My mare who LOVES food has decided that her grain is not so great anymore.
I was feeding ultium and then about 3 months ago switched her to ultium with the purina outlast in it. She basically completely stopped eating it. So I switched her back to normal ultium and she still isn’t finishing her feed.
She is only getting 3 lbs a day so I don’t think it’s the amount.
Suggestions for a high calorie grain that tastes amazing to horses? Or a flavor enhancer? She dislikes wet grain so I can’t do molasses.
Grain hurts to eat if they have ulcers.
Horses do not NEED grain.
Some horses do not need grain.
I, too, would assume there are ulcers or something else uncomfortable going on that is putting her off her feed.
6 Likes
When I worked for an agricultural company, the feed guys always talked about feed companies guaranteeing the percentage of ingredients but not the quality of said ingredients. Maybe Purina has changed something…,not sure you could find out. Could you do something like alfalfa or alfalfa/Timothy pellets w a ration balancer? That said, I will share I have 34 year old polo pony who had a fairly severe case of EPM. She was thin, and not eating well for quite a while and I did not think we would keep her over the winter. As a Hail Mary, I bought her Omolene 300. Please don’t trash me - that mare’s coat is sparkling, she feels great and looks wonderful. Please, PLEASE don’t tell her it’s not good for her. Thank you.
i agree- grain does seem to back them off if they have ulcers. She did not. As a rule, we feed lots of high quality hay, and a ration balancer. In her case, we really needed to find something she liked. I hope this helps you.
2 Likes
Is she on Prascend? That can cause a horse to go off their grain.
If she’s only eating 3 lbs a day then Ultium isn’t an appropriate choice. She would probably be better served by 1-2 lbs of ration balancer and soaked beet pulp or alfalfa. Suddenly going off of grain after a grain switch would make me wonder about ulcers, especially since she’s now snubbing a food she previously ate. Ultium is one of the most palatable complete grains I’ve ever fed.
3 Likes
She came from a bad, bad situation so I would not rule out ulcers but she has been with me a year now and lives 24/7 on good grass with 24/7 hay so not exactly what I would consider an ulcer prone lifestyle but always possible.
She needs grain. She is a medium keeper and looses weight without it. She is on no meds, just gets salt and magnesium.
I tried hay pellets and she hated them because they have to be soaked and she doesn’t like wet feed.
I will look into the omolene products. I fed one long ago I actually liked quite a bit.
I’ve never had a horse refuse Omolene . Some people freak out about the molasses and it being a " sweet feed" but I never had issues. Grain doesn’t do any good if they won’t eat it.
My horse also started turning up his nose at ultium, I switched to senior active and he licks the bowl clean.
Strange, maybe they changed the formula.
I thought maybe she didn’t like the taste or texture of the outlast supplement in the ultium. She is very picky about texture and with outlast being mainly calcium I thought maybe it was leaving that weird feeling in your mouth like after you eat a tums.
A few days ago my food loving gelding turned his nose up at her leftovers, which is very unlike him. He might eat a piece of cardboard if he thought it was grain
Yes, some horses DO need grain.
That goes for both commercial bagged feeds (which may or may not have actual grains in them), and actual cereal grains. Some horses absolutely need calories beyond forage, and pretty much every horse benefits from the nutrition provided. If they don’t need the calories, then a good v/m supplement will do.
That tells me something about the formula changed, or something is different about that batch
I agree that at only 3lb of the Ultium Gastric Care, you’re under-feeding it from a nutritional perspective, and you’re not getting a full serving of Outlast.
I would not at all look at an Omelene product. The 400 is the only one I’d ever consider feeding (barring special circumstances), and you’re still not going to be feeding enough.
Use a ration balancer at 1-2lb depending on her weight, and then add 1-2lb of alfalfa pellets for some additional calories. You don’t HAVE to soak most alfalfa pellets as they are not much different from most pelleted feeds, so if she chews well, no need to soak. Soaking is a nice to do if you want, and she’ll eat. Triple Crown 30 would be my preference, as there’s a nice gut support package in there, similar to the Outlast.
