LMF TACO, Purena Strategy or other?

[Kayce]

Hi there, new to the forum! I have a new mare (few months now) and am trying to figure out how to feed her through winter. She’s an 11yr 16.1hh 1500lb draft mix mare (bucking stock with no buck) we are located in Western Washington. She’s a generally easy keeper and was on grazing until my grass ran out. She previously was fed very high quality, out of my budget hay as she lived in the middle of our local “hay country”. I can’t feed that. My other is a 20yr gelding 15.2hh 1200lb arabxpinto he’s an extremely easy keeper and I’ve owned him for almost 15years.

So, currently they get 25lbs good quality local grass hay twice daily between the two which they clean up without waste but not extremely quickly (works out to around 25lbs per horse a day) and am feeding 1/2 a can (I need to weigh it I know) to the mare and 1/4can to the gelding of LMF TACO (timothy.alfalfa.corn.oat) once daily with free choice mineral block. They’re doing well, the gelding is fat but not obese and is not being worked currently. The mare is ridden 1 to 3 times a week, sometimes more or less, to a decent sweat. She’s looking good, but I’d like a little more weight on her, she’s not on the lean side but is leaner than I’d like her.

What would your suggestions be? I’m trying to keep the feed bill as economical as possible, I’ve purchased hay in bulk and am happy with it, they will get more as weather gets colder as well. This is a supplmental feeding question. I prefer to feedless processed feeds but if the bang for buck is worth it I might consider switching. TACO, Strategy and Ration Balancers are highest on my list currently, along with simple alfalfa pellets, or adding BOSS seeds or Flax.

Thanks for opinions! Remember theyre both rather easy keepers!

[JB]

LMF Super Supplement G, the grass ration balancer. 1lb to each. If anyone needs a bit more, you can add alfalfa pellets. I don’t know if LMF has a lite feed, but if they do, that could be used for the one who need a little more as well (instead of the SS)

[poltroon]

LMF TACO always makes me laugh (I feed LMF Senior and all the LMF feeds are listed and described on the bag).

So my first question is, your 1500 lb mare, ridden 1-3 days a week, “not on the lean side” … I would first suggest you thoroughly consider why you would like a little more weight on her.

For any horse, it’s best not to have them too fat, but for larger horses like this especially, every pound they carry is reverberating through the joints. There are other health reasons a draft cross horse might be best off more on the lean side.

So I would try something like the LMF Super Supplement. Keep it simple. All you really need is a good source of vitamins and minerals. We tend to be low selenium in the northwest and when feeding hay I think it’s wise to have a source of Vitamin E and the Omega 3 fatty acids.

[Kayce]

Great suggestions. She’s a little on the lean side to me, or at least headed that way, she seems to have lost a bit and I’d like her not to lose any more, maybe gain a hair. You are right though, I don’t want her heavy in any way. She had been unfit and good weight when I got her and put on a bit with grazing and being off due to an abscess, she was pastured with a grazing muzzle on irrigated pasture previously. After healing from her abscess we ran out of grass and she started getting ridden, in that time she’s fit up nice but could use a few more lbs to keep fitting and not look too lean. Maybe that describes it better? My boy is still a bit too heavy so just gets a little to not make him irritated. Lol I’ll try the ration blanancer, was headed that way before but never tried it so was unsure.

[keysfins]

A weight tape might help track any trends for both horses, as you make diet changes.

[tazycat]

Why are you feeding Alfalfa ,corn & oats along with LMF to a fat horse? Just Timothy would be plenty. I feed Alfalfa & cracked corn mixed but my horses are not fat.

[PNWjumper]

I feed LMF TACO or Showtime to my crew. Easy keepers get the TACO (I like that it’s such a basic feed) and the horses that I want a little fat on get the Showtime. My big show horse gets both - TACO in the morning and Showtime in the evening. I used to feed Super Supplement to my youngsters, but realized that I like to be able to feed a little bit more (and wanted to fatten them up just a little more - and all were already eating free choice orchard grass), and so moved to the Showtime. I agree that if generally she’s an easy keeper the Super Supplement is a nice feed…but more expensive than the others, I think. In your case I would be more inclined to add a flake of alfalfa, up the TACO a little, or add in one of your other choices in addition to the TACO.

[Palm_Beach]

1500 lbs on a 16.1 hand horse is not “on the lean side” to me. OP, can you post a pic?

