6 word horror story: DIY equine nutrition on a budget. Looking for advice!

[NoPapers]

Alright, so here’s my Great American Novel. This is something that could be fun chiming in on if you’re interested/bored/in quarantine/avoiding the turmoil of the outside world. Looking to feed my horse some supplements and concoct a feed plan therein.

Preface points:

1. I am a retail worker and college student with a horse. Without letting tears spring to your eyes, please envision my bank account. RIP. As such, please understand that I must carefully budget and allocate funds to certain pursuits (predominantly: Horse).

2. Not among those certain pursuits is paying an equine nutritionist. I’m not interested. I’m not that deep into this. I think I can equip myself enough to figure most of it out through guile and gumption.

3. Fueling my guile and gumption is I am employed at a farm and ranch store, so I get a yummy discount (used for: Horse). Thus, I am not wasting as much peanuts on Horse as I could be if I worked a job where I was paid, say, a living wage. I try my dangdest to integrate trusted anecdotes with empirically sound evidence. I know the scientific method. I understand how clinical trials work. I know the manipulative powers of marketing.

• Please feel free to supply relevant information, I look forward to hearing that, even if it’s disappointing. All I ask is that nobody writes sixteen paragraphs about how if Thing X hasn’t had 300 studies with 500 horses per sample within the past 365 days then it’s a scam, and any improvement seen in an animal by owner is because the owner is a dumb-dumb. I’m not saying this in a “hear no evil” kind of way. I’m saying this because I came across a forum discussing HA that turned into a brawl around the scientific method, and it was just no fun for nobody. Never cringed so much in my life.

4. Speaking of Sound: Horse. I’ve had Horse for about a month now. Horse has a weird hip problem. Hip seems to be out of alignment for the left hind; rural vet looked at it (cowboy pre-purchase exam) and went “huh. Still sound to ride. Don’t know what’s up.” As a layman, I can only describe it as if the sacral is tilted toward the left hind, possibly related to a… popped hip? Doesn’t sound right. Horse was bred and had a foal at a very young age (I believe at 2 or 3), perhaps causing issues, but who knows. Horse doesn’t show pain being palpitated nor has reaction to being saddled, mounted, maintains gaits, does what is asked, great work ethic, good energy.

• Horse is just… not right. Drags that left hind a tad, could be considered lame when moving to a well trained eye. Way too much muscle in the front end; hind end isn’t scrawny by ANY means, but obviously hyper-muscled in the front. Lifts hind feet well, including for farrier, but in one brief moment showed an uncharacteristically negative reaction once when RH was lifted for a trim. Ripped foot out of farrier’s hand and stepped backwards. He picked up her foot again and kept going. She was cool with it. No reactions after that, even when RH was put in the same position. Horse was not punished for the reaction; my previous horse had a skeleton from hell, a pelvis and spine completely tilted and twisted, so I am… kinda capable of spotting pain responses that mimic bad behavior. I’m definitely no expert.

5. A chiropractor for the previous owner did some sort of dark magic what-not after Horse showed pain with a farrier (circa a year ago); previous owner said it helped, but chiro said she needed to get Horse exercising with the intent of building the hind end. Didn’t happen. I am wary of equine chiropractors. I have witnessed them work, but I have also witnessed them be a waste of time and money, so I don’t want to cross that bridge unless a vet recs.

6. Speaking of, I’m hoping to scrape up cash for a second vet opinion very soon, but I want Horse on a protective feed program in advance, despite any diagnosis. I know how that sounds, I know, but I’ve had 4 disastrously unsound horses in a row before Horse, and my intent is to give Horse all the defenses I can muster to make up for past nutritional neglect. Horse is a damn good horse, all flaws considered, and the first rideable horse I’ve had in years. I want to go on long beautiful rides with this animal for as many years as possible.

