Can I substitute Seminole Grass Balancer for TC 30%?

[stb]

For an air fern, that is.

I have a 14.3 QH gelding, short backed, pony-ish or cob-ish in build. He is a bit cresty, although, to be fair, he wasn’t gelded until he was 9. I have had him on TC 30% with a bit of beet pulp during the cooler months. He always has free choice Coastal Bermuda hay and 24 turnout on a pasture that has plenty of grass but is not lush.

I bought this guy in September, so this is my first Summer with him. He’s already put on a bit of weight in the past month or two, and I just want to be proactive and not let him get in trouble weight wise. He looks like a horse that could very easily become IR if not watched closely.

It was recently recommended to me to put him on the grass balancer to help his feet stay nice in our never ending humidity and wet conditions here on the coast. I was planning to give that in addition to his ration balancer, but now I’m wondering if he really needs the ration balancer at all.

I may need to put this guy in a grazing muzzle, too, before the Summer is over. i would just like to forestall that if at all possible. Suggestions anyone? Chubby boy is in light work - 2 to 3 trail rides weekly at an easy pace and most rides last two hours.

[Flash44]

Are the grass balancer and ration balancer very similar? You will have to look at your list of ingredients and guaranteed analysis. Not sure why you would feed both. If he is chubby and his topline is good and his feet are good, you may only need to supplement with a vit/min depending on your location and quality of hay. He might not even need the ration balancer this time of year. With your horse’s build and lack of hard work, I’d be proactive and put him in a muzzle and not let his body condition score get over 5-6.

[JB]

Seminole Grass Balancer is listed as a "complete vitamin and mineral supplement, so no, I would not be giving that in addition to a ration balancer.

Personally, I would take him off the RB And put him on just the v/m. Their website looks to give only a partial analysis, so I’d want to know everything in it. He may need specific additional minerals, but I would not give full doses of 2 “complete” products.

And yes, muzzle sooner rather than later, given he’s already chubby and only in light work. Or, increase his work significantly.

[Real_Rush]

Another product to consider, if you can’t bear the thought of not feeding something… I have a very easy keeper who can’t even tolerate a ration balancer and is on a simple vit/min supplement. However, he used to get really cranky when he was done with his handful of food and everyone else was still eating. So I tried the Equi-Safe from Seminole, which is a low starch chopped forage hay designed specifically for easy keepers. While it has a vit/min pellet included, I only give my guy 2 big handfuls once a day, so he still needs an individual supplement to make sure he reaches his daily requirement. Attitude problem solved. And it makes me feel like I’m not being cruel and “starving” him.

As for feet issues, check into the Keratex products, especially the hoof hardner. Pricey, but worth every penny spent, and a bottle does last quite a while.

[Simbalism]

My friend is just switching her very easy keeper to the Seminole Equalizer and adding a couple of handfuls of the Equi-Safe to make her think she is getting a larger portion.

[stb]

Thanks, everybody, I appreciate the input. Good idea on the Equisafe. I’ve just recently started him on the Keratin as we get so wet and soggy around here in the summer. This easy keeper thing is new to me so I’m trying to figure it out quickly - before he gets into trouble. My previous horse was a large thoroughbredy type that needed lots and lots of food to maintain good body body weight, so this is a total 180.

[fordtraktor]

Is he still on the beet pulp? I would take him off that and keep him on the 30%. about a cup and a half morning and evening, or three cups a day, is sufficient. That makes my fat pony feel like she is getting something (and she only gets a cup each meal because she is 13.1) and would likely be less than a few handfuls of the Equisafe. Don’t feel sorry for them because they don’t have a full grain bin, they don’t need one. Measure it, I have a one cup measuring thing in the barn and that is exactly what she gets, no sympathy.

When I had her on just a v/m (Uckele’s) she felt a bit deprived. Plus I have never found a v/m that my horses thought tasted good. They wouldn’t eat the Smartpak one (when they sold it) or the Uckele one without it being mixed in with something else, which defeats the whole purpose. I need a little bulk because she gets a bunch of anhydrosis supps mixed in with it at breakfast and I need her to eat them too.

And yes, if he’s fat muzzle him.

[stb]

Fordtraktor, he is currently off of the beet pulp. I have read that some IR horses do better without soy, so am thinking it might not be a bad idea to come off of the 30% if we can. Maybe a handful of alfalfa or timothy pellets would do it? This horse is not IR - he’s not even fat - but he is definitely cresty and he’s certainly not thin. His body condition looks pretty good to me actually, but he doesn’t need to gain any more weight or he would start to tip over to the fat zone rather quickly. That cresty neck is what worries me a bit. I just don’t want him to become IR because I ignored the warning signs.

Thanks everybody for your thoughts on this.

[JB]

IMHO the cresty neck is a sign of IR, or pre-IR, or whatever one wants to call it.

So yes - no soy for him, I agree.

[fordtraktor]

I would tend to do a metabolic panel on him before I got too far down that road. Some horses are cresty but not IR. I have had a number of horses that are…just fat. More than are actually abnormal on the metabolic panel. And others that end up cresty because of thyroid. A panel will help you sort that out and make sure you are treating the right things. Eliminating soy is not enough to control most of that and is not necessary either.

[stb]

well, here’s a question. My boy was a stallion until the age of 9. So, does he get somewhat of a pass on his crestiness or no?

[JB]

There’s a difference between the crest of a Baroque horse (even a mare), and that of a stallion, and that of an IR horse.

There is no mistaking the IR crest because it has a wrong feel, and it is not present when feeding is right. An exception might be the horse or (seems more common) donkey who was allowed to become SO obese and cresty that the crest falls and never, ever regains its proper shape or size.

[stb]

The good news is that my boy’s neck feels perfectly normal. Not hard or lumpy. Even though he is a QH he looks a bit baroque-ish to me. Sort of Cob like. Very short backed, and with a more upright neck than most Quarters. When my vet did his PPE she commented that he looked like a My Little Pony. Remember those? She was right, that is what his general outline looks like.

[ChocoMare]

For the easy keeper, possibly metabolic horse here in the South: EquiPride (you only feed 1 ounce, per 100 pounds of body weight), Grass Balancer Loose Mineral (to balance the higher iron) and a scoop of Remission. That’s it. The EquiPride is a crumble and since you’re not feeding pounds, but only mere cups, they get all the good stuff with none of the bad.

Then invest in a good grazing muzzle that stays on or move him to a big dry lot with hay in small-hole nets placed feet apart so he nibbles & moves.

[stb]

Thanks, Chocomare. Unfortunately, there are no Equipride dealers in SC. Is there something else similar that I can get?

[stb]

Chocomare, I looked up the Equipride ingredients - is it similar to Omega Horseshine? I neglected to mention earlier that my boy is already on OHS. Looks like I can order the Remission pretty easily.

[ChocoMare]

No, Equipride is basically taking all the good stuff in a commercial feed and reducing it down to its concentrated goodness. My dealers moved to Texas, so I just order a bucket direct shipped. You can do away with the Horseshine then.

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=stb;8159803]
well, here’s a question. My boy was a stallion until the age of 9. So, does he get somewhat of a pass on his crestiness or no?[/QUOTE]

Not all stallions have a cresty neck, so No. I would be more inclined to say that he was obese at one point and that seems to kind of stay with some horses even when they slim down.

I would not allow him free choice hay. Small frequent hay meals are better. I don’t like muzzles and tend to do the on pasture so many hours and dry lotted so many hours ( w/o hay). That is what has worked for my mare.

[Flash44]

OP, you may want to discuss with your vet putting him on thyroid med as well. The will rev up his metabolism a little bit.