Feeding the easy keeper for moderate work - thoughts?

[kashmere]

Oh what a problem to have, right? :lol: I have never owned an easy keeper. My old mare was horrendously difficult to keep weight on, and my gelding was not quite so bad but still tended toward the leaner side of things. Also, I owned them both until they died - in the last 2 years at 25 and 29 - so for the past several years my feeding focus has been with senior hard keepers.

My new mare - bless her - is just a round little easy keeper. I bought her in October shortly after she weaned a foal and having been out of work for 2 years. Between her fitness level, and the weather (Eastern Canada. Enough said.), I have been bringing her back to work very slowly - lots of long walking hacks and focus on building strength and suppleness again.

With her low workload, she is staying nice and fat and happy on free choice hay. Once we start upping the work, I suspect she will likely need something extra - but am I wrong? and if she does - what would be best? Most of the horses at the barn are on a sweet feed, but I really don’t like to feed anything with so much sugar.

My first thought it something like Purina Optimum, or another ration balance sort of feed with vits/mins and some extra protein to support muscle growth.

Thoughts?

Oh and horse stats: 16.2hh TB mare, 11 years old.

[Red_Barn]

Are you close enough to Vermont to get Poulin products?

http://www.poulingrain.com/products.php?category=3&pgsid=oezbmzjkfpar

Their quality is very high and very consistent, and they have a feed for every conceivable purpose. At the moment I’m feeding Fibre-Max and E-Tec; in the past I’ve used Carb-Safe, 12:12 and MVP - all with good results.

[tolts4fun]

She sounds like a really nice horse! Maybe send a sample of your hay to get tested to find out what might be lacking in her diet, and go from there.

For moderate work, sweet feed might be too high energy for optimum success. I have a very easy keeper, too, and I worry about what sugary/high energy foods on a daily basis might do to his system in the long run. There are so many metabolic problems out there, and I think the easiest keepers are most susceptible.

[RedHorses]

Look for a fibre based low nsc feed. There are many of these around these days. I feed Brooks (Ontario based company) and they have five or six low or very low nsc feeds in their line.

One option is to feed her when you ride her. As in don’t bother with a daily feed, just give her some after you ride (or before if it is a small amount) with the idea that you are replacing the energy she used in work. Something as simple as alfalfa cubes or pellets with a vitamin/mineral supplement works well in this kind of situation.

I know some people will have screaming horrors over the idea, :lol: but it worked well for my horses for years.

[JB]

Ration balancer at most for sure. You might have to drop down to a good v/m supplement, maybe with additional lysine and methionine, with a tasty carrier (1-2c alf pellets or beet pulp, for example). That’s how I have to feed my easiest keeper. I use Horsetech High Point Grass, largely because I really want to avoid added iron with him (he could easily become metabolic I fear and while there’s no concrete evidence, there is some potential linkage, so I just do what I can).

There are quite a few good v/m supplements. I think you are in Canada? (Purina Optimum isn’t something in the US I don’t think). I’m not too up to speed on what you can get up there.

[Cindyg]

If you want to feed her a pelleted feed, I recommend Nuzu. Stabul 1 is for the true chubbies. Plus is for the chubby-prone who needs higher protein and fat. Both are very low in starch and sugar and mineral balanced according to Dr. Kellon’s specifications (for easy keepers, IR, laminitic and cushings).

You can get this through Tractor Supply, but it’s usually a special order.

[asterix]

I’m not familiar with what you can get in Canada specially, but I’ve had a series of easy keepers, all living out 24-7. I have always fed them when I am there - that is, they get fed once a day, 5 or 6 days a week, at varying times of the day. I’ve had horses on this program for over 10 years with no ill effect. They have good grass or hay in front of them at all times.
Typically I feed a ration balancer or a low starch/high fat food and multivitamin. My current boy is a perch cross who is a bit rotund even when in very good work 6 days a week in the dead of winter. He gets the smallest amount of ration balancer I can get away with once a day and has tons of energy.

[Palm_Beach]

What is her current diet? For what time period each day is she turned out?

You’d be surprised at how fit a horse can stay in turn out. I lay up tbs, and they only need 60 days training from going back to the track to racing fit. I very very rarely have them on complete stall rest - most of them are turned out 16-18 hrs per 24 hr period.

