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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
   
Location: 31 lengths farms | CC is needing a bit more weight on her heading into the winter I feel and after doing some research and talking to my vets I'm looking for a feed high in fat but low carbs,no beet pulp or alfalfa based diets. The other thing is to stay away from feed mills that mill medicated cattle feeds too.
Please educate me some on these types of feeds. Right now she is getting 3lbs of Renew Gold and 5 lbs of Timothy Grass Pellets along with grain hay. I've been riding quite a bit and she looks good, just would like to get a little extra on her for the colder months. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| What about adding flax?
When I need to put weight on horses, I add flax seed whole, buckeye ultimate 100 ( it is all fat), and if I have to I will add canola oil, or coconut oil. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
 
Location: Phoenix | It's unfortunate you have to steer clear of alfalfa....I feel that it was what really helped my horse put weight on. The Renew Gold helped too though, but he was only on 1 lb. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | Can you just add in some rice bran? I keep a tub of the Manna Pro Max E Glo in the barn and anyone that needs a bit extra gets a cup or so of that along with their feed. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | DAC bloom Oil.. really put weight and bloom on my gelding
Cool Calories is helping my 30 yr old mare and my mare with CUshings .. 3 oz a day with Timothy pellets soaked and hay. I also add soaked beet Pulp..
I think good hay is the key though.. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | I am interested in what condition she might have that causes her vets to steer you away from beet pulp and alfalfa? I assume grain would be out of the question. You are already feeding a high fat feed with three sources of fat, adding another source won't do you any good. With your limitations you set and the little information there is really only about 3 things you could do (or a combination of).
1. Feed Better Hay (if your hay is weak and you can find a better source)
2. Feed more hay (again if you are not feeding free choice already)
3. Feed more of the fat source you are already feeding
I would look at your situation in that order. Without being able to add alfalfa or beet pulp, there isn't much else to explore, except perhaps a digestive aid. Most of the time the best solution to more weight is a combination of better hay and more of it, in my opinion. A horse on free choice baled hay will eat about 3% of their body weight. Few people limit feed near that much and often times look for other concentrate options when just more hay might be their best bet. Not saying this is you, because I would have no idea.
Edited by Tdove 2015-09-29 9:02 AM
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | The beet pulp confuses me..there is UNmolasses one..Its one of the safest to feed
Alfalfa I can see in certain circumstances for my Cushings mare cant have it.. possibly more calories is the way to go to.
Edited by Bibliafarm 2015-09-29 9:17 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| Bluebonnet has a new pellet called Horseman's Elite 12/10 (12 protein 10 fat). 15 bucks a bag and my horses love it, even my picky mare. I used to feed her Omega Force but now that she's bred she's on this and Platinum...looking awesome! |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| Tdove - 2015-09-29 8:57 AM I am interested in what condition she might have that causes her vets to steer you away from beet pulp and alfalfa? I assume grain would be out of the question. You are already feeding a high fat feed with three sources of fat, adding another source won't do you any good. With your limitations you set and the little information there is really only about 3 things you could do (or a combination of). 1. Feed Better Hay (if your hay is weak and you can find a better source) 2. Feed more hay (again if you are not feeding free choice already) 3. Feed more of the fat source you are already feeding I would look at your situation in that order. Without being able to add alfalfa or beet pulp, there isn't much else to explore, except perhaps a digestive aid. Most of the time the best solution to more weight is a combination of better hay and more of it, in my opinion. A horse on free choice baled hay will eat about 3% of their body weight. Few people limit feed near that much and often times look for other concentrate options when just more hay might be their best bet. Not saying this is you, because I would have no idea.
PSSM?
