You’d be surprised at what looks like filler to us is actually good for horses.
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Triple Crown has their ingredient lists online, if you’d like to look there.
So does ProElite.
And Sentinel.
And Legends.
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Usually there’s a caveat on the feed bag… There is a minimum that must be fed to meet the vitamin/mineral needs. I’m not familiar with TC lite, but I doubt you’re hitting it at 1-2lbs/day.
I am hitting it at exactly 1 and 2 lbs a day. It’s good stuff.
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I did look it up after I posted (should have done that first!!!) and yes you’re right. Looks like it’s along the lines of a ration balancer.
Yes, it is, and great for those fatties who just want to stay fat. It was TC who convinced me to switch from the 30% and it’s a bit less expensive.
TC Lite has a feeding rate of 1-2lb per 500lb. That’s minimally 2lb for a 1000lb horse. Any less, and it’s under-feeding, just as it would be under-feeding to use 4lb of a regular feed meant to be fed at minimally 6lb for a given weight.
It’s not a ration balancer. Its feeding is between that of a RB, and a regular feed.
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Trail ride, endurance rides 2 a year 50 mile ones. Worked at least 3 hours per day mostly trotting and catering. Also help at a feedlot 3 to 4 times a week. Sorting cows ,doctoring sick or injured cows.
No not air ferns ribs are visible to some degree.
Have fed purina ultium ,nutrena senior ,safe choice original. Safe choice performance, safe choice special care. Feed Alfalfa/Timothy hay ,pasture is clover grass mix. At one time I fed oats with a vitamin mineral supplement.
Currently have one horse. Had two sold the one gelding as he wasn’t cut out for working feedlot scared of cows…couldn’t swing a rope off him, he’d bolt and buck. Don’t have time for that nonsense ,he was a nut case. Have to be good riding working horse’s or they get sold.
It’s Canada. Everything costs more. I priced out all the other vitamin mineral supplements and mine is indeed the cheapest. It’s local. We don’t get many American brands and they are always going to cost at least 30 % more in Canada even when the dollar is at par.
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A horse in as much work as you describe with visible ribs (as in, obvious to the eye, not just palpable to the touch) would have me worried about a caloric deficit or perhaps a metabolic problem. It’s funny – just the other day there was another poster on this forum talking about ribby horses like it wasn’t a big deal. I’m not sure I agree.
Unless you were feeding far under the recommended rations of the pelleted concentrated feeds you’ve listed, I can’t imagine the calories alone wouldn’t have made a noticeable difference. Something doesn’t add up.
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I fed just under the recommended amount. No matter how much weight horse has his ribs show. He certainly isn’t skinny, just ribs show rest of him looks good. I don’t like seeing ribs, but nothing I feed or do changes it. He’s at a good weight now but ribby no other bones showing.
On lunch break he’s tied to trailer with a full hay bag. He’s got plenty of energy goes all day working cattle never miss a beat.
Not gaining weight with an increased caloric intake is not normal. And other bone structures besides ribs don’t tend to become visible until horses are in the 2 range of the Henneke scale (very underweight), so seeing ribs but not other bones doesn’t necessarily mean that the horse is at a healthy weight. And if the horse is ribby in spite of carrying extra weight elsewhere, that points to other veterinary problems.
You should probably be consulting a vet if your horses fail to gain weight with additional supplementation of calories, not posting on an internet forum about how bagged feed doesn’t make a difference in nutrition.
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He was just seen by vet for spring shots teeth float and fecal. Vet said he looked fine weight wise ,wasn’t concerned about him being ribby. Said he’s a body score of 5 everywhere else.
He’s always been ribby ,sometimes more so then other times. He weighs 1,250 lbs at 15.3 hands.
A horse whose ribs are seen is not a BCS5. If a vet doesn’t know how the whole scoring system works - which is about all body parts, not just looking at 1 part and assigning a score based on that - then I would not look to that vet for nutrition advice.
Ribs should be easily felt, but not seen, except for maybe the last couple. Any more than that, no matter what, and he’s too lean. There are some valid reasons to keep a horse more lean than the last few ribs seen, but that doesn’t cover horses in the work you say yours are.
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He’s got a big belly but he’s ribby. Hindquarters are nice and round his back is also nice and filled in. No hip bones showing. He’s wormed every 3 or 4 months with ivermectin or strongid paste. Fecals are always around 800 to 1000 epg. Do fecals once a year in spring. I try to do right by my horse but honestly don’t know everything care wise.
Hes a good boy works hard always ready to go. I always reward him after working, loves apples so gets 5 or so at end of day.
Clearly something is amiss if he’s regularly a high shedder. If you are only using ivermectin and pyrantel pamoate, then you are only effectively using ivermectin, as pp is most likely doing nothing. So you’re only using 1 effective chemical (ivermectin) evern 6-8 months.
Unless you are doing a double dose of that Strongid, you aren’t killing tapeworms at all, ever. if you are using a double Strongid, then you’re killing tapeworms, but not terribly effectively.
And if he’s regularly a high shedder of 800-1000, then he likely has a chronic encysted strongyle colony.
He needs either Quest Plus unless he’s TOO thin, or at least a Power Pack, to try to get a handle on his encysted colony, and at least twice a year FECs and deworming appropriate to get his count down on a regular basis.
Even every vet I know who isn’t up to date on the resistance issue at least takes notice of a horse who is a regular high shedder and recommends more than what you’re currently using.
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That’s not how BCS works.
And what’s the point of the FEC if you stick to a not so great rotational worming regimen regardless?
Not to mention 5 apples a day for a horse whose body condition could be a symptom of a metabolic disorder…
I really hope that this is just another tazy story, as what you describe does not sound like good management or veterinary care.
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I was thinking the same thing. Thread hi-jacking and all. Troll.
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This is not correct. A hard working sport horse in a demanding discipline such as racing, eventing, endurance etc absolutely can have visible ribs and be in excellent condition. Excess weight is a detriment to the performance of that horse and increases the chance of injury.
@warriorhorse - your horse is fine, ignore the fat worshippers. They do not understand sports medicine or health if they think 25 pounds of fat is healthy and a good thing for a sport horse. Absolutely listen to your vet, and ignore any anonymous internet poster with no credentials who tells you your vet is wrong…
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A picture is worth 1000 words. Why don’t you post one?
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