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 Expert
Posts: 3815
   
Location: The best kept secret in TX | I have a middle aged, 17hand 1754lb gelding that is ulcer prone, allergic to alfalfa in any form and who is also a very picky eater.
I feed him: Beet Pulp Pellets (soaked) -4 lbs; Fastrack, 707 Digestive Essentials (for Ulcers); and about 2 pounds of whole oats a day.
I know I have a lot of holes to cover but I honestly don't know enought to know what they are so let's have it.
Can you tell me about adding to his his supplements, tell me if I'm feeding enough of his oats, and educate me on his hay intake (ie: What type besides alfalfa, and how many pounds) ? I cannot feed any less of the beet pulp or he starts to lose weight. |
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 Vodka for Lunch
Location: Lala Land | I give my gelding free choice coastal grass hay (I think the type you get depends on what's avail in your area), I would add more fat in his diet and feed less oats. For fat you could add flax, rice bran, soybean meal, oil (corn,canola,veg), I'm sure there are a million other options I can't think of right now. |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Lovin Life - 2014-11-06 4:27 PM
I give my gelding free choice coastal grass hay (I think the type you get depends on what's avail in your area), I would add more fat in his diet and feed less oats. For fat you could add flax, rice bran, soybean meal, oil (corn,canola,veg), I'm sure there are a million other options I can't think of right now.
How much should I feed of the flax, rice, bran, meal, or oil? I'm thinking he may eat the oil but will it soak inot the feed when I soak his feed? |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| PM winwillows on here. He helped me alot. |
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Vodka for Lunch
Location: Lala Land | I feed 1/2 cup twice a day of rice bran. I think it's 1/4- 1/2 cup of oil and it will soak in. You can get rice bran in pellets or powder. I use the powder and it mixes well with soaked alfalfa pellets, so I bet he would eat it with your soaked beet pulp. I would just look at prices and see what works for you. :) there are also other fat supplements that you can get at any feed store or online. I've used Cool Calories, but he wasn't a fan of it really. |
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Expert
Posts: 3815
Location: The best kept secret in TX | Lovin Life - 2014-11-06 4:37 PM I feed 1/2 cup twice a day of rice bran. I think it's 1/4- 1/2 cup of oil and it will soak in. You can get rice bran in pellets or powder. I use the powder and it mixes well with soaked alfalfa pellets, so I bet he would eat it with your soaked beet pulp. I would just look at prices and see what works for you. :) there are also other fat supplements that you can get at any feed store or online. I've used Cool Calories, but he wasn't a fan of it really.
Awesome advice!  |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| I would get him off the oats. They have too much Starch. I would feed something like Safe Choice or Renew Gold. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 490
| Safechoice has alfalfa in it. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
| is he out on pasture ever? |
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 Hot Dispatcher
Posts: 10185
Location: Utah | I would have a blood panel ran on him and see what he is missing. Check in to Omolene 400. It is a complete feed with no alfalfa in it, beet pulp based. It has ulimum that is a safe fat. I have an older horse that is allergic to alfalfa and grass hay. This year we turned him out on pasture with mares for him to bred and he took a bad turn. In 6 weeks he went from looking great to looking like a rescue. It has taken me all summer to get his weight safely back to normal. He is now on Omolene fast track, soybean oil and added ultimum with free chioce mineral block. You could still feed him free choice hay and supplement with the omolene 400.
http://horse.purinamills.com/products/omolene/ECMD2-0032698.aspx
Edited by kanchazer 2014-11-08 1:40 PM
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | What I fed my growing 2/3yr old that is 16.3 last I checked was
Free choice grass hay
beet and alfalfa pellets soaked in the am (about 1/2 coffee can of each)
used to feed about 6-8lbs of Ultium but it made him hot so switched to 2# of ADM PrimeGLO. 1 scoop of Forco and 1 scoop of Muscle Mass with ulcer prevent, joint & arthritis, hair & coat. He's always kept his weight just perfect (except for when I sent him off to a trainer and he was injured unbeknownst to me).
He also gets free choice Redmonds salt and a 12:12 mineral. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 581
Location: Fort Collins, CO | i'd get him off the oats and feed him a fat for energy and weight if needed. there are top dress supplements out there but in order to feed your supplements you'll probably have to have some sort of grain.
My choice is Ultium--it has a lower starch (NSC of 16%) content but also 12.5% fat which is AWESOME.
If you can do a pound or two a day I bet you won't have to supplement cool calories (my fav!) or flax or rice bran. That'll also get some more vits & mins in him.
But--FAT FAT FAT is the key to cool energy and weight gain! it has 2.23 more times the energy than carbohydrates.  |
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 Expert
Posts: 2041
Location: home for the winter...what a dumb idea | Oats are a good food for a horse. They are easy to balance with a mineral supplement and if your horse needs it you can add fat. .....with your horse not being able to tolerate alfalfa I would stay away from all bagged feeds. Most of them use alfalfa in some form or another as you already know. If the you think the oats make him hot try barley. Also check with your extension office and see if there are any specific missing ground minerals in your area. Where I am from selinium is very low. |
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 Peecans
| Rodeo_cowgirl - 2014-11-08 7:43 PM
Oats are a good food for a horse. They are easy to balance with a mineral supplement and if your horse needs it you can add fat. .....with your horse not being able to tolerate alfalfa I would stay away from all bagged feeds. Most of them use alfalfa in some form or another as you already know. If the you think the oats make him hot try barley. Also check with your extension office and see if there are any specific missing ground minerals in your area. Where I am from selinium is very low.
We have an OTT TB here and he finaly turned the corner when i quite feeding oats and switched to barley. I feed lessbarley than oats and he gained weight and looks great now! He was embarsing before |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4557
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | He is a very large horse. When I was running Thoroughbreds they were getting half of a 5 gallon bucket of oats twice a day and free choose grass hay with 2 squirts of red cell. Keep the oats and beet pulp and double up what you are giving. If you add Athlete (straight fat) 8 ounces a day your horse will pack on the weight like no tomorrow provided there are no other issues. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | If your going to be mixing your own ration this should help you.
http://horsemath.com/horse-feed-calculator |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I would give more forage. 4 lbs soaked is nothing, most of that is water weight. I would try giving 5-10lbs dry then soak prior to feeding.
I am not the biggest fan of beet pulp, so I would look into Timothy pellets, grass hay grass hay I would feed 20-30 lbs
For feed, I am not the biggest fan of oats on ulcer horses as it can exacerbate ulcers, but since you are limited, I would cut down on the oats, feed barley (I always soaked whole barley prior to feeding) and feed 1/2-1 cup of whole flax.
I would also consult the vet on giving red cell, as I am thinking this horse is lacking nutritional requirements |
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