra energy might manifest itself

 

[puzzles]

Good GOD, would you believe it i ditto Jessey yet again! :-D

in doing this you can change the forage-based feed (e.g. the Alfa-lite to Hi-Fi Lite) and the amounts of it fed - for energy - according to his weight/routine/amount of exercise, etc, yet keep his diet balanced with the vitamins and minerals in a supplement (such as Global herbs Globalvite, NAF Pink Powder or Dengie optinum) or a feed balancer (including Topspec Feed Balancer, Baileys Lo-Cal and Blue Chip Original/Lami-Light).
so your horse will have the balanced diet he needs, only without the calories, and you can change the forage-based feed without compromising this.

for days when he needs sparkle (e.g. for a competition or day out hunting) you can add oats, literally by the handful, such as Dengie Naked oats. they provide fast-release energy which is, unlike the slow-release energy of most fibre-based and leisure compound feeds, used instantly rather than instead being stored by your horse as fat.
introduce these in a few days befroe and phase out again a few days after each event, as needed.

remember to make sure that any dietry changes you make should be introduced gradually, over a period of at leats 7-10 days or 2 weeks if your horse is particularly sensitive.

and also make sure that you don't skinp on the forage: hay in general contains a much lower nutritional value compared top haylage, and when soaked or steamed is reduced even further.
and instead of giving him minimal forage yet keeping the 'hard' feed, feed forage in either a small-hole haynet or one over another, so make a fair amount last much longer and to also keep your horse busy for longer.

compound cubes - even leisure ones, in partucular mixes - will only provide unecessary calories.
good luck!

emily