Menu

Stay in Touch
Sign up for ENews
Subscribe Now

Unlimited access >

Menu

Lots of thought... on feeding my boys

Horse Care
#1

After much thought and playing financial tetris … I just can’t keep spending the amount of money ($77.00 ordering CA from Chewy and another $70 or so on a v/m supplement). I just can’t do it, its frustrating and expensive to keep going down the path that I am on at this time.

I have sent an email to Modesto Milling Co and to Cold Springs Organic about their feed with one response from Modesto, still waiting a reply from Cold Springs… but in the mean time I want and need to save some money but still feed my horses a good diet… and yes you can say I told you so :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

We were at Atwoods last night and I stopped and looked at Nutrenas Empower Topline Balance, thoughts - its a fairly new feed isn’t it? No recalls that anybody is aware of? I can also get Triple Crown Lite and I know Tractor Supply as ReNew Gold…

They are getting hay 24/7 - not being worked or ridden… but they do have a pretty good size paddock to run and play in.

1 Like
#2

What does your hay analysis show? How many pounds per horse are being consumed? How do they look? You need to fill in the blanks wrt the hay analysis and the physical condition of your horses.

3 Likes
#3

Empower Topline Balance is just a re-name of the Empower Balance. I’m not sure if there was also a bit of a reformulation, but it’s still just their ration balancer.

If weight is good on the forage, then I’d go with any ration balancer, whether Nutrena or (preferably) Triple Crown, but really any of them will do. The minimal feeding amount of TC Lite will be more calories than the ration balancers.

Given how little of the CA you were feeding (or were going to feed) my guess is they don’t need significant calories, so the ration balancer is the way to go. If you find at some point they need a little more, especially as Winter goes on, you can add a couple pounds alfalfa pellets, rather than switching feeds and then switching back later. But you could also switch to TC LIte, for example, then back to a RB, without any problems.

5 Likes
#4

I have not done a hay analysis on the hay, they get hay 24/7 bluestem/some prairie hay… I think they look fine but if you were to ask my barn owner she would tell you they loose weight… lol

#5

If they don’t need the calories for keeping weight could go with a vit/min and say just oats. Uckeles has one that’s pretty reasonable price wise. Here’s a link https://uckele.com/equi-vm.html/ Not sure if there’s a shipping fee or not. My one gelding is extremely picky so most vit/mins he won’t touch, so i’m limited on what i can feed.

Triple crown is a good brand,i plain just don’t trust nutrena so won’t buy there feeds. Not worth the risk of contamination.

#6

From your other thread, I thought you were feeding a bit of oats and a bit of alfalfa pellets and a vit/mineral supplement. Why not just continue that? You sounded happy with it, other than wanting the small amount of “extras” in CA.

What are you hoping the grain will do? What holes do you perceive in your feeding regime that you’re looking to fill?

1 Like
#7

I was feeding whole oats and pellets, but I was spending lots of $$$ on free choice minerals and vit/min supplements from Dynamite Specialty… and I was having to soak the pellets because my horses have choked on them in the past… and with the CA the grass pellets in that are smaller and harder and the horses do fine…no soaking which my barn owner really likes…it’s easier for her.

#8

If your horses are consuming the free choice minerals why feed a vit/ min supplement on top of that? Horses don’t have to be fed a bagged feed or any grain at all to be healthy. If they can hold good weight on the hay your barn supplies and you don’t work or ride them, one of the many ration balancers ( i have never used one) should give them the needed nutrients your hay might be missing.

1 Like
#9

Free choice mineral isn`t really reliable as they might consume too much or too little. They regulate salt intake OK but not mineral blocks.

If your barn has a consistent supply of hay for the winter, you can have the hay tested. This will let you know if there are any gaps in the mineral content. Where I live in the rainy PNW for instance there is not much minerals in the soil or the hay, as it all washes out. You will also get an idea of the protein content and the NSC.

If your hay is good, and weight and energy are fine (energy doesnt matter so much if you arent riding them), then any ration balancer that fits the profile of your hay is going to be OK. You want to keep an eye on things like too much selenium and too much iron.

If you need concentrated calories without the NSC of grain, beet pulp is a great choice. It makes a nice mash.

To see if your horses are losing weight we really need to see photos.

Some folks idea of normal is obese with fat pockets, other people`s idea of normal is borderline skinny.

#10

If you don’t know what is in your hay or how much they are eating, you are just guesssing to feed them right. Don’t lose too much sleep over it, mine are on pasture so I have no idea how much grass they eat each day. I will get my hay analyzed since they are on hay over the winter, but I’ve never had anything unusual come back with the hay.

As a rule of thumb, if they seem like a healthy weight and have good topline and hoof quality without hard feed, I’d feed Triple Crown Lite. If there is poor topline and hoof quality, I feed Triple Crown 30%. My race horses get Triple Crown Senior fed according to the instructions. Those who I feel need a bit more muscle and topline will also get Triple Crown 30% once I feel they are close to their ideal weight to go back into training.

1 Like
#11

How fast were they going through the minerals? If they were consuming them at a rate that makes it a lot of money, something is wrong. Either they needed them, and weren’t being given the option of catching up so they could taper off (ie they were being doled out in too-small amounts), or the forage is so lacking they could never catch up.

and I was having to soak the pellets because my horses have choked on them in the past…

What pellets?

