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Posts: 65
| I'm sure this was touched on in the recent feeding programs thread but I have kind of a specific angle so- My horse has been off for a couple of years while I had and [have attempted to] raise a toddler & get through a divorce! My amazing dad has kept her at his barn with the cow horses and she's just gotten a 10% sweet feed every now and then and constant free choice quality grass. Right now we're in a bad drought so I'm giving her Timothy/alfalfa plus allowing her to graze all night on whatever grass we do still have & she gets 1/2 scoop of Purina Impact morning and night for her supplements. Fairly light workload throughout the week, right now maybe a TOUCH heavier because we're tuning her back up but still just long trotting, circles, a little slow work on the barrels, etc. I put her onto Impact 10% sweet because I figured it would be an easy transition but I was wondering if I should move her to a 12%. I was considering buying a bag each of 10% sweet and 12% pelleted and mixing them to transitionn her. Not sure how she'll feel about not having her sweet treat morning and night if we switch solely to pellets... she's also gotten a bit hot on Strategy 12% so I'm a bit hesitant to switch to a full on 12% but see no reason I couldn't just continue to mix the two! I'm only feeding the one horse so it's not a huge problem.
I'm just now really educating myself on feeding and what's needed/preferred so any advice/thoughts are appreciated! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 516
| I'd be looking into the NSC content of all of those feeds, I'd be willing to bet they're pretty high which is probably the reason she's getting hot. I don't see any need for a sweet feed. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You never really said, just that she's at a good weight already.
Free choice, quality grass hay and a couple flakes of alfalfa should maintain her just fine when you're riding her. If you need grain to give her supplements, my horse has always done well on Purina Enrich which is a ration balancer and pretty high in protein, and then a half scoop of oats morning and night. |
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Posts: 2258
 
| My dad grabbed a bag of impact the other day and was reading the label it has about 60 percent fiber that is not digestible or has limited digestibility. So just something to consider his mares refused to even eat it. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Bump |
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Regular
Posts: 65
| cutnrunqhmt - 2017-04-28 10:59 PM
My dad grabbed a bag of impact the other day and was reading the label it has about 60 percent fiber that is not digestible or has limited digestibility. So just something to consider his mares refused to even eat it.
She's not hot on the Impact, just on Strategy. I will check the ingredients. She loves her Impact & we've never had an issue, I just give a small amount for supplements. I haven't tried oats but the first suggestion with oats is worth looking into. Hadn't heard this about the fiber! Thank you all for the info. |
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Expert
Posts: 2258
| rae2 - 2017-04-30 4:35 PM
cutnrunqhmt - 2017-04-28 10:59 PM
My dad grabbed a bag of impact the other day and was reading the label it has about 60 percent fiber that is not digestible or has limited digestibility. So just something to consider his mares refused to even eat it.
She's not hot on the Impact, just on Strategy. I will check the ingredients. She loves her Impact & we've never had an issue, I just give a small amount for supplements. I haven't tried oats but the first suggestion with oats is worth looking into. Hadn't heard this about the fiber! Thank you all for the info.
I had never looked at it my dad saw something on the label and had me look it up. It just means they are using poor quality fiber in their feed and if your horse can't digest it might as well not pay for it. I use oats and alfalfa pellets myself. I just thought it was interesting because I had never thought to check. I thought you said she was on impact so I mentioned it.
Edited by cutnrunqhmt 2017-04-30 5:53 PM
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Regular
Posts: 65
| cutnrunqhmt - 2017-04-30 6:52 PM
rae2 - 2017-04-30 4:35 PM
cutnrunqhmt - 2017-04-28 10:59 PM
My dad grabbed a bag of impact the other day and was reading the label it has about 60 percent fiber that is not digestible or has limited digestibility. So just something to consider his mares refused to even eat it.
She's not hot on the Impact, just on Strategy. I will check the ingredients. She loves her Impact & we've never had an issue, I just give a small amount for supplements. I haven't tried oats but the first suggestion with oats is worth looking into. Hadn't heard this about the fiber! Thank you all for the info.
I had never looked at it my dad saw something on the label and had me look it up. It just means they are using poor quality fiber in their feed and if your horse can't digest it might as well not pay for it. I use oats and alfalfa pellets myself. I just thought it was interesting because I had never thought to check. I thought you said she was on impact so I mentioned it.
Yes she is on Impact! Great to know, that explains the low cost! I'll look into switching to alfalfa cubes and oats. That would be totally new to us, what should I look for? |
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Expert
Posts: 2258
| rae2 - 2017-04-30 6:22 PM
cutnrunqhmt - 2017-04-30 6:52 PM
rae2 - 2017-04-30 4:35 PM
cutnrunqhmt - 2017-04-28 10:59 PM
My dad grabbed a bag of impact the other day and was reading the label it has about 60 percent fiber that is not digestible or has limited digestibility. So just something to consider his mares refused to even eat it.
She's not hot on the Impact, just on Strategy. I will check the ingredients. She loves her Impact & we've never had an issue, I just give a small amount for supplements. I haven't tried oats but the first suggestion with oats is worth looking into. Hadn't heard this about the fiber! Thank you all for the info.
I had never looked at it my dad saw something on the label and had me look it up. It just means they are using poor quality fiber in their feed and if your horse can't digest it might as well not pay for it. I use oats and alfalfa pellets myself. I just thought it was interesting because I had never thought to check. I thought you said she was on impact so I mentioned it.
Yes she is on Impact! Great to know, that explains the low cost! I'll look into switching to alfalfa cubes and oats. That would be totally new to us, what should I look for?
Any good quality pellet or cube should be fine and what ever oats you find. My oats are straight from the field so they are not as clean as from the feed store but they work just fine. |
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Regular
Posts: 65
| Ok. And soak or break up the cubes; I've never even looked for oats in my feed store, are they generally about the same nutritionally or do they vary like feeds as far as protein, fiber, etc. anything I need to look for? And about how much do you feed? Sorry I have a million questions, like I said, I've always done feed so oats and cubes are new to me! |
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