So, specs on Horse:
Name: River
Age: …7?
Persuasion: Mare
Size: …15hh?
Breed: Grader’n crap. Lineage a mystery to all but River, the hillbilly who created her, and God Himself. I hypothesize a decent bit of Arab, but she’s built like a bay-and-white pinto’d brick house. I live in Montana, and this horse screams “Montana” – the true and raw philistine Montana, which is “mix two horses made of Lord-Knows-What with the singular intent of making something capable of carrying a 200-pound man up a 45-degree rocky incline for ten 8-hour days in a row”.
Purchase price: One dollar. Fit my budget.

Alright, enough backstory and context bombardment. Here’s the nitty gritty:

Hay

Yep. Grass/alfalfa mix. Lives in 3-4 acre pasture with quite a few other horses, so group feeding. Nothing fancy. Nothing weighed.

Diet Restrictions
None that I know of. I haven’t seen River get hot on anything, even when I was feeding her 5 lbs. of rich senior feed. However, after seeing my Thoroughbred cracked out on oats, I shy away from cereals. Post-Traumatic Thoroughbred Disorder. I’ll ask for input on this later on.

Prior feed plan:

2.5 lbs. of Purina Equine Senior Active 1x/day.

• Finishing my last bag – got two bags for free from work since oil soaked through the packaging. Wouldn’t have bought otherwise.
• I fed about 5 lbs. daily when I first got her. She was skinny, so the extra calories really helped. She gained, and fast. She’s now at healthy weight. After seeing how quick she packed on pounds, I don’t want her becoming a chubb-o.

12-15,000mg of crystal MSM ~3x/week (Select the Best brand).

• Apparently 12-15k isn’t necessary and they pee the excess out. Research has changed since I first started feeding it, where 20,000 was recommended per dated study on racehorses.
• I mostly used this after exercise to sooth any sore muscles, not for long-term joint maintenance. Racehorse study. The crystals taste like garbage, so I fed only when deemed necessary. Didn’t consider it useful for joint/skeletal. Now studies show MSM is relevant for joint/skeletal. To quote Oprah: what is the truth?

New feed plan goals:

• Quality over quantity; no “across-the-board all-in-one” junk. I want select few concentrated supplements with specific purpose at their necessary rate/volume. Many “one and done” miracle supplements resemble the shampoo-conditioner-bodywash-shavegel-toothpaste-combo-protein shake garbage you find in your boyfriend’s shower. Feed with intent.
• To provide an enriching daily meal that is not just a handful of pellets for the sake of supplement delivery. I’m not saying she needs a massive feast, but I want this feeding to be a relaxing 10-20 minute activity where she can quietly stand tied and eat. She enjoys and deserves the peace. I feel this is a luxury she was never provided. She enjoys textured feeds.
• Reasonable budget. I don’t wanna spare the peanuts to purchase a 40 pound bag of concentrate that requires 3-10 pounds to be fed a day. I’m also not gonna waste said peanuts by stretching that 40 pound bag by sprinkling 1 pound into the bucket come feeding time. Feed with intent. Concentrate doesn’t do jack if it’s not fed at the rate given, and that rate? Too many peanuts.
• Yummy. Food that is decently sweet and appeals to the pallet. Bland-o won’t cut it. I have to mask the MSM somehow.

So here’s what I got going on in concerns of what I’m planning on putting in this horse’s belly:

HylaLube HA || 2oz./daily for 2 weeks loading dose 1oz./daily maintenance

• Heard about HylaLube from a pal who worked at a high-scale cutting/reining operation. Said it did a lot of good for the horses, especially considering the body-destroying workload they were under. She said it couldn’t stop the horses from being ridden into the ground, but she saw it help 'em get and stay sound for as long as their bodies could handle it. Alright. Curiosity piqued.
• Read about HA. Decent chunk of research surrounding it. Not much info on the particular brand I’m getting as for molecular weight, yadda yadda, but I can have some faith in testimony and give the company a call.
• Aids in production of synovial fluid. Not a painkiller, not a “band-aid”, not bute, despite some strong unfounded online opinions I came across. Might help things move more smoothly in her, and also help with some hard rides we’ve been having after she’s been about 6 months off work due to her previous home. Even if she was/is functionally sound, I’m interested in the product and its possible aid in comfort.
• Apparently better metabolized when aided with vitamins like zinc, manganese, and otherwise.
• Gel. Passed the taste test. Now has to pass the “does this do a gol-darn thing” test.
• Here’s the [Link]
• Discount makes it reasonable.

