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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
 
| I have an old semi retired super easy keeper... I have cut his grain down to just 1lb a day, he gets plenty of grass hay and turnout daily. He's so overweight right now! I'm not feeding the recommended amount of the grain to ensure he's getting all his nutrition needs met. I'm thinking about buying him something different that can be fed in small amounts but has the nutrition he needs. Right now I'm feeding blue bonnet nature's blend performance which is 10% fat and 12% protein. Any suggestions? |
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 Straight Shooter
Posts: 5725
  
Location: SW North Dakota | Where are you located? If you can get Woody's products, try Cool Fuel. With just 2 pounds per day, you can meet all of their RDAs for vitamins & minerals and it's super high quality. It comes in 1/8" pellets for bucket feeding or 7/8" cake-sized pieces for "range" feeding. I have 14 head out on 1000 acres and use the big pellets. I just drive along and make 17 or 18 piles and they can get it all picked up out of the snow. They look like a million bucks! |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| ND3canAddict - 2016-12-08 8:53 AM
Where are you located? If you can get Woody's products, try Cool Fuel. With just 2 pounds per day, you can meet all of their RDAs for vitamins & minerals and it's super high quality. It comes in 1/8" pellets for bucket feeding or 7/8" cake-sized pieces for "range" feeding.  I have 14 head out on 1000 acres and use the big pellets. I just drive along and make 17 or 18 piles and they can get it all picked up out of the snow.  They look like a million bucks!Â
I don't have access to woodys here or tribute. I have purina, nutrena, blue bonnet and a few others. I do have access to renew gold too. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Blue Bonnet is the best out there, why are you wanting to change things up? If your horse is doing well just cut back on his hay since hes getting pasture daily..  |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | My horse has done very well on a ration balancer. Im using Enrich Plus by Purina for the winter since he such an easy keeper. Seems to be working well! |
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 I Want a "MAN"
Posts: 3610
Location: MD | I give my almost 21 yr old grass hay 2x a day and 1 lb of standlee alfalfa pellets twice a day. She has a run in stall she comes and goes as she pleases. She looks great. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | want2chase3 - 2016-12-08 8:48 AM
I have an old semi retired super easy keeper... I have cut his grain down to just 1lb a day, he gets plenty of grass hay and turnout daily. He's so overweight right now! I'm not feeding the recommended amount of the grain to ensure he's getting all his nutrition needs met. I'm thinking about buying him something different that can be fed in small amounts but has the nutrition he needs. Right now I'm feeding blue bonnet nature's blend performance which is 10% fat and 12% protein. Any suggestions?
I imagine all his nutrition needs are being met. I do not feel all horses "need" grain or concentrate to meet nutrition needs. I know the feed companies have done a darn good job in convincing the horse industry that all horses need grain. It is simply not true.
Give him hay and a good mineral block and he will be well taken care of, if he can sustain good healthy weight on that. Still he needs good quality hay. In "every" horses ration, hay is the best and most economical source of nutrition, assuming quality pasture is not provided. "Good" improved pasture is unequalled in nutrition, therefore really good hay is second.
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Tdove - 2016-12-08 10:57 AM
want2chase3 - 2016-12-08 8:48 AM
I have an old semi retired super easy keeper... I have cut his grain down to just 1lb a day, he gets plenty of grass hay and turnout daily. He's so overweight right now! I'm not feeding the recommended amount of the grain to ensure he's getting all his nutrition needs met. I'm thinking about buying him something different that can be fed in small amounts but has the nutrition he needs. Right now I'm feeding blue bonnet nature's blend performance which is 10% fat and 12% protein. Any suggestions?
I imagine all his nutrition needs are being met. I do not feel all horses "need" grain or concentrate to meet nutrition needs. I know the feed companies have done a darn good job in convincing the horse industry that all horses need grain. It is simply not true.
Give him hay and a good mineral block and he will be well taken care of, if he can sustain good healthy weight on that. Still he needs good quality hay. In "every" horses ration, hay is the best and most economical source of nutrition, assuming quality pasture is not provided. "Good" improved pasture is unequalled in nutrition, therefore really good hay is second.
You're right, he especially probably doesn't "need" grain at this point in his life.. he's chunky and looks to be in good health. Our pasture isn't good right now so we put out pretty decent roundbales and when they get stalled at night they get a few flakes of good hay to keep them happy. I have redmond salt mineral blocks in their stalls as well.. he never touches his though. He's just gotten so use to having grain for breakfast lol! |
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Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Tdove - 2016-12-08 11:28 AM
In that case, I wouldn't think you really need to do anything different for him. Although, I think you would be better off going to a lower fat feed, the one you are feeding at 1lb/day , keeps him happy to get a treat and doesn't significantly increase his total calories much. Perhaps just 1 lb of oats instead or even a pound of alfalfa cubes or pellets, if he would still consider that a grain treat. It sounds like he is well taken care of.
Mine on just hay get a salt block and purina 12:12 mineral block. It seems to work really well. A little bit of oats or alfalfa cubes is an excellent way to mix in any supplements one may need and to bring them up, out of the pasture. (My mares think Omnis cubes are sweet feed. If they see you, they are coming in, usually as fast as their pregnant selves can get there.)
Yes, I'm wanting to get him off that "performance " feed, he doesn't need it and I'm all about saving some pennies. Perhaps some cubes would be better, keep him busy longer, he eats up that 1lb in a few minutes then goes and makes ugly faces at his neighbor in the next stall lol. Looking at this horse now and how chunky he is doesn't bother me much, since we basically rescued him a few years ago.. he was skin and bones tied to a tree in someone's front yard. He was so poor I wasn't sure he'd even survive the trailer ride home, I fed him back to health we were so embarrassed of his condition we kept a blanket on him so no one could see how thin and gross he was! He turned out to be a great little horse, my daughter won her first barrel race on him too. He's now just enjoying his life and keeping the other horses company lol! |
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