[JB]

I can easily see a 16.1 draft cross being 1500lb. I’ve seen 14.3 QHs weigh in at 1400 and not be remotely fat. Large bones, and seriously wide horses, as most drafts are, adds a lot of weight.

My old TB, the real JB, was 16.2 and 1320 on a scale, when nice and trim. It’s not a stretch to add another 180lb to a draft cross and still be lean.

[Heinz_57]

Can you by chance get Haystack feeds up your way? The Special Blend and the low carb/low fat might be worth looking at. You do need to add a vit/min supp but the feeds are made from pretty simple whole ingredients and are priced economically, the SB is ~$12/40lb here.

My now-retired TB is easily 1500lb (on a scale, no tapes here) when in good weight. Those big boned critters can be hefty. :lol:

[Kayce]

@tazycat

Why are you feeding Alfalfa ,corn & oats along with LMF to a fat horse? Just Timothy would be plenty. I feed Alfalfa & cracked corn mixed but my horses are not fat.

LMF TACO is a complte feed made of timothy alfa lfa corn and oat, they get very little of it for supplemental nutrition to my local grass hay.

[tazycat]

She doesn’t need to gain more weight unless you want an obese horse. Already looks fat. Body score of 4.5 is plenty fat enough.

Seeing some ribs doesn’t mean there to thin.No way she’s to thin far from it.

[candyappy]

@tazycat

She doesn’t need to gain more weight unless you want an obese horse. Already looks fat. Body score of 4.5 is plenty fat enough.

Seeing some ribs doesn’t mean there to thin.No way she’s to thin far from it.

I want to easily FEEL ribs not see them on any horse, especially on a draft or stock type breed. We all have our preferences but OP’s horse is not overweight in my opinion ( we will have to agree to disagree).

@Kayce She is not fat and while she may have lost a bit from where she was she looks fine in the first photo by the trailer.

[Kayce]

She’s defintely not fat. :rolleyes: Anyways, we’re feeding Enrich Plus, will see how they do on it. Thanks all

[tazycat]

She Definitely does not need weight either.No hint of any rib showing on that horse.:rolleyes:

[Kayce]

If you read those were last month, there is rib showing now. I don’t understand why you’re being so persistent. She’s not your horse, my question wasn’t whether she was overweight or under it was thoughts on certain feeds. Please move along. She is slightly under weight in my professional veterinary opinion at this time and as her owner I’d like weight on her. Geez.

[JB]

@tazycat

She doesn’t need to gain more weight unless you want an obese horse. Already looks fat. Body score of 4.5 is plenty fat enough.

4.5 is not plenty fat enough for a lot of horses going into Winter. 4.5 is pretty lean, not really much fat protection against cold, and definitely could not afford to lose any weight, especially if Winters are long and cold.

Seeing some ribs doesn’t mean there to thin.No way she’s to thin far from it.

She never said she was too thin. A touch of ribs showing might be fine for a high performance horse in hard work, a growing youngster, and it’s really fine for all horses on a standalone basis. But it would not serve any of my horses well going into even our Winters, where they tend to slim down anyway.

I’m not sure how you think adding 50-100lb on an already 1500lb horse who is at a 4.5 BCS would make her obese. At best it would make her a low 5. 4.5 is NOT “already looks fat”.

[Kayce]

Thank you JB, our winters are not particularly hard but they’ve been getting colder each year and we’re already frosting up at night and they’re 24hr turnout. I don’t want her continued riding, and winter to take any off of her and would like a bit to sacrifice going into it. In addition she is quite a bit thinner than those show, I’d out her closer to a 4 at this time since switching from pasture to hay and small amount of TACO. I’m hoping the ration balancer will be enough for her but am already thinking she’ll need something more. I monitor very closely theor losses and redistribution with measurements and a close eye so we’ll see how it goes.

My boy on the otherhand is a bit overweight and am looking to get some more off of him but he does tend to lose over winter in my 15 years owning him and he’s older so he’s got some to give up but not so much he’ll be too thin.

I think the suggestion of a ration balancer was great and am looking forward to seeing their changes! Thanks!

[JB]

She is definitely a bit too thin right now.

[Kayce]

Definitely. I’m thinking about using the TACO with the RB until she gains. The RB will be great for my chubby boy but I’m afraid of her losing more.