Purina Free Balance 12:12 Vitamin & Mineral Supplement (Bag) || 2oz./day

• Got to aid the HA and figure it’s good for stuff in general.
• Fortification I can measure myself and that is not hinging on whether I feed 8-12 pounds of x feed every x hours.
• Economical. $30 for 200 day supply. 400oz. per bag.
• Asked a customer about it when I was checking her out. Said she feeds it loose and her horses enjoy it, regulating their consumption in tune with wacky Montana weather. Not a strong testimonial, but at least I heard it didn’t taste like trash.
• Worry about selenium content, but where I live is pretty selenium-depleted. I’ll cap off the ration at 2oz.
• Passed the taste test.

MSM from Select the Best; Crystals || 10,000mg/day

• Apparently does well in conjunction with HA. Joint, muscle, skin, coat, hooves, are apparently improved through this.
• Never personally seen the effects of MSM, but then again, my prior horses had bodies so crippled that even bute couldn’t save 'em. Interestingly, I had a customer who brought up that he drank it with his coffee every day for his joint and muscle pain. I didn’t ask; he brought it up because I had to explain I needed to write down his driver’s license number because it’s used to make meth. “Oh, I don’t use it for that,” he said. He also said it tastes like garbage.
• It does, indeed, taste like garbage. The crystals can’t be top dressed unless mixed with something very, very sweet. Very bitter. I’d consider the pellets, but they’re not as good of a value and I worry about the purity of the MSM being altered such that it is just a waste of money.
• I’ve thought about getting a bulk powder online from a different brand, but am on the fence.
• Here’s the [Link]

Standlee Timothy Pellets || I’ll Figure It Out/day

• Cheap filler, honestly. Take less time to soak than beet pulp and are a bit more palatable.
• River doesn’t really like a large amount of soaked feed. The pellets aren’t rock hard but still pretty big fed dry, and I worry about choke.
• Good carrier for supplements .
• Average taste for River. She’s not a big fan, but will eat it.

Purina Equine Senior Active || Whatever I Feel Like/day

• Just trying to get through it at this point. About an eighth of a bag left of the stuff. Horse loves the taste, great for her coat, but it’s not financially viable and she doesn’t need it for her waistline anymore. So long, space cowboy.

Alrighty. You’ve made it this far. Thank you, truly. You’re a champ. I appreciate your time. Finally, I can get to the questions. Feel free to answer all, none, one, two, whatever. I appreciate all input.

1. What textured unfortified basic feeds are out there? Even the junkiest of sweet mixes are doused in vitamins, and I don’t want to throw off the balance.

2. Any advice on how to create my own textured feed? Does anyone have experience adding basic texture to their horse’s diet? Talkin’ corn, oats, barley, wheat, etcetera.

3. What basic cereals should I avoid or prefer when adding texture? Any you would say are a definite no-no? Any you think would be a benefit in this scenario?

4. Anything on my list that you think I should discontinue once the bottle/bag/tub runs out?

5. Anything you would add to my list? Oils, supplements, feeds, methods?

6. Any deja vu about River and her weird hind end? Had a horse like this before?

7. …Chiropractors…?

8. Any other questions, comments, concerns, I’ll be here and I appreciate them. Even if it’s you calling me a dumb-dumb.

Thanks, guys, and happy holiday season! :^)

– NoPapers

[TheJenners]

Tl;dr

Applicable six-word horror story from what I did read: horse is lame, call a vet.

[NoPapers]

Fair enough, lmao.

[Scribbler]

Can’t make it through the details.

Get the best hay you can and feed enough of it. Get the best vitamin mineral supplement you can, and feed that in a small beet pulp or alfalfa cube mash with a cup of flax. Give her a salt block. That’s all you need. The VMS will be the expensive part.

