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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 912
 
Location: Alabama | What do you feed and why? What feed or supplements have you tried and liked or disliked over the years? Do you shoe or not shoe? How offen? Stalled or pastured? How do you condition? What rx's do you use and why? What's your secret to success? Everyone has one and not everyone will agree on one thing or another but I would like to know what everyone does or doesn't do. Share, share, share! :)  | |
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| Renew Gold! - with alfalfa and coastal 2x a day - the less grain the more forage the better in my opinion. That's how they were designed! They also get Tight Joints Plus supplement, I haven't needed any injections since then. I don't think extra supplementation is necessary - they should be getting what they need from hay/grain/grass. I have come to like a more natural diet, seen better effects then when I did feed supplements (for muscle growth, overall health, and calming supplements - none of them worked at all)
I used to feed Omolene 200 - hated it. Ultium was too expensive. Strategy was ok, but my gelding needed a little more pep in his step. Love Nutrena Hi-fat for the more "hot" horses. I've tried more feeds than i can count and none of them have "wowed" me like Renew Gold has.
I shoe when needed. I have a mare born with a club foot who needs shoeing for that, plus super thin soles, so she gets shoes all the way around. I have a gelding that is an absolute baby when it comes to walking on concrete/rocks etc. He gets shoes on the front feet also because he needs that support. The broodmare who has perfect little feet goes barefoot but when I ran her she was in shoes.
I let mine roam the pasture. I personally feel like im locking the horses up in a jail cell when they get stalled at home. I know they like to be out roaming better. During the hot summers they stay inside for the heat of the day with fans on them.
My conditioning depends on the horse, and my time, etc. I trade off between 3 different "things" each time i ride - barrel work, trails, and just plain exercising. The seasoned ones will maybe see a pattern 1 time a week if they were being a turd at the previous show or just need a little tune up. Most of the time its lots of long trotting and loping in the pasture. Nice warm up and cool down. They also get breezed once every 1-2 weeks. I like to mix it up. The mare that's currently being seasoned sees the pattern maybe 2 times a week, depending on what she needs. She does more of the exercising/pattern work more than she would be on a trail.
They all get hydrotherapy after every ride and depending on the intensity of the ride, a massage+liniment afterwards. Sometimes if im feeling nice I will stretch them out and stuff. Lol. If its 1-2 days before a big/important barrel race they will get poultice. Standing wraps when stalled overnight and in the trailer for a few hours.
I don't have anything fancy like BOT or PHT, i have never really believed in them. I have been able to use a PHT blanket a few times in the past and never really saw a difference. Thinking about bringing myself to get some BOT products for pre-race/ride use.
Yes they're spoiled rotten (:
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
 
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | It seems one thing or another has gotten in the way of any possible success (horses injured, having kids, moving)
But here is what we do that works for us.
Horses are usually in pasture 24/7. If not, they have full feed grass hay and if in the corral the barrel horses used to get Total Equine which I loved, but very expensive and hard to get so I am switching to Safechoice Perform. I really like it on my weanlings/coming yearlings. They have 12:12 Purina mineral and salt blocks. My show horse gets Ultium. I REALLY love it but it is $26-$28 a bag. I give anything that is in the corral T.H.E Muscle Mass for a daily supplement and they all get their own blends (ulcer, joints, hair & coat, focus etc).
Horses in pasture get oats when we go out to visit them. That and honking the horn makes them come up to us so we can check them over and "farmer" them to the corral when it is too cold to gather them horseback or with the 4wheeler.
They all have free choice mineral and salt.
Only 1 horse we have needs front shoes due to sorefooted otherwise. Sometimes I put rims on my barrel horses. Never had a lameness injury from these simple shoes and never really had one slip.
Pasture horses are dewormed twice a yr, corral ones about every 3-4 months if needed. I don't like to over do it.
I give 5 way, west nile and rabies to anything I am hauling, stallions and insured horses (as it is required). We don't vaccinate mares. They aren't ever exposed to outside horses that are not vaccinated or those of ours that aren't. I think it is easy to over vaccinate and we have never lost a foal because of not vaccinating.