1 Like
#12

I feed a free choice vit/min and on average a 25 lb bag last over 2 months. Its 28 dollars a bag, horses like it, even mr picky. Spend 450$ a month to feed 2 horses for 2 months that’s 22.50 a 50 lb bag TCS feed. To help pay for my feed i put away 30 dollars every 2 weeks just for feed. Been doing that for almost 2 years now. Have quite a big chunk of money saved. I never dip into this account for anything but feed.

There on pasture right now 24/7 plenty of it so not currently feeding hay.

#13

You still haven’t stated what you’re looking to accomplish with your grain.

For example, I have horses that need extra calories than just grass can provide. They need grain to augment what they get from their hay to keep their weight up. I feed triamino when I’m not using a lot of alfalfa, to supplement limiting amino acids, because I’ve found my specific horses have that requirement. If they’re not eating a lot of fresh grass, they’re on vit e because that’s lacking in dried hay. I also supplement flax for fat and omega 3 along with more oil for fat. See? That’s what I’m trying to get out of my feed buckets and how I’m getting there.

So what holes are you looking to fill? Why do you think your horses need grain at all?

As others have shared, there’s zero evidence (and scientists have looked at this a few times) that horses can autoregulate anything but salt. The dynamite people don’t want you to know that. Free choice minerals don’t really work that way. Offer free choice salt and add an appropriate vit/mineral if you think your hay is lacking…although to know, you really should be testing the hay.

Not all horses NEED grain. If you want to feed it to them for the warm fuzzies that’s a lot different than trying to fill a giant hole in the diet. If you’re just looking to cover your bases with a vit/mineral, something like this (or this) would probably work fine with nothing else added. If you think they need more protein (are you seeing anything that is telling you that?) go with a ration balancer. If it’s just for the warm fuzzies or to make them think they’re being fed when the other horses in the barn are, a handful of oats is cheap. But without understanding what needs are driving you it’s impossible to make recommendations.

4 Likes
#14

I am gonna write one long post and hopefully it will answers some of your questions…

I was feeding whole oats and alfalfa/timothy pellets, a small handful of pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes along with the following supplements

https://dynamitespecialty.myvoffice.com/ShoppingCart/index.cfm?FuseAction=CategoryShop&CategoryID=4

Dynamite
Excel
Dyna Pro
Free Choice minerals 1:1, 2:1, Izmine and NTM Salt

As long as they were getting the Dynamite and the Excel they hardly touched the free choice minerals… and they would get salads every other day or so (different kinds of green kale, spinach carrots, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, apples, sunflower seeds etc)

When they were boarded at the place before where they are now, they were not getting hay all the time the barn owner only gave them hay in the winter. If they got hay in the off winter month i had to provide it, and the grass was not that great in less i let them graze outside their paddocks. They had horrible toplines -

At their current boarding place they have hay in front of them all the time - they are getting 2 cups of the Crypto and that’s it. My barn owner is very attentive to their weight, how much they eat and how long it take them to eat - I do feel like they need something to maintain their top-line - it seems like if they don’t get enough calories their toplines start really showing wither, spine, loins over the hips etc…

I do plan on doing a hay analysis, is there a place where i can get one done online?

They aren’t being worked or ridden at the moment…

#15

I think an RB like TC 30 sounds like a good thing to try. I know you are not big on soy, though. You could instead do alfalfa pellets with a v/m supplement and add amino acids if needed, but that will get more expensive. I’d pick alfalfa pellets over beet pulp for the protein, and you can get some organic ones. I think Ultra Cruz makes their Platinum Performance knockoff formula that’s flax based and should be palatable to mix with minimal other stuff (at least I know PP is…I haven’t tried the Ultra Cruz one myself but know it’s cheaper).

1 Like
#16

@ownerof2mfts - you pretty much need an advanced degree in mathematics to determine whether or not your horses are getting all of what they need and not too much of what they need with the cornucopia of what you were feeding. The “salads” are a waste of time and you really don’t want to be doing a diet change every other day or so. If you brought them to my barn I’d dump them in the trash, or feed them to the chickens and goats.

I suspect you’ve never sat down to analyze what you are feeding and compare it to what the horses actually need. That is why they had horrible toplines - you were just throwing stuff at them. Just because something has some healthy components doesn’t mean you should feed a handful to your horses. Horrible toplines means you were not feeding enough quality protein. If you don’t feel like figuring out what you are feeding your horses, at least research feed companies and pick one that formulates products that fill the holes in they typical equine diet. There are people who actually do equine nutrition for a living and are very well educated and keep up with research. Spending time tooling around online does not make you smarter than them.

6 Likes
#17

@Palm Beach no I have never sat down to analyze what I was feeding, it has dawned on me a while ago that what I was doing wasn’t working. That’s why I am here asking for help…:wink:

I think I am going to go back to a ration balancer… I am still concerned with soy and the contamination - but from my other post I can get Progressive and Purina - Triple Crown (Lite and Complete at our local Atwoods) which were all the list of companies that do ionophore free manufacturing?

#18

Get the bagged us alfalfa, put a red salt block out, and be done with it. If they start to get thin, either rolled oats or canola oil with take care of it.

2 Likes
#19

If you can’t get TC 30%, I’d feed Progressive. It is similar in nutrition, and I haven’t met a horse yet that won’t eat it.

2 Likes
#20

TC 30% works for many peoples horses on here. Horses not in work do just fine on 24/7 hay only, and loose salt/mineral mix provided free choice. Throw in some alfalfa and call it a day. No soy in hay only diet no contamination worry simple easy and saves a ton of money.

Get your Digital Subscription here - only $21.95 / year

Subscribe here
See gift options

Sign up to our monthly newsletter!

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.

Copyright © 2023 The Chronicle of the Horse