You aren’t going to fix a longstanding skeletal injury with feed through joint supplements.

I’ve had very good experiences with equine body workers who have loosened up and fixed things, though nothing this severe.

My experience and observation has taught me that if you want a sound horse, the first step is to buy a sound horse. He may not stay sound, it’s a crapshoot. But if you go out and buy an unsound horse, it’s guaranteed to be unsound. If you’ve had 4 unsound horses in a row, that’s not coincidence. You need a more rigorous PPE.

[Libby2563]

@NoPapers

• What textured unfortified basic feeds are out there? Even the junkiest of sweet mixes are doused in vitamins, and I don’t want to throw off the balance.

• Any advice on how to create my own textured feed? Does anyone have experience adding basic texture to their horse’s diet? Talkin’ corn, oats, barley, wheat, etcetera.

Can you clarify this? Why do you want to mix your own feed and what are you trying not to “throw off”? Good feed companies do spend a lot of time and money trying to craft nutritional, palatable feeds for various types of horses. Unless your horse is allergic to some common ingredient you need to avoid (like soy, and even then there are some commercial options) you will find it cheaper, less aggravating, and probably better for your horse to feed a good-quality commercial feed than trying to DIY.

If your horse is at a good weight and doesn’t need many calories beyond hay, I’d look into a ration balancer, which is designed to provide basics like protein, amino acids, and some vitamins and minerals without adding a lot of calories. Since you mention Purina, theirs is called Enrich Plus. I don’t have personal experience with that but I feed Triple Crown’s version and it’s worked well for many of my horses. You could then drop the vit-min supplement and just consider adding any specific nutrients needed for your horse or area. For example, in my area, the soil is very high in iron so I supplement with copper and zinc. I buy Uckele copper and zinc pellets rather than some fancy hoof supplement because they’re palatable and economical.

Ration balances do tend to be boring and untextured though. If the extra calories wouldn’t be too worrisome you could add alfalfa cubes or pellets, beet pulp, some yummy Senior feed, or whatever else she likes in a small amount to make the food more palatable. I personally wouldn’t add in a bunch of cereal grains. Frankly I probably wouldn’t bother trying to texturize her food unless she doesn’t eat it plain, but whatever makes you happy.

None of this will solve your horse’s lameness but if you simplify your feeding routine perhaps you can have more money and bandwidth to spend figuring that out. Good luck!

[SuzieQNutter]

Old school is to boil barley, it gives an apple rump without going to their head.

We added a pellet from Prydes. I don’t know if you have that over there. I picked Easi Ride as no oats, no corn and no molasses. My instructor said he needed Easi Sport as it has more protein when he was doing more work. It is double the price of Easi Ride. The Sport was extruded. I have swapped to Easi Going now which is a new one out. It is an extruded feed again no corn, oats or molasses and it has more protein than Easi ride. Less protein than Easi Sport. It is more expensive to buy than Easi Ride however you feed less so it is cheaper per day.

They have a 007 lick which is said to have everything in it that a sport horse needs. My boy used to lick it every 3rd day after being untacked. He has not licked it for weeks now. Thst is when we started feeding the Easi Going plus it is also when the grass started growing.

They also have round bales of grassy hay.

As others have said, if lame then feed will not help. I have a chiropractor who I trust completely. Over the years I have seen him do miracles. If we pick up a new horse we take it to him on the way home. I trust him over a vet.

[No1]

Vet and/or chiropractor. Actual veterinary chiropractor would be my first choice (as opposed to unlicensed chiro). IME, regular vets will continue to shrug about pelvic issues (unless there is a fracture or they think of injecting the SI).

You are way overthinking the feeding. If she’s an easy keeper, find an affordable, easily available ration balancer and mix that with her supplements. Do the timothy pellets if it makes you happy, but it sounds unnecessary. If she’s getting free choice grass/alfalfa that should be sufficient. Add a joint supplement if it makes you happy. Lots of people have different opinions on which one works and which doesn’t. Pick one you can afford and your horse will eat. A little fat supplement may not be terrible. A small amount of flax oil or cocosoya will help her supps stick to the ration balancer and make it more palatable.