I condition by just getting on a cow trail and seeing where it goes. I can go several miles before getting to a fence and the wind up and down hills so it is really good for them. Plus we have a lot of cactus so getting off the trail can make them zig zag like crazy. We do a lot of ranch work with ours so the arena stuff is like a day off to them. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1028
| I feed everything on my place Safechoice Perform and a probiotic once a day. They have a protein lick tub and loose minerals and are turned out 24/7. Their hay comes from my neighbors down the road and is a nice prairie grass/bermuda mix that they've done very well on.
I only have front shoes on my open horse, and that is because his angles were off and his sole depth was cruddy. He gets reset about every 7 weeks. They are aluminum wedge rocker shoes. Everything else is barefoot and happy.
I haven't tried too many supplements, really because I don't feel like I need them. I think my horses are getting just about everything they need from my feed and hay and look great. I do have a PHT blanket, soft rides, and some BOT quick wraps. Those are only used if we are hauling quite a ways.
As far as conditioning, I try to stay out of the arena as much as I can. Like a previous poster said, I just get on a cow path and long trot. Up and down hills, around bushes, across creeks, you name it. On days that I'm running short on time due to work, I will condition in the arena but unless they are a colt that needs tuning, they won't see barrels at home. When I'm in the arena, I'll lope reining patterns, trot over poles, work on whatever that individual horse needs help with. I haven't had "bigtime" success, but I've consistently had sound, healthy, happy horses that love doing their job and to me, that spells success 
Edited by bowersk 2014-04-04 8:12 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 490
| Mine get safechoice, alfalfa pellets and beet pulp. The barrel horses get Fasttrack and the problem gelding gets U-guard too. They also get fresh alfalfa in the evenings. All are turned out with freechoice jiggs hay 24/7. The 5 eat a round bale every 7-10 days.
I use a chiropractor/massage therapist when needed. All get their teeth done once a year. Farrier comes every 6 weeks and I deworm every 2 months rotating each time.
After a run I cool the horse out, give them a liniment bath then its back to the trailer. I throw on the magnet blankets and hock boots. I ice tight and liniment their legs and pack their feet with Magic Cushion. | |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Renew Gold. The main reason I started is because my horse does not need starch. He is like an ADHD kid....too much energy, not enough focus. More often than not, I'd just skip graining him. But he loves his grain so I give him this. I started all the horses on it and they are really blooming. Especially an outside horse we ended up buying....he's really put on weight.
We've mostly used COB at our place. We've tried Race Ready, Ultium, Equine Senior, Strategy....but always have come back to COB. But now they are on Renew Gold and we'll be sticking with it. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 912
Location: Alabama | Thanks for the replies so far! This is good reading! I see there is a trend of safechoice perform. | |
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | What do you feed and why? grass/alfalfa hay or Alfalfa cubes....why because its what we have access too.
What feed or supplements have you tried and liked or disliked over the years? I only feed herbs & probiotics with small amount of grain, also mineral blocks. I dont play too much in supplements for everything, we have great quality hay/cubes and mineral block which work great
Do you shoe or not shoe? How offen? shoes on horses being used steady....6-8 week cycles
Stalled or pastured? This winter we stalled for periods (only at night) besides that horses have full turn out pasture 24/7 all year round
How do you condition? each horse has a schedule for being rode/conditioned...I rotate between days of flat/barrel work, trail riding & pony with quad for exercise (long trotting & some loping)
What rx's do you use and why? what is rx?
What's your secret to success? Believe in yourself (and your horse), keep moving towards your goals not matter how tough things get. Always be willing to learn and observe what those who have success are doing....always stay positive and keep negative people out of your life. Those who support you no matter what are the people worth having around. Take care of your horses, every aspect, dont short cut and keep them prepared mentally and physically! Got with your GUT !
