Wow, everytime a feed spec says it can balance forage or grain, I don’t really believe them!
You should really look at the nutritional value instead of looking at what they say in the package to convince you to buy.
Who cares if they think its adequate to poneys, mares or horses in work?
Look at starch, protein, calcium, vitamin E…
Thats what really matters!
SCMSL,
I have been feeding ration balancers since 1998 to my mares and growing horses. Some need additional calories which they get in a feed that is high in fat, low in starch. Some don’t need anything additional except for good hay and free choice minerals that are formulated to be fed with the balancer. This feeding program was developed for me by an equine nutritionist, not my a feed company rep. It has served me very well.
Thank you to everyone and just so you know, I did ask my vet what she thought and she said my mare looked great. This didn’t go into the detail and amount of information I was looking for. I found more information here on COTH:D I love my vet and she is the main repro vet for a large breeding operation nearby, this does not mean she knows everything about the latest feeds, so I “branched out” a bit.
I say this because my pet peeve is people who come on COTH and ask advise when they clearly should be asking their vet!!!
Carry on:D I’m still learning.
Home Again Farm,
I am not criticizing in any way what other people choose to feed their horses, I am only sharing my own knowledge.
Your balance may be different, but the truth is the majority of balancers are formulated to complement grain rations.
And we all know in the last couple of years there have been a lot of studies about the effects of feeding of mares and growing horses and their effects on muscle and skeletal issues. Again, not that I am criticizing your program but the truth is if there are appropriate feeds designed solely for breeding mares, why not take advantage of all the knowledge and investigation that goes behind it?
Yes, it ends up being more expensive than to feed a regular grain (or even balancer) but in the long run it does pay off.
If you are doing a large scale breeding operation, you have to look at the foals as a product and then maybe you don’t want to decrease your profit margin by feeding specific diets. But if you are breeding your own mare and intend to keep the foal, then I think you should make every possible effort to produce the best horse possible and to give it every chance to fulfill its genetic potential.
Eventer55, I’m glad to hear you have consulted your vet before exposing the situation here in the forum!
What are you defining as a “balancer”? Most of us who talk about ration/diet balancers are talking aboutthings like Triple Crown 30%, Progressive Grass (or Alfalfa) Diet Balancer, Purina Enrich 32, and the like they are not at all meant to "balance "'grain rations. Any “balancing” is based on the type of forage, and with few eceptions you don’t feed them with other fortified grains. Most of them say if you need more calories to use oats, but that’s really because oats won’t really put the RB out of “balance”.
Thanks so much for the insights. If you knew anything about my breeding program, you would know that I do "make every possible effort to produce the best horse possible and to give it every chance to fulfill its genetic potential."
I feed ration balancers because my mares would be obese if I fed even the minimum recommended amount of most “feeds designed solely for breeding mares.” Therefore, years ago I researched alternatives using a well qualified nutritionist and have continued to keep abreast of research over the years.
I see that you are in Europe. Perhaps the balancers that you are familiar with are formulated solely to balance grain. My horses in Germany are on a different feeding program that those here in the states. The equine veterinarian and breeder who is their caretaker has made the feeding decisions for them and I trust her to be doing the right thing.
While I fully accept that you have a right to an opinion, please do not imply that my feeding program is the result of cutting corners, penny pinching or short sightedness. Not only would that be wrong, but it would also be rather insulting.
Speaking for myself I do look at the nutritional value of the RB as well as my hay which gets analyzed. Even my soil gets tested yearly in order to maintain healthy pastures. With this info in front of me I feed accordingly.
Home Again Farm, I began my comment with “I am not criticizing in any way what other people choose to feed their horses, I am only sharing my own knowledge” - thus, I don’t think you should be offended, that was not my intention at all. Obviously I can only speak about what I know, and since I have never had horses in the States, I cannot comment on how your balancers are different then ours!
I’m glad to see you’re working with a nutritionist who was able to design your personal feeding program, but I’m sure not everybody has access to that and as such I am sharing what I know, both from work and personal experience. Also, what works for you does not work for every broodmare out there.
While I fully accept that you have a right to an opinion, please do not imply that my feeding program is the result of cutting corners, penny pinching or short sightedness. Not only would that be wrong, but it would also be rather insulting.
I do not want to insult anybody, nor am I doing so. But I’m sure you are as aware as any other breeder that in order to keep your business afloat, you need to make your products profitable. And that means that more often then not, when you breed a horse for yourself you’ll go the extra mile. Again, not trying to be offensive in any way.
Ponygirl, wow, you do it all! 
Not sure if how this was meant but I do exactly what I stated. Quite a few folks I know do as well.
I meant you don’t leave anything to chance. If everybody thought like that I’m sure our horses would me much healthier.
It was meant as a compliment 
As do I. And as do many of my fellow breeders.
SCMSL, if you were to preface your advice with the fact that you are in Europe and are speaking of the feeds that are available in your location, that would put your comments in a more clear context.
My reply to you quoted your own reply word for word. I do go the extra mile, whether I am feeding one of my foals that will be for sale or a filly that I know will be a keeper. It is foolish to cut costs on something as vital as nutrition. Frankly, I don’t cut costs on anything that is not trivial, therefore optional.
