Any feeding experts who want to help me obsess about my horse and his feed?
Background context: horse is a new-to-me 8 yo OTTB. He came to me with a diet of 4 lbs Tribute Kalm Ultra and 1 lb Tribute Essential K a day, plus half grass/half alfalfa.
I can’t get Tribute products or alfalfa bales, so I conceded by ordering just the Tribute Kalm Ultra online and adding a 2 quart scoop of chopped alfalfa to his meals 2x a day. So now his diet is as follows (per day):
5 lbs Tribute Kalm Ultra
4 quarts chopped alfalfa
Platinum Performance
A bunch of other holistic nonsense that I think just makes ME feel good to feed him, like flax, chia, papaya, and aloe.
When I got him I was told that he has a tendency to get ulcery with stress, but had been treated and scoped that they weren’t currently a problem. I like that Tribute Kalm ultra has pre/probiotics in it, and I hope the chia/papaya/aloe/alfalfa help support a healthy gut for him. He’s seemed less anxious about girthing up, so that’s good.
My problem is that he’s pulled a shoe off twice in the last month. This last time he took off a bit of hoof and has to have some down-time. I love my farrier, and I feel like his diet is currently pretty nutritionally complete, so my new concern is that Tribute Kalm Ultra has a fair NSC - around 22%. I wonder if that is contributing to his hoof problem?
We are in moderate work right now - ridden 45 minutes to an hour 5x a week, working on first level dressage and bn eventing. He’s in wonderful condition, and I’d love to keep him this way. Is there a feed out there that has high fat and fiber and mid to high protein source, but a lower NSC than Tribute Kalm Ultra? If it also has the pre/probiotics, then all the better!
Bonus points if you’d like to teach me about hoof supplements and hoof-hardener topicals :yes:
