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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
    
Location: Kansas | I have a mare and a filly who are having issues with the grain being fed now. My older mare (19) is starting to "sink in" on her topline, despite being on 24/7 hay, and grained twice a day. She gets added soaked beet pulp to her mix, alfalfa pellets and safechoice perform. What should be something I can give her to help her fill out better, with out giving her a ton of grain per feeding?
Also my newest yearling filly won't touch her grain at all. Just sniffs the bucket and walks off. She isn't thin by any means, I just want to grain her so she will grow. Any recommendations for grain? She gets a scoop of alfalfa pellets and calf manna. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | I'm one of those "less is more people". That's why I like TC products because all of the "good stuff" is already in there. Have you ran a CBC on her?
For your yearling, you may want to try a yummy top dressing to entice her to eat.
I know it's frustrating! |
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Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
Location: Kansas | Murphy - 2014-07-10 9:33 AM I'm one of those "less is more people". That's why I like TC products because all of the "good stuff" is already in there. Have you ran a CBC on her?
For your yearling, you may want to try a yummy top dressing to entice her to eat.
I know it's frustrating!
I wish I could get TC products around here, but unfortunately I can't. We basically have a tractor supply, a local coop (where I buy the alfalfa pellets), and orschelns.
What type of sweet stuff should I put on her grain? |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | I would feed a high fat diet..
Alot of horses dont do well at all on safechoice. |
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Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
Location: Kansas | Bibliafarm - 2014-07-10 9:50 AM I would feed a high fat diet..
Alot of horses dont do well at all on safechoice.
I'm starting to notice that with my herd....my finished mare gets fat off air so she isn't bad on it. But the other 3, need a little help. I'll look for a higher fat grain for them. I'm considering putting the older mare on a senior feed |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
| For the older mare:
Have you had her tested for Cushings?
You say they have hay 24/7 but what about green grass?
Vitamin E is only found in fresh grass, or provided supplementally thru grain or additional add-in supplements. Vitamin E content in the grass is lost during harvesting and storage. Weight loss along the topline is also a symptom of a Vitamin E deficiency, among other things that can show up later.
If you mare has never had her Vitamin E levels checked, I would start there, ESPECIALLY if she isn’t on any fresh grass.
For the young one:
Gastric ulcers are actually fairly common in young horses. They are transitioning in their diets from milk to forage and go through a lot of stress during the weaning stages. For her, I would start with the appropriate daily amount of GastroGard paste for her weight, and give her a week or two on that and see if her appetite improves.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
| If you have access to Blue Seal feeds at your Tractor Supply, their Sentinel Performance LS is a GREAT feed.
Low in starch at 13% NSC
and high in fat at 12%
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Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | hoofs_in_motion - 2014-07-10 10:35 AM Murphy - 2014-07-10 9:33 AM I'm one of those "less is more people". That's why I like TC products because all of the "good stuff" is already in there. Have you ran a CBC on her?
For your yearling, you may want to try a yummy top dressing to entice her to eat.
I know it's frustrating! I wish I could get TC products around here, but unfortunately I can't. We basically have a tractor supply, a local coop (where I buy the alfalfa pellets), and orschelns.
What type of sweet stuff should I put on her grain?
I wonder if you request something, they can add it?
I would try HealthyCoat, mine lick their buckets. |
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Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
Location: Kansas | Murphy - 2014-07-10 10:09 AM hoofs_in_motion - 2014-07-10 10:35 AM Murphy - 2014-07-10 9:33 AM I'm one of those "less is more people". That's why I like TC products because all of the "good stuff" is already in there. Have you ran a CBC on her?
For your yearling, you may want to try a yummy top dressing to entice her to eat.
I know it's frustrating! I wish I could get TC products around here, but unfortunately I can't. We basically have a tractor supply, a local coop (where I buy the alfalfa pellets), and orschelns.
What type of sweet stuff should I put on her grain?
I would try HealthyCoat, mine lick their buckets.
I will try the healthy coat, I think if I request it I have to buy a pallet of it at a time.....I can't afford that LOL.
I'll check around and see if I can find somewhere close that sells it. Which TC feed would you recommend? Also what about a vitamin E supplement for the older mare? |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | It took me a while to realize not everyone will eat the same (at least at my house) I have one that WILL NOT touch feed without molasses and therefore he gets Woodys summer heat OR sweet 12. My colts get Woodys futurity blends and they bloom. I think the main issue with most feeding programs is that humans do not weigh their feed, it's really simple, and solves a lot of trouble or questions. I think beet pulp and alfalfa pellets are good BUT I hate feeding them, the soaking, and then begging my horses to eat them gets old. The one thing I have found that helps a lot for older horses and topline is alfalfa (I feed a flake or two to those that need it) and rice bran (maxeglo at TSC) the rice bran is a small amount of feed that packs on the fat. Just because you think they should eat something because it's "good" for them doesn't mean they will gain any weight if they don't eat it. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
| Most horses should get ~2000 IU per day of Vitamin E. But if she's losing weight from already having a deficiency, she may require more. You really should have her levels tested to know where you stand.
If the younger horse is also not able to graze on green grass, you should seriously consider supplementing her as well.
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | Add some Amplify. I know it helping my sister's mare keep the weight on in her aged years. |
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Expert
Posts: 1531
Location: Oklahoma | I would do Healthy Coat as first choice oil, but TSC carries Cocosoya which is great also. Also I have found a Kelp product essential for the hard keepers.... Source or whatever else you can find . This is why I like Total Equine as it has kelp in it... but I still have one that gets Source too (OTQH). I have fed Kelp for 30 yrs now ,way back when it was "Kelpmate" as I couldn't find Source for where I lived. I start every new horse I get on Source and HealthyCoat to get their coat and feet in shape. Also I don't have alfalfa hay or high quality bermuda here..its grass hay .
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