I understand the topic horse is probably not as naturally active as a tb and on the fat side rather than the skinny side. Since she is fat, I’d wait to see if/when she appears to start losing weight and then consider adding something. It’s probably better for her overall to lose a bit of weight as her exercise increases, since she’s fat.

[kashmere]

thanks for the thoughts everyone!

Palm Beach - she is actually an OTTB Not fat in the least, actually - just an easy keeper. She is out 12-14 hours in the winter months, 24 hours when it’s a bit warmer and the pastures have recovered from mud fest 2016 - so likely end of April or early May. She was out 24/7 when I bought her, as well and does have an excellent base of fitness. She’s not a roly poly little butterball who I’m concerned about in terms of keeping weight down - she’s just not what I’m used to, i.e.: a horse who needs BP and senior feed by the kg just to maintain weight.

[Mango20]

I’d go with a ration balancer. Mine get Triple Crown 30 and are easy keepers.

[quietann]

[QUOTE=Red Barn;8538286]
Are you close enough to Vermont to get Poulin products?

http://www.poulingrain.com/products.php?category=3&pgsid=oezbmzjkfpar

Their quality is very high and very consistent, and they have a feed for every conceivable purpose. At the moment I’m feeding Fibre-Max and E-Tec; in the past I’ve used Carb-Safe, 12:12 and MVP - all with good results.[/QUOTE]

I’d also recommend Poulin MVP ration balancer if you can get it. It is low NSC and high protein, and while expensive “per bag” you feed much less … usually a pound per day or less.

IMO, in my area, feeding Poulin is a sign that a boarding barn is a good one.

[JB]

I always forget about Poulin! Is that more of a NE feed? I try to keep up with some of the more regionally available feeds.

[GoodTimes]

My hunter is an easy keeper who lives out 24/7. He’s actually put weight on this winter since he’s the boss and just stands in front his round bale instead of walking around grazing.
I feed him some of the Tribute essential K (I’m in Alberta now, when I was in Ontario I usually fed Purina or Buckeye) and some beet pulp after I ride.

Essentially he only gets fed “grain” 5-6 times/week, but i can add electrolytes if it’s really hot out, or meds, etc. If I felt he was losing weight my next step would be to add some oil to it.

[FatDinah]

TripleCrown 30, a pound a day. Gives them all necessary vitamins/minerals. Great coats and weight on all our OTTBs, who are out either 24/7 or half stalled.

[Red_Barn]

[QUOTE=JB;8539729]
I always forget about Poulin! Is that more of a NE feed? I try to keep up with some of the more regionally available feeds.[/QUOTE]
Yep. It’s still a family owned business, and still in Vermont.

I love this company, and feed nothing else, but part of the reason for this is the fact that their products are designed for horses grazing local ground and eating local hay. (Selenium, for example, is an issue here, and I wouldn’t want to try and balance a product made elsewhere.)

If I lived in some other part of he country, I’d look around for a similar high-quality brand formulated for that particular region’s needs.

[JB]

Good to know.

I worry less about something formulated for a region, than I do at what’s going on with my particular forage and horse. For example, my county is generically very low in Se. However, even with just an additional 1-2mg of Se that’s very common in most feeds, their blood Se levels are fine. I wouldn’t want a formulation that adds much more than that. Also, a lot of people around here truck in hay from up North as they like to get good Timothy.

I do understand the sentiment though - more people than not feed local forage, and probably very local to them.

[TrailRides4Fun]

I keep my QH gelding - ‘easy keeper-in moderate work’ on an all hay, soaked hay cube dinner diet with supplements - NO grain.
Plus turn out on pasture everyday.
His weight honestly seems to never change much, even when he is
in work 2-3x a week.

[kashmere]

Unfortunately we don’t seem to have any Poulin dealers around here - but thank you for the suggestions, in any case! This isn’t a horse that I’m really concerned about getting too chubby or IR, it’s just a very strange feeling for me not to have to pour feed into a horse!

I think my plan of attack is to start with some alfalfa pellets for additional protein and calories to replace what’s lost in work, and add a really good vit/min supplement and see where we’re at. She’s very green, so it’s tough to say what level of work we’ll manage to get to over the spring. If need be, I think the next step will be Purina Optimal, which is essentially just a more concentrated version of alfalfa + vit/min - it looks quite similar in composition to some of the Poulin balancers like Equi-Pro. For those of you who don’t get Purina Feeds - here’s a link if you care to look!

http://www.equipurina.ca/en/products/lines/equilibrium/optimal/