All of the mixing cereal grains or making a feed for her is not needed and requires way more thought, time, careful balancing of nutrients than most people have the time/energy/finances for.

But, seriously, spend the money on the vet first. It sounds like she’s in good weight and won’t suffer if you take a bit longer to figure out the feed/supps.

[Renn_aissance]

There’s a lot here, and I don’t follow the problem you are trying to solve.

Your mare has an old hind end injury. MSM and HA- great. Can’t hurt might help. Call your vet for more support. (I understand that you’re in an area where a quality vet response may take some time to get hold of.)

What is the nutritional issue that’s causing you to want to go back to scratch? You say she’s now in good weight. If you feed the recommended amount of a complete feed you most likely do not need macronutrient supplementation above that.

What does she do with her life? Does her level of activity suggest she needs more than forage, or is she an attractive lawn ornament at the moment and you are really just looking for a spoonful of sugar to help the ration balancer go down, plus additional forage to help it feel like a meal?

What brands of feed does your store stock for you to get ahold of? That seems like it’s going to be a more relevant question than what in the world is out there that you could possibly feed if you wanted to drive 200 miles to get it.

To one of the questions you actually asked, I would skip fortifying your own because in most locations you’re going to pay as much to mix your own as you would buying a bag of complete feed, and spend more time driving around to get it all. Triple Crown Complete comes to mind if you can get it, and does have a nice texture.

[ShotenStar]

A well written synopsis of your situation. Thank you.

Most of the major feed companies do either telephone call or email consultations on feeding issues. If you want professional input, you might look into that.

From my own personal experience feeding picky horses with some physical issues, I have had the best luck mixing a textured senior feed with a ration balancer. The combination provides the nutrients plus a decent taste. I prefer Triple Crown Complete plus Triple Crown 30% and feed at low rates. I also add in some Triple Crown Alfa-Lox (now called Stress Free) because I’ve had ulcer issues in the past.

The hind end issues may require more diagnostic work to accurately identify. Until your budget can support that, you might consider starting some gymnastic exercises: walking / trotting over low ground poles to encourage a more active use of all four legs. Or perhaps some of the stretching exercises that make up “horsy Pilates” work - belly lifts, neck stretches, leg stretches, etc. Anything that encourages Horse to use her body in a more active and well-aligned manner. This will mean you need to be actively aware yourself - paying attention to her reactions and noting any changes in her movement and body condition. Having rehabbed an EPM horse, I can tell you it takes Time, Lots and Lots of Time, to work through and correct muscle and nerve issues. Think of it as Physical Therapy and keep going, slowly and consistently.

Horse sounds very lucky to have landed with you. With your attention to detail and ability to consider many variables at once, there is much to be hopeful about.

star

[Simkie]

I love your writing style and sum up, great job!

My shot in the dark guess at the hip issue is that River broke her pelvis at some point. Once healed, those horses often do just fine, but sometimes do have a little hitch in their step. MSM is a good “why not, might help, won’t hurt” thing to throw at that.

With regard to her feed, the best way to go about it is to test your hay, and then balance to that. Can you test the hay? Is it consistent over a period of time?

In general, there are 3 different classes of “things”:

Complete/Senior feeds, like Triple Crown Senior, or what you’re feeding now, or any number of other options, that have a feeding rate in this 5#ish a day range. Good for horses that need calories. Need to be fed at the feeding rate listed on the bag for the horse to get the things (protein/vit/minerals) it needs. If your horse doesn’t need 5#ish a day, you can go to…

Ration balancers, like the TC Balancer or Grow and Win, or any number of others, that have a feeding rate of 1-2#s a day. Good for horses that need a few calories but not a lot. Low volume, low calorie but really packed with protein and your vit/minerals. Good for easy keepers. If that’s STILL too much, and you have a real fatty, you go to…

Comprehensive vitamin/mineral/etc supplements, like Horse Tech’s High Point Grass or Uckele’s Sport Horse Grass. These are analogous to popping a centrum in the morning. Feed with a handful of soaked grass pellets or soaked beet pulp and you have everything you need to keep your horse nutritionally on par with as few “extra” calories as possible.