Edited by dream_chaser 2014-04-04 1:51 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1094
Location: Florida | I feed everyone manna pro safe performance (3, 15 & 20 years old) I like higher fat without the corn and sugar.
Everyone is fat, slick, covered in daplples and feel good. Orchard, Alfalfa and Jiggs hay 2x a day.
I feed my nervous mare formula 707 calming essentials, my 20 year old gets pro biotics & bee pollen or echinacea (I rotate month to month, both have 50+ amino acids and help boot the immune system) he is a bleeder with IAD and bad allergies. Before this he lived on Dex 9 months a year here in FL.
Everyone is barefoot, not against shoes just dont have horse that requires them right now, trimmed every 5 weeks.
Exercise, 2 days a week round pen work. Working on respect, roll backs in to the fence, let them run and have fun. 2 days a week, ride out in the pasture, riding threw the tree's, bending, flexing, long trot, lope around in and out of trees.
When its warm I cold horse after a work out.
atleast once a week they wear their magnets while in their stalls.
I only stall durring the hotter part of the day and turn out the rest of the time.
As far as Rx Glucosamine IM once a month on the 15, 20 year olds. My bleeder runs on lasix and ventipulum. My nervous horse runs on B1 & valerian.
Bodywork, Chiropractic, Acupuncture as needed.
Edited by bigbob 2014-04-04 1:58 PM
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I feed about 1 1/2 cup soaked molasses free beet bulp with 2 cups renew gold and vitamin/mineral supplement. They get alfalfa if stalled because of weather otherwise they are out on 80 acres of good pasture. At night they are out on 10 acres close to the house. I rotate giving them Pentosan gold and polyglycan - usually every other week depending how often we are going. My horses are finished so they never see a barrel except at a race. I long trot my 80 acres for 20 minutes walk a while and repeat, twice a week, ride one pony the other two. Once a week I also ride each one and lope some small circles to work the muscles they use turning barrels.
Edited by rodeomom3 2014-04-04 3:19 PM
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 Texas Taco
Posts: 7499
Location: Bandera, TX | I feed Bluebonnet Omega Force to one horse, a cheap 12% locally milled pellet to a couple of others, and Triple Crown Senior to another one. The working horses are on Total Health Enhance Muscle Mass with joint and ulcer add-on. Coastal hay for everyone.
No pasture, due to drought and living on rocks. They are turned out during the day and in at night. Like someone else mentioned, I like to keep an eye on them too.
I try and ride 5 times per week. Lots of long trotting. I would like to trail ride more than I do.
My mare gets to see a chiro every few months, shoer every 6 weeks for everyone. Injections as needed, usually once per year on the working horses. I have a BOT and PHT blanket.
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 Arriving at the last minute!
Posts: 5148
Location: Kansas | I feed all natural grain its a cob mix mainly whole oats, barley, black oil sunflower seeds, and a tiny bit of cracked corn for Vitamin A. Oats and barley have lots of the B vitamins. BOSS is a source of fiber too and great for hair coat and omegas. I grind flax seed daily, add rice bran, lysine, Redmonds sea salt, and FORCO. For joints I like straight MSM and some Apple Cider Vinegar and the flax seed is great for joints. I also do aloe vera if needed or herbs of some sort for specific issues. I give a little alfalfa not much all the grass hay they can eat. Love them turned out as much as possilble. I have fed this way for 40 years not many issues with anything and I feel my horses joints are good without injecting. I do like to supplement Magnesium also to me they are deficient and it helps with muscle soreness and keeps them on an even keel. | |
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Regular
Posts: 60
| I feed Pennfield Fibregized (which I'm not even sure if you can get it anywhere but the northeast) but it is seriously an awesome feed. It's beat pulp based so it's easily digested and high calorie, high fat, high fiber but very low starch. I feed 2lb. morning and night. I feed along with that a cup of vitamin mineral balancer and a cup of rice bran. When they are working really hard I usually put them on some kind of all purpose supplement (I'm planning on using Exceed 6-Way this year). Anything that is a powder or liquid is pretty much out for me. I've found that at least half of what I put in ends up stuck to the side of the bucket.
