Replacing grain with timothy pellets, vitamins, and flax?

[jumbojet]

My horse suffers from sweet itch and I’m trying to get her on a diet that doesn’t have molasses as I’ve heard it can potentially make sweet itch worse. She’s a senior, but she’s a fairly easy keeper. I just don’t really like having her on a senior feed since I don’t think she really needs it anyways.

She’s on Safechoice Senior now, which has molasses (although not a lot, I feel like she itched less when she wasn’t on this feed), and I’m planning to switch her to timothy pellets and Smartpak’s Smartvite Thrive Senior complete vitamin supplement. I also have her on MSM and 3 cups of Omega Horseshine a day (to help with her itchy skin and her hooves), but I’m planning to switch her to plan flaxseed once the Omega Horseshine runs out (too $$$).

I know the vitamins will give her all of the nutrients she needs vitamin and mineral wise. Will the hay pellets and Omega Horseshine give her the calories, protein, and fat she needs?

Also, I want to know how many calories are in the hay pellets and how many are in the Senior feed so I know how much to give her, but I can’t find the info anywhere!

[demidq]

Check with the company making them, they should have those values available if they are reputable.

[walkinthewalk]

1. For an average horse, the instructions on the Omega-3 Horseshine bag only allow 1/2 to ONE measuring cup daily to be fed. You may be doing more harm than good by tripling their maximum recommended amount.

2. I feed both my itchy horse and my IR horse Timothy pellets and a condensed vit/min supplement that is soy-free. They are both easy keepers so only get 1-1/4 measuring cups twice daily. I add a bit of water to hold everything together.

3. You can also increase Vitamin E. Buy 1000IUat WalMart. BREAK THE CAPSULES open and add 3000 IU daily to the feed pan.

no matter how slick a horse’s coat and how so,I’d the hooves, they can still have an immune deficiency when it comes to fighting off seasonal itchies.

[Texarkana]

Timothy pellets are usually in the neighborhood of 800 calories/pound.

I reached out to Nutrena about SafeChoice Senior a few years ago when my picky mare decided she liked it for a short period of time. IIRC, it was pretty low for a senior feed-- in the ballpark of 1300 calories/pound.

I’m sure you realize this, but by switching to timothy pellets, you are going to be losing more than just calories, though. You will be losing protein, particularly essential amino acids. You will be losing fats. Smart Thrive Senior does provide some essential amino acids; just double check the math to make sure it is enough to make a difference.

I don’t say any of the above to deter you! You may just need to tinker with the diet depending on your horse. I personally prefer the same approach, using forage (including forage pellets) and a good vit/min as a base, then add in whatever extras each horse needs.

On a side note, I have a perpetually itchy mare. I’ve tried a lot of things with her, dietary, supplemental, and prescription, with limited success. Yet over the winter, I got suckered into buying this overpriced seaweed supplement from a well-respected local trainer who apparently peddles this snake oil on the side. For the past few months, I’ve seen zero results with the seaweed supplement-- I only kept feeding it because it was too expensive to just throw away. But this summer, my itchy girl seems noticeably less itchy. It has me wondering if flax/MSM/seaweed is the magic combo for her… of course, it could be total coincidence. She’s always on flax and frequently on MSM and neither seemed to help with her itchiness alone. The only new addition is the seaweed stuff.

[jumbojet]

@walkinthewalk

1. For an average horse, the instructions on the Omega-3 Horseshine bag only allow 1/2 to ONE measuring cup daily to be fed. You may be doing more harm than good by tripling their maximum recommended amount.

2. I feed both my itchy horse and my IR horse Timothy pellets and a condensed vit/min supplement that is soy-free. They are both easy keepers so only get 1-1/4 measuring cups twice daily. I add a bit of water to hold everything together.

3. You can also increase Vitamin E. Buy 1000IUat WalMart. BREAK THE CAPSULES open and add 3000 IU daily to the feed pan.

no matter how slick a horse’s coat and how so,I’d the hooves, they can still have an immune deficiency when it comes to fighting off seasonal itchies.

It says on the bag that they can be fed up to three cups a day for horse’s with skin issues

[jumbojet]

@Texarkana

Timothy pellets are usually in the neighborhood of 800 calories/pound.

I reached out to Nutrena about SafeChoice Senior a few years ago when my picky mare decided she liked it for a short period of time. IIRC, it was pretty low for a senior feed-- in the ballpark of 1300 calories/pound.

I’m sure you realize this, but by switching to timothy pellets, you are going to be losing more than just calories, though. You will be losing protein, particularly essential amino acids. You will be losing fats. Smart Thrive Senior does provide some essential amino acids; just double check the math to make sure it is enough to make a difference.

I don’t say any of the above to deter you! You may just need to tinker with the diet depending on your horse. I personally prefer the same approach, using forage (including forage pellets) and a good vit/min as a base, then add in whatever extras each horse needs.

On a side note, I have a perpetually itchy mare. I’ve tried a lot of things with her, dietary, supplemental, and prescription, with limited success. Yet over the winter, I got suckered into buying this overpriced seaweed supplement from a well-respected local trainer who apparently peddles this snake oil on the side. For the past few months, I’ve seen zero results with the seaweed supplement-- I only kept feeding it because it was too expensive to just throw away. But this summer, my itchy girl seems noticeably less itchy. It has me wondering if flax/MSM/seaweed is the magic combo for her… of course, it could be total coincidence. She’s always on flax and frequently on MSM and neither seemed to help with her itchiness alone. The only new addition is the seaweed stuff.

Wow, you’re right, 1275 calories. I thought it would have been more too. I’ll have to look into the seaweed. I know source makes a seaweed supplement.