Feeding something like a dry COB mix isn’t ideal for a whole lot of reasons. It sounds like you have a stocky girl there, and those types of horses are often metabolically a little fragile. You really don’t want to dump a whole lot of sugars into her, and you have a LOT of sugar in a whole grain type feed. A handful to make something else yummy? Probably fine. A 3 qt scoop every day? Dangerous.

This horse sounds like she’d do very well on a good ration balancer, and that’s a great place to start.

[Ghazzu]

1. You have no diagnosis, yet want a diet to address an orthopedic issue.

2. Feed companies employ persons with knowledge of dietary requirements to formulate their feeds; they do not “drench” them in unneeded vitamins and minerals for fun–those things cost $$.

3. the purchase price is often the smallest fraction of the cost of a horse. Looks to be the case here.

[Calvincrowe]

I enjoyed your post-- fun to read!

1- KISS: Best hay you can buy, and add a ration balancer as it sounds as if River is of the QH/Grade persuasion and will stay fat and happy on hay and minimal concentrates! Yay for you! (I have a Paint who does that as well…cheaper to feed in the long run!) In a Montana winter, I’d possibly add a senior or low-carb textured feed to give her more calories if needed. Does she live out 24/7 or come inside at night? Why the need for pelleted hay??
2- MSM is cheap and may help.
3- I’d skip the joint supplement and spend that money on a full lameness exam at a quality vet hospital. Find out what is the cause of her wonky hip, and get a plan to keep her sound moving forward. Yes…that could be tough in MT (depending on your location for sure!), but perhaps the best use of your limited funds.
4- This may be her normal. Old ortho injuries in ME have led to interesting movement. I’m “functionally sound” but require maintenance and careful handling during exercise. I know what flares my back, shoulder, knee or foot up and avoid that. You might need to sort out what riding makes River happier or hurt-ier and go on from there.
5- Did I mention KISS? Keep it all very simple for now. I firmly believe in the less is more strategy of horse feeding and care. I also save $$ this way that can be spent on expert health care via vets. My horses all get excellent hay, which in MT should be easy (ier) to come by at a reasonable cost. They are fed beet pulp, a dab of LMF low carb, vitamins and their medications (Prascend). That’s it. Now both are retired jumpers and doing well. My hunter gets orchard, Triple Crown something-or-other (she’s at the trainer’s barn), PNW formulated vitamin supplement and limited grazing. Regular chiro/massage keeps her old pasture injury (horrible wound in her left hip that resulted in a Y shaped scar measure 10" on each branch of that letter! Ooof!) happy and moving.

So, my long answer short? Simplify your feed, seek a full lameness exam on that pelvis (I like the broken/healed idea above!), avoid supplements until you have a clear answer and plan.

[stargzng386]

I’m going to comment on the feed questions. I would not make your own, feed companies spend a lot of money doing that. I’m using legends carb care performance on a qh who needs slightly more than a ration balancer but gets hot on sweet feed or senior. The performance one has a textured sweet feed ish texture so my horse loves it. He’s not a fan of ration balancers. You dont have to feed as much weight to get full vitamin/minerals. I’d feed something like that, drop the vitamin mineral supplement, drop the hay pellets since they’re not adding much.

I like the hyaluronic acid supplements it’s one of the only joint ones I’ve seen work. I’d also consider injectable adequan or pentosan.

[Montanas_Girl]

Is there any particular reason you’re trying to make your life/your horse’s diet as complicated as possible? That’s not snark, by the way - this is actually a fairly common phenomenon.

I’m an equine nutritionist, and I work for a feed company (not a national one, rather a semi-local/regional one, but my advice stands regardless). Feed company nutritionists, as a general rule, don’t charge for our advice. Pick a brand, call their nutritionist, and choose a BALANCED product that will meet your horse’s needs when fed at the recommended rate. Do not add any other vitamin/mineral product unless there is a specific reason (forage analysis shows a deficiency that can’t be corrected with just a feed - I face this issue with selenium often in my area).