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| I like Nutrena Empower |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Give me a call at 530-934-9300 and I would be happy to help you get more out of the diet. At 3 pounds of RG I don't think you will see an advantage in feeding more of that. If you are looking to add condition, we need either more or better roughage, or better use of the hay you are now feeding. I would be happy to discuss all this with you. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | She is on pasture, though the pasture is not very good right now due to drought, so gets feed basically free choice hay. This is the mare with Kidney stones hence the reason I have to be careful of the feed choices we make...No Alfalfa, no beet pulp, ect. Her and my other mare will use grass hay to stand and pee in hence the reason we ended up going to a grain hay a few years back after her diagnosis. Sorry I didn't mention that to begin with, I was fairly certain everyone kind of knew our situation as I had been kind of "blogging" if you will on our Kidney Journey post on here :-)
Edited by run n rate 2015-09-29 1:15 PM
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 Veteran
Posts: 173
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow | Nutrena Empower Boost works great and works fast. Does not make them hot but it does make them fat. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | Is Nutrena made in a Inophrone (sp) free mill? |
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Common Sense and then some
Location: So. California | Cool Calories (2 scoops - work up to it though) and add in Natural Vitamin E, picks them right up. |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | I like flax..... |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Since you are feeding 3 different fats I am going to suggest FORCO worked amazing on all of my 5 without adding extra feed. I give it a  up. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Do they want you to have an inverse Ca to Ph ratio? I bet your grain hay is really poor. Most of it is. Beardless wheat is the best, but I've seen it great and seen it bad. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Also do you have a hay ring? |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | Okay, misspoke, she is getting 3 cups which is 1 lb of Renew Gold, not 3lbs of it, I'm an idiot. We are feeding a beardless wheat/oat hay combo, we've fed this for the last 2.5 years. Going to up the amount again since I'm riding more and the pasture is weak right now. She gets 1lb of RG with the Timothy Grass Pellets, 2 ounces of ACV, 2 ounces of Forco, and her Kidney Herb once a day. What is a hay ring? I have been feeding my gelding who gets basically the same feed, smaller amount of RG and his herb is a Pituatary herb, who is larger in a slow feed hay net because he inhales his hay and it has taken care of the absurd hay belly he was sporting. With CC I lay her hay out in several spots as she likes to move around while "grazing" if you sill rather than stand at a spot to eat...except for her grain. I'm also looking into Cur-ost to see how that will work for her. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | And as for Ca-Ph ratio, we dont' want a large amount of calcium but more importantly we want it a balanced ratio. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | I have had some really interesting results using a "Porta grazer" slow feeder. I know that these seem very expensive, but the way that they work is actually pretty unique. Extending the feeding time, and bite size with one of these has really cut down waste and extended feeding time. In addition, any dirt and dust in the hay falls to the bottom and can be disposed of every few days. I was really not too sure about these to begin with, but like the concept and build quality more every day. I do not make or sell these, and this is not an ad for this product. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | Yes winwillows, I couldn't afford one but that is the main reason I went to the slow feeder net for my gelding. Would it be useful in this situation also?
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | run n rate - 2015-09-30 1:33 PM
Yes winwillows, I couldn't afford one but that is the main reason I went to the slow feeder net for my gelding. Would it be useful in this situation also?
I think your diet looks pretty good depending on your overall hay quality. Slowing consumption of the roughage down does several positive things. With better "sized" bites, the horse will both eat slower and chew more. That in turn will allow your horse to break up the grass hay that you are feeding more completely. Since most grass hays have a faster transit time through the hind gut, having them more broken up exposes more material for digestion in the short time that the hay is there. This in turn can allow the horse to capture more calories from its roughage while it has the chance. These are calories that were in there but ended up on the ground behind the horse because they were just not in the horse long enough for the amount of surface area that they presented for digestion. In other words, you get more without feeding more. Be sure that the teeth are up to date, and you should be getting plenty out of the diet you are feeding. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | I am getting two slow feeder nets for the mares now and see how that works, may have to save my pennies and dimes to purchase the PortaGrazer eventually at least for CC. I truly appreciate your insight on this. Looking at the fact that I am only feeding her the 1lb of RG can I safely increase it ? She is 15.1 hands, weighs 1090 last time at UC Davis on the check up in June. I am riding her @5x a week.
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | run n rate - 2015-09-30 5:16 PM
I am getting two slow feeder nets for the mares now and see how that works, may have to save my pennies and dimes to purchase the PortaGrazer eventually at least for CC. I truly appreciate your insight on this. Looking at the fact that I am only feeding her the 1lb of RG can I safely increase it ? She is 15.1 hands, weighs 1090 last time at UC Davis on the check up in June. I am riding her @5x a week.
Yes, you can add 1/2 pound per day if you are using her that much. Feel free to call if you need any other changes with her diet. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | Thank you so much, and I will give you a call if the extra RG and the hay net don't seem to do the trick. I'll give her a week or so to see if she picks up the weight I'd like to see on her. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 878
Location: "...way down south in the Everglades..." | run n rate - 2015-09-29 7:01 PM Is Nutrena made in a Inophrone (sp) free mill?
I think at least some of their mills are but I never really figured that one out. They may just be ionophore "safe" at best. I feed two of my horses Nutrena's ProForce Fuel...it's high in fat and has no beet pulp, I do really like it. They also have a SafeChoice Special Care you may want to look at. I feed SafeChoice maint. to one of them and it's a decent feed. I also feed Seminole for my yearling...I though about trying their Ultra Bloom rice bran supplement. Seminole is ionophore safe for sure. |
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Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | Thank you Buckeye! |
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high fat feed suggestions