Triple Crown Lite is also an option where you could feed 1-2lb per 500lb body weight, so you could feed JUST that. If she’s 1000lb you can feed 2lb if she doesn’t need more weight, or up to 4lb if she could use a bit more.
2 Likes
Some horses may need grain. Yes horses that are in work. Most people’s horses are not in ‘work’.
Riding school horses need grain. They are classed as being in work.
If you have grass they do not NEED grain.
My tb was owned by a vet nurse. She followed vet and feed bags religiously. She sold him because he bucked on the lunge every single time and had to be ridden at least 3 times a week or she was in trouble.
I buy him, take him off grain, throw him out to eat and I have a calm, fat horse that it doesn’t matter if he is not ridden for days, weeks at a time.
Rinse and repeat for horses including TBS for over 40 years.
We have just gone through a drought so no grass and no hay. I was boiling barley. I don’t know if you call that grain. I was feeding 6 times a day with lucerne chaff and a mostly barley pellet with no oats, corn or molasses, it said it was grain free. Just to keep something in there tummies.
That lasted a year. The grass has grown back. They are now too fat and the feed has been stopped.
If it’s helpful in any way, I’ve found Standlee to be a softer pellet.
Still wrong. And “if you have grass” is a huge sweeping statement that tells you nothing about the quality of the grass or the hours spent on it.
That’s like saying no woman who is 5’5" and 120lb needs more than 1200 calories if she’s not exercising.
From a calorie perspective you CANNOT paint every horse (or person) with the same brush
We have just gone through a drought so no grass and no hay. I was boiling barley. I don’t know if you call that grain.
Of course that’s grain - it’s one of the main cereal grains - corn, oats, barley
I was feeding 6 times a day with lucerne chaff and a mostly barley pellet with no oats, corn or molasses, it said it was grain free. Just to keep something in there tummies.
Mostly barley and it said it was grain free? :rolleyes:
1 Like
Tell that to my RETIREE and his rehabbing pasture-mate (both in zero work) who had free choice hay and grass 24/7 and still required 8-lbs of grain per day to maintain a 4.5-5 BCS.
1 Like
there is a production date code on the bottom of each bag of Purina feeds… I have seen some bags at places like TSC that were nearly a year old
but OP… have you cleaned the horse’s feeder, overtime they become disgustingly dirty and I would not stick my nose in it either, or check the horse’s teeth?
we have one aged pony (over 40 years) who at times would not eat, so I started topdressing his Senior feed with iced oatmeal cookies, five per feeding… the dude leans the bowl now is fat. and refuses to eat unless he has his cookies on top of his feed. (fortunately for him the Aldi I get his cookies from the store manager keeps a hidden stash of cookies for the Charlie pony)
1 Like
After a certain age, when too thin, my feeling on all pets/horses/humans, I don’t care what they eat as long as they eat something.
Applied this to my cats and my hospiced Mom.
5 Likes
I threw the bag out already so I can’t check. I got it at southern states, that is a good point though.
Her teeth were recently done
I feed in a bucket that I wash out between each feeding but maybe it’s time for some soap and scrubbing
I am thinking of ordering something like peppermint or banana flavored powder to mix into her grain.
Update: I switched her schedule a bit. Morning is now a smaller meal of rice bran, her supplements, and water. She has decided this is adequate and will eat it.
Her second meal of the day is now straight ultium. She is eating it well so it must have been something wrong with that bag.
1 Like
My old barn couldn’t get anyone to eat Ultium.
Have you tried Healthy Edge or Impact Professional Performance? My old barn switched a hard keeping stallion off Ultium (which he wouldn’t eat) to Healthy edge and he gained weight quickly. Impact Pro Performance is similar in the sugar/starch profile to Healthy Edge but doesn’t have any corn.