Next step? Breathe. Give the new feed a month or so, then re-evaluate how the horse is doing.

As for the lameness, you need a good lameness workup from an experienced vet. And, yes, what you’re describing is a lameness. Which is probably why the horse only cost $1. It may or may not be fixable. It may or may not be something that can be managed. But, without a diagnosis, there’s no way for anyone to make a reasonable suggestion for how to help.

[hoopoe]

It sounds like you would be better to invest in a quality vet work up for a diagnosis, rather than a lot of feed supplements and feed throughs. It sounds like your friend might have a knocked down hip .

I agree with others who say high quality hay and a vitamin / mineral balancer. I agree the breeding is likely QH type mix up. That said I had a little Hancock line ranch type QH which I trained in dressage, to third level working 1 1/2 hour daily 5 days a week All he got was quality TImothy / mix ( eastern washington) with NW Horse supplement( selenium factor) a multi purpose vitamin / mineral supplement and some flax seed. He flourished on this program and had tons of good muscle and shine. I was lucky to be with a owner / trainer who really invested in top notch hay. Supplemental feeding was not needed for most of the horses, they got 4 meals a day. He didnt need a lot of concentrate filler to make his nutrition work, He went ballistic on any amount of alfalfa

I am not big on Chiropactic work and I think you would be better off working your horse athletically in a rational and sensitive manner. Quality farrier work will also help make sure the rear end is balanced and supported. Consistent deworming and teeth service will also make a huge difference. I suspect the gains you have seen so far says a lot about the level of care he received before.

But invest in the vet work up , even if it means hauling to the vet school. If the hose is atrophied in the hind end because of the old damage you need to know if your $1 friend is a future mount or pasture puff. Either way knowledge will help you help him.

[GraceLikeRain]

@NoPapers

HylaLube HA || 2oz./daily for 2 weeks loading dose 1oz./daily maintenance
[…]
Purina Free Balance 12:12 Vitamin & Mineral Supplement (Bag) || 2oz./day
[…]
MSM from Select the Best; Crystals || 10,000mg/day
[…]
Standlee Timothy Pellets || I’ll Figure It Out/day
[…]
Purina Equine Senior Active || Whatever I Feel Like/day

1. What textured unfortified basic feeds are out there? Even the junkiest of sweet mixes are doused in vitamins, and I don’t want to throw off the balance.
2. Any advice on how to create my own textured feed? Does anyone have experience adding basic texture to their horse’s diet? Talkin’ corn, oats, barley, wheat, etcetera.
3. What basic cereals should I avoid or prefer when adding texture? Any you would say are a definite no-no? Any you think would be a benefit in this scenario?
4. Anything on my list that you think I should discontinue once the bottle/bag/tub runs out?
5. Anything you would add to my list? Oils, supplements, feeds, methods?
6. Any deja vu about River and her weird hind end? Had a horse like this before?
7. …Chiropractors…?
8. Any other questions, comments, concerns, I’ll be here and I appreciate them. Even if it’s you calling me a dumb-dumb.

Timothy pellets, 2 ounces of a vitamin/mineral, MSM, and HA sounds like a really good plan. If you find that she’s picking at the Timothy without the Purina as a “topper” then I don’t think there is any harm in picking up a bag of Purina Senior or something similar and tossing a handful in to make her timothy/VM mix more palatable.

1. What is your goal of a texture unfortified basic feed? A handful of a complete grain absolutely does not have enough to throw off any balance considering it is designed to be feed by the pound with a minimum of 4-7 lbs depending on the product

2. I trust the experts more than myself and have never seen someone create their own textured feed that out performed what I could buy.

3. I would not be feeding corn

4. Nope. If you need more calories during winter I’d up forage (hay) first followed by more timothy. Worst case, I’d toss in 1 lb of a completely feed. Again, a pound is a nice calorie boost but isn’t going to throw off any balance.