I use Pentosan for joints. I've seen fantastic results with an old mare I had. On a younger horse I do the initial dosage and another dose every month. Older horses get the loading dose and every 3 weeks or so. It really does make a huge improvement for months even with just the loading dose but if they are working hard I like to make sure they are comfortable and the less I have to have a vet go directly into the joint the better.
Mine are out just about all the time unless the weather is awful. They are way happier being out and I think it's much better for them.
We shoe our horses. (Most get them pulled in the winter but I have one who can't go without fronts no matter what.) I've seen barrel horses go barefoot and have fantastic feet but mine just don't seem to be able to do it. My gelding and my mare both had to have pads on the front.
To condition, I usually start in the spring just trail riding for a couple weeks and then move into long trotting workouts and hills and loping. I try to start out walking for a mile, long trotting for .5 mile and loping for .5 mile. Once everything thaws I like to vary where I do their workouts. Some days we'll work in the arena other in a field, some we'll just trail ride, sometimes I'll work with cavalettis and cones or small jumps just to mix it up. I try to make sure I let them breeze out and do kind of "sprints" in the arena (not on the same day) at least once a week to build up their lungs and fast twitch muscle fibers. I think a lot of people focus more on stamina muscles than anything else. I try to remember that when I did track, sprinters have to actually do fast sprinting workouts during practice to build up their fast twitch muscles. You can't do miles of long trotting and expect your horse will be as fast as he could be if you were working during the week the right muscle fibers he needs for short bursts of speed.
And I always use my good pad and saddle at home!! I've never understood why people buy a $300 orthopedic pad $3000 saddle and then only use it on the weekends while using some crap tack at home. The number of times you ride at home compared to the number of rides you make at a show is like 10 to 1. If your horse's back is going to sore up it's going to be because of what you ride in all the time. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 912
Location: Alabama | Dream chaser, rx means prescription medication. Like adequan, legend, pentosan,banamine, dex, bute, etc. bumping for more info and replies. :) come on y'all share the knowledge! | |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Sockittoemred - 2014-04-03 7:03 PM
What do you feed and why? Currently my two mares (13 yo and 3 yo) are on free choice high quality brome - It is cheap for the quality and protein, easy to find in my area, and they eat it really really well. Once a day they each get 1.5 lbs soaked alfalfa pellets with 2 cups (measuring cups) calf manna and Platinum Performance supplement. I love the bloom, great skin/body hair, and overall energy that these horses are showing me. The older mare can be a hard keeper - by adding Platinum last fall while she was on soaked alfalfa with beet pulp ( no molasses added) she filled in nicely and does not require the beet pulp anymore. I cannot say enough positive things about Platinum and the change I have seen in both of my horses.
What feed or supplements have you tried and liked or disliked over the years?
I've fed:
Strategy - meh, it was ok but didn't do anything amazing.
Safe choice- it was ok, but again, just a meh response from my horses.
12% producers pride sweet feed - meh, didn't do anything good or bad.
Do you shoe or not shoe? How offen?
Finished mare has shoes all the way around - aluminum. Usually she's on an 8 -10 week rotation depending on how much we ride and how long her back toes get ... I like the shoes, she moves nicely and I work with one heck of an awesome farrier who routinely does corrective shoeing and farrier work for the vet/research university in town. He has kept her sound, no problems and kept her feet correct. Her stride is even and reaching. I trust his 40+ years of work and research - and it shows.
The 3 yo is bare foot. She doesn't need the shoes, she's not being hauled massively and doesn't need the support. She is trimmed on the same shoeing schedule as my older mare above - 8 to 10 weeks. She may get a set of shoes when she starts being rode daily this summer - we're gonna watch the wear on her feet and keep on top of her situation.
Stalled or pastured?
Both - They stay in a lean-to barn with 30x50 foot runs off the barn. These runs open up to a 10 acre pasture that when the grass is full - they are able to come in and go out as they desire. We can pull them up and in if the pasture is super wet - it works really well.
How do you condition?
Lots of saddle time. I try to vary things for my mare as she'll easily get bored. So one day we'll long trot/ lope the section dirt road. The next day, its refinement in the arena - she has a tendency to push through the bit when she thinks she knows what is going on :) The next, we'll go check fences and cattle for a friend. The next maybe long trot the section again. The next, breakaway rope (seriously mean stop on the older mare!) or team pen/ sort. I vary it but consistently get on my horse and work her into a good sweat 5 or more days a week.
What rx's do you use and why? Thankfully don't need any now but have needed Dex in past for a horse with allergies.
What's your secret to success? Everyone has one and not everyone will agree on one thing or another but I would like to know what everyone does or doesn't do. Share, share, share! : )
The work you put in at home shows when you hit the competition pen. The more you practice with intention the better prepared you'll be. After numerous years of competitve sports and showing livestock in every one of the lower 48 states - I have followed my dad's advice - feed well, prepare well, and you'll succeed!
Hope this helps someone :) It's just my little bit of what I do ... | |
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 Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | FEED:
ADM SeniorGlo
Aloe Vera Juice
Electrolytes
MSM
Alfalfa Pellets for my old mare
HAY:
Good quality round bales in fall and winter
-Free choice while outside
Good quality square bales morning and night in stalls
-1 to 2 flakes in spring and summer depending on weight
-3 to 4 flakes in fall and winter depending on weight
STALLS/PASTURE:
Mine go out in the AM when the sun comes up and come in when the sun goes down. They stay out later in the warm summer months and stay in more during the cold months.
HOOVE CARE:
Trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks. My old mare has front shoes and wedge pads. She's navicular.
RX:
My gelding is on an allergy medication in spring and summer. | |
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Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | Sockittoemred - 2014-04-06 12:55 PM Dream chaser, rx means prescription medication. Like adequan, legend, pentosan,banamine, dex, bute, etc. bumping for more info and replies. :) come on y'all share the knowledge!
I see that now thanks  ........my answer is no drugs here! | |
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 Can You Hear Me Now?
Location: When you hit the middle of nowhere .. Keep driving | My horses are horses... Grass and free choice Hoffman loose minerals in the summer. Free choice timothy/grass hay and the loose minerals in the winter. They are outdoors 24/7 with shelter.
They only get grain when one is having trouble keeping weight on and I feed purina senior.
All of them are currently barefoot, most stay that way unless I'm riding on the road a lot. Regular trims.
When I condition I don't like to ride in an arena. I'm fortunate to have a lot of fields/trails and just ride and let them enjoy themselves. | |
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 Peecans
| Feed - free choice grass with a little bit of alfalfa hay. Why? Home grown and I knkw its put up dry well and stored properly. We also test all our feed so know exactly what's in it.
Supplements - I have used with great success alpha omega and am very happy with all the products ive used.
Grain - nobody's on anything right now, in he past nutruna safechoice or master feeds podium or our home grown oats or barley have been my go to but our cattle mineral / sumplemt / feed companey we use and are delighted with has been bought by another company that has horse products and im thinking of trying what they offer.
Shoes - usualy steel round rim with side clips but what ever my farrier thinks is best I usualy go with. Reset when ever they need it usualy right around 6 weeks. If ive got a big weekend though on the end of a shoe cycle ill get it done early.
I dont stall much, just on really cool days and they are wet and its night.
Conditioning - as much as possible, I like to ride nearly every day, in he hills lots of long trotting, circle the cattle just get out and streached out. I love to ride them in snow or knee to chest deep water as well. Works them in a different way I think.
RX the 33 year old retired horse gets legand that's it.
Secret to success - I would not say im "successful" but I believe my horses are as good as they are because of my farm. They all have to take thier turn calvin cows, processing cattle, roping yearling and the branding pen. They know good honest work and it keeps thier minds so fresh and willing. I am truly blessed to live where I do.
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