Ration Balancer or VMS

[lenapesadie]

I’ve got my horses moved home finally (yay)! My 9 yr old gelding is “hunter fat”.

His current diet consists of 12 hrs of grazing on mixed pasture (Bermuda, a bit of fescue, a bit of rye, random weeds), free choice Bermuda hay in stall (I estimate he’s cleaning up 8-10lbs daily), a big ish flake of alfalfa hay (@ 4-5 lbs) and 6 lbs TCS (3lbs am and 3lbs pm). And too many GD supplements.

I’d like to increase his legume hay and realize I’ll need to cut his grain back to avoid him getting any plumper. I would love to be able to reduce his supplements.

Ideally, I’d find some product that has an excellent zinc / copper / vitamin e / biotin profile with as little iron possible.

Locally, I have access to TC 30 (not the Gold unfortunately) Nutrena, Purina and Seminole feeds. Willing to order online from Chewy or similar for grain and basically wherever for a VMS. I would prefer a RB as that would be less mixing / items to have on hand IF there is one available with enough copper / zinc / vitamin E / Biotin to avoid additional supplements of those items.

Help

[WildGooseChase]

I’d take him off all commercial feeds, feed the extra hay/legumes you want, and if he needs more calories than what the hay/legumes can provide, try a ration balancer like Tribute Essential K or Purina Enrich. If you want/need a soy free option, try Purina Omega Match.

[Scribbler]

What is your goal here?

You can certainly just feed pasture, hay of different types, and an RB. I feed a pwder VMS in a small beet pulp mash. I’m in a market without a comprehensive RB.

Here in Canada I like Mad Barn Omniety which is a full spectrum VMS with lots of copper, zinc, biotin, E. However there are similar products in the US, I believe. Mad Barn delivers free to the US.

Right now your horse is getting 15 lbs of hay overnight and pasture all day. If he’s obese you may need to cut down on his total hay as well as eliminate the bagged feed.

[lenapesadie]

It’s not the calories he would need in the RB it’s the minerals/vitamins. I looked at the Purina Omega the other day. It’s too light in minerals to suit. I’ll check out the Tribute!

[WildGooseChase]

Have you had all your hay sources and alfalfa tested? How are you coming to the conclusion that it’s too little?

[Scribbler]

Check out Omniety and see how it compares to the American forage balance VMS like the companies that make California Trace or Vermont Trace, which I hear recommended here all the time. My feeling is that most of the big company RB don’t have that much minerals in them but I could be wrong.

[lenapesadie]

Goal: increase calories from long stem forage, decrease number of supplements. Horse isn’t obese, in good condition per vet check two weeks ago, but he certainly doesn’t need to gain any weight so if I increase hay calories I’ll need to decrease grain calories!

There’s also a long winded management situation that would be solved by increasing his hay calories, so there is that.

He’s just settling in at home, just been here since Thursday. I anticipate his grass hay consumption will increase as he settles. At boarding barn he was cleaning up considerably more grass hay but less pasture hours. So we will see how it goes.

[Heinz_57]

California Trace, Vermont Blend, AZ Copper Complete, and there are a few others I can’t think of names for that all have appropriately high zinc/copper levels, plus added good stuff like amino acids and magnesium that might allow you to cut out some supps. Off the top of my head none are going to have sufficient E, though, you will have to add that. I feed vermont blend with some timothy pellets and add liquid E.

[lenapesadie]

That’s a good idea. My brain is kinda fried but will check into it!

[lenapesadie]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Scribbler]

He will get more E from pasture. If he’s out 12 hours he may not need E. If he’s getting alfalfa he may not need extra protein.

[lenapesadie]

That’s a good point.

[lenapesadie]

@WildGooseChase

How are you coming to the conclusion that it’s too little?

Because per the label it’s lighter in minerals than his current grain regimen and he needs mineral supplements on his current grain regimen to maintain proper hoof and skin conditions.

[Scribbler]

Yes, making a spread sheet or at least printing off the data sheets for comparison is very useful. And then doing a calculation on the cost per feeding and the calories per feeding. It becomes obvious which feeds or supplements have very little of what you need!

[joiedevie99]

If he’s doing well on the TCS, I’d probably try the TC30.

[Ponycatraz]

This is from a fb group that I am a member. Helped me decide what vms I needed after my move. Luckily the same one works so no changes needed.

I noticed a huge improvement in hair quality in both horses, as well as a getting rid of toe cracks and rain rot in my iron sensitive horse when I switched. Both horses were on a “good”RB prior to switching.

[lenapesadie]

I’ve been taking screen shots and flipping back and forth lol

[lenapesadie]

Thank you! I think I may go this route. So far, the Tribute Wholesome Blends balancer seems good too, but it’s quite a bit more expensive than the TC 30 and would have to be ordered.

[lenapesadie]

Dollar wise I might be best served to continue on with my bulk copper and zinc routine added to whatever feed.

[Scribbler]

Good chart! Feeding the California Trace in a small beet pulp mash would be the easiest and cheapest probably.