6/7/8. Sometimes it is easy to fixate on small relatively unimportant things when the elephant in the room feels like something that is too big to manage. Personally, I’d prioritize getting out a good vet who does chiropractic work and would probably work in hand until I had a really strong idea of what was going on.

[JB]

Summary:

2lb of a ration balancer. High nutrition, low feeding rate

Acti-Flex 4000. HA, green lipped mussle, and other ingredients with valid science behind them

Figure out if you want want to spend the money to decide if she’s painfully unsound, or mechanically unsound.

Some details:

@NoPapers

2.5 lbs. of Purina Equine Senior Active 1x/day.

Not enough, hence the 2lb balancer. Or 1lb, or 1.5lb, depending on which you choose, and 1-2lb alfalfa pellets if additional calories are needed

@NoPapers

I mostly used this after exercise to sooth any sore muscles, not for long-term joint maintenance.

use it daily, or don’t use it. It’s not like Advil or aspirin, it takes time to load into the system to do what it can possibly do. It’s a proven anti-inflammatory, and excessive inflammation can be the catalyst for arthritis to start.

@NoPapers

To provide an enriching daily meal that is not just a handful of pellets for the sake of supplement delivery. I’m not saying she needs a massive feast, but I want this feeding to be a relaxing 10-20 minute activity where she can quietly stand tied and eat.

Aforementioned ration balancer

@NoPapers

Purina Free Balance 12:12 Vitamin & Mineral Supplement (Bag) || 2oz./day

Not needed with the balancer, and doesn’t provide nearly the nutrition

@NoPapers

Worry about selenium content,

blood work is the only way to know if a given diet, which needs to have been in place for a few months, is good

@NoPapers

Standlee Timothy Pellets || I’ll Figure It Out/day

• Cheap filler, honestly.

Hardly filler. Carrier, sure, but still has nutrition just like normal hay does

@NoPapers

What textured unfortified basic feeds are out there?

None. Feeds are fortified, that’s their definition

@NoPapers

Any advice on how to create my own textured feed? Does anyone have experience adding basic texture to their horse’s diet? Talkin’ corn, oats, barley, wheat, etcetera.

Don’t bother. By the time you add in everything you need, plus a carrier, it’s going to cost more than a ration balancer, and if you’re adding all those straight minerals, it’s going to taste nasty, and if you buy pelleted versions, that’s $$

Don’t over-complicate this. Ration balancer, joint supplement, done.

[IPEsq]

I’d also switch to a ration balancer for the reasons JB mentioned.

10,000 mg of MSM is plenty and is a therapeutic dose.

Sounds to me like you have possibly an old pelvic injury. Or perhaps it’s the right hind. The “dropped” hip may look like that because she is hiking up the other one. Hip hike side is usually the lame side. Would explain farrier issue. Toe dragging on the left could be her not wanting to fully weight the right.

You’ll get the nutrition you need from a RB and forage. Magnesium and vitamin E and MSM won’t hurt. I added in E since you live in a place with winter so if the diet is low in fresh grass, adding E won’t hurt.

If you are pinching pennies, a commercial feed will get you all the nutrition you need more economically, and I’d spend the extra on a good vet exam.

[JB]

Yep, with a diet that’s all/mostly hay make sure there’s a solid 2IU/lb of Vit E

[Postandrails]

I know your post is seeking help on diet, but I would want to get the soundness issue sorted.
It is probably a chiropractic issue, but I would want to rule out any issues with the hind feet first. How do they look to you? Has she had good hoofcare in the past? If you aren’t fairly comfortable assessing her feet, can you post pics? Any long term balance issues with the hind feet can cause all kinds of crazy movement, muscling, chiropractic, toe dragging problems. Because hoof balance issues are often pretty easy and inexpensive to fix, I would rule this out first.

Being on a tight budget, I would start by getting as many (free) knowledgeable eyes as possible on the problem. Post some hoof pics, put up some videos of the horse on the lunge, some pics of conformation, how the horse stands at leisure etc.