No further offense taken. I am sure that you mean well.
Here’s the plan
Ahem (clears throat) I too had my soil tested:)
And just to put it out there for further discussion here is the plan I came up with
Mare is getting 2 cups TC Senior and 2 cups BP with some flax and some (maybe 1/2 cup each) of flax and BOSS free choice hay and some pasture. Pasture is about shot now with weeks of no rain. Hay is a grass/ Alfalfa mix mostly grass and really nice.
Will begin adding 1/2 cup of 30% supplement and increase as Winter comes on and mare reaches 5 month mark.
Will watch her weight and proceed as needed.
BTW it’s a filly and I need a name, I love Shakespeare so maybe Portia? Anyway, this is just for distraction.
I’m glad to hear you think the same way as me: feeding must be a priority.
Eventer55, just a final reinforcement: don’t let yourself be fooled by what feed companies wright on the feed pamphlet. Critically analyze the feed’s nutritional values and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your mare is still in the beginning of her pregnancy so you don’t have to be too worried, but as soon as she’s in her final trimester make sure she has the perfect feed for her. Keep that feed until she weans the foal.
When you wean the foal, keep him/her on that same diet for at least 2 months and then re-evaluate the situation again.
Hope everything goes alright and if you need help with choosing the right feed, publish the nutritional table here and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of opinions!
We are kind of in the same situation as the OP. Two of our bred mares (full TBs!) are SUPER easy keepers. They both get the minimum of Triple Crown Lite feed for their size. They look awesome. We’ve had two foals from the one mare and they were both CHUNKY at birth and have been growing well with no problems whatsoever. The 2 year old has her mother’s easy keeper-ness (and yes, I know that’s not really a word) and is on TC Lite too and looks ready to walk into the show ring, her coat, weight, and mucle tone are so awesome. The other mare, has been heavy ever since I got her and has been on TC Lite for the 10 years that we’ve had her. This is her first foal. Our plan is to keep them on TC Lite for a little longer (they are both 4 months prego) and monitor their weight as we go. The first mare will probably go to the minimum amount of TC Complete for her size come winter. That is what we’ve done with her for both of her previous foals and been delighted with the results. Then she stays on TC Complete until the foal is weaned, and back to TC Lite. The maiden mare will probably stay on TC Lite her entire pregnancy as she is a true air fern. We generally feed an orchard grass and alfalfa mix (heavy on the orchard grass) to all our horses during the spring and summer as well as they are on rich pasture. Then in the fall and winter we feed straight alfalfa if the prices aren’t rediculous or heavy on the alfalfa orchard mix.
Sheila
Because 2c of TC Sr is doing almost nothing, I would switch her to the TC 30 now. About 3c will give you the 1lb she’d need at this point. If she needed more calories at this point (though that doesn’t sound necessary) you could add/keep some of the other things. But over time you’ll be increasing the TC30 a bit, and you can always feed lots of beep and/or alfalfa pellets, even some of the BOSS (though I don’t like the very high Omega 6), if she needs more calories, or just switch to the appropriate amounts of the TC Sr (as in, at least 5lb by that point)
[QUOTE=Eventer55;6434763]
Mare is only 60 days along, I’ll look into ration balancers.[/QUOTE]
This. I have a Mrs. Blimpy too.
The mare’s nutritional needs are just for herself until at least about 6 months. So, she needs nothing, especially no grain. If you’re worried, just do a small bit of ration balancing. For my Blimpy, she gets 3 times weekly a handful, (literally), of beet pulp in which I can stir in no-calorie Hoffman Minerals. Until she moves into her final trimester, I don’t alter too much for her. Our winters are usually brutal, so it tends to take care of Blimpy’s excessive weight problem, but she still does well on mixed hay of timothy/orchard/wee-bit alfalfa.
However, that all being said, first trimester pregnancy is NOT where you want to be on a radical weight loss program. You could risk losing the pregnancy.
It would be better to maintain her weight as is. As she moves into final trimester, this is where foal will peel some excess flab off her, but don’t let her drop below 1/2 inch over the ribs during pregnancy at any point. 1/2 inch of fat over the ribs offers some cushion for the radical caloric needs of lactation.
So, do what you need to do to keep her maintained and nutritionally correct. If she’s used to exercise, you can keep riding her lightly until pressure from the foal makes this too uncomfortable.
Final trimester note: As unborn baby starts to gobble up her calories, especially in months 8-9-10-11, watch her weight - she can lose weight seemingly overnight.
Just ensure her entire diet ratios make up 12% calcium to 8% phosphorous in her diet. Fetus needs lysine and especially Vit A, E. Note that Alfalfa offers the lysine and proteins, but hay offers very little A/E or other vits/minerals so ensure your balancer and/or kibble is appropriate for all elements for Mrs. Blimpy. Whereas green pasture offers plenty of Vit A.
However, that all being said, I’ve also watched some very easy keepers become startlingly hard keeping once newborn literally sucks the calories right out of her and it can happen practically overnight. Increase her caloric hay intake upon delivery, but try to keep her at about 0.5 inch of fat over the ribs
yes, once nursing commences the caloric and protein needs increase dramatically - double for protein, though caloric needs will vary by the mare.
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