COTH and having an easy keeper were the catalyst for my interest in nutrition! I just finished three, 6 week certificate courses through UMN on Horse Nutrition, Growing/Feeding Hay, and Managing Overweight Horses and they were absolutely worth the money (less than $100/course). Glowing recommendations from me!
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I didn’t say they aren’t important? You said have blood work done. You can’t determine anything about protein or AAs there. If you DO see a protein issue, that’s a disease problem, not a diet problem
It doesn’t take a nutritionist to know to feed good quality hay and the right amount of a ration balancer, or regular feed if the calories are needed, to get plenty of protein and AAs for a normal, healthy horse eating a normal amount of an average forage. Forage alone usually provides enough protein and AAs.
It’s great if someone can get hay tested. It’s often not feasible. Just know that most forages provide enough protein on their own, and what’s supplied with a feed is a bonus and “just in case”.
6% protein would be low quality grass hay. An 1100lb horse eating 22lb is getting 599gm protein from that. He needs around 700 if he’s in moderate work. Add a 30% ration balancer for another 136 and you’re covered. But grass hay averages around 10% protein, so that 22lb is 998gm. Even 8% is 799gm.
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@JB Enrich Senior shows 2.00 ppm of selenium on the tag.
I feed my gelding 2 cups once a day and he gets another supplement with 1 mg of selenium in it as well.
How much would the 2.00 ppm come to when converted to mg? I have looked and the conversion instructions leave me brain dead 
I just don’t want to give him too much.
ppm is mg/kg, which is mg/2.2lb. So, divide by 2.2 to get mg/lb
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I’m sorry but that has me just as confused. Math was my worst subject…
You need to weigh your “2 cups”.
The enrich has 2mg Se/kg, which is ~.909mg/lb. So multiply your .9 by (how many lbs you feed a day).
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I believe it was 1 pound when I measured it years ago when I started feeding it. So if he is getting 1 pound he is getting .9 of selenium. Is that just shy of 1.0 mg ???
I will weigh the 2 cups again.
Thank you. This I can understand.
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Yes, just shy of 1mg per pound if you feed 1lb a day!
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Would a total of 3mg a day be too much ?
2ppm (which is 2mg per kg) means divide 2 by 2.2 (to get to the per pound amount), so you get 0.90mg per 1lb of this product.
Enrich is generally 2c/lb, so as long as you’ve weighed your 2c to be 2lb, then you’re adding 0.90mg of Se in that 1lb.
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2ppm=2 mg/kg
Weigh the cup volume of feed.
If you’re using a gram scale, you should be all set.
If you’re using a pounds scale, 2.2 lbs=1kg.
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I’ve seen 2 cups = 1 lb tossed around for a few balancers. And both of the balancers I’ve weighed come out at 3 cups per lb. I’ve used different measuring cups but only the one scale. Now I’m paranoid lol
The only ones I can think of offhand are the Enrich balancers - regular and Sr. I THINK there’s 1, maybe 2 more, which are this dense, but you’re right, MOST are more like 3c/lb.
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Oh! well I feel better. Though I should probably dig out my other scale and double check myself.
Wouldn’t that depend on your hay/soil?
Highly unlikely, as lots of feeds provide that when fed at the higher end range, and sometimes even at the lower end
Unless your area is known to be high in Se, which isn’t a huge % of the US, then I wouldn’t worry at all
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I did weigh the Enrich Senior and according to my scale ( a good one) a well rounded 2 cups is 1 pound.
I also weighed the Smart Edge I feed and it was the same.
We are a Se deficient area and when I added up the numbers for Se in the 2 feeds ( gets 2 well rounded cups of Senior & Smart Edge) and the 2 supplements he gets, it comes to around 2.6mg ( at most) of added selenium .
I had to guess on the Smart Edge as the min/ max range was 0.60- 0.72 but they have you feeding anywhere from 3 1/2 lbs to 7 3/4ths in his weight range/ workload and he gets 1 pound.
So I think we are ok. He is doing great and I don’t plan on changing a thing…
candyappyGrand Prix
I did weigh the Enrich Senior and according to my scale ( a good one) a well rounded 2 cups is 1 pound.
I also weighed the Smart Edge I feed and it was the same.
I dragged out my kitchen scale, and it got the same result as my fish scale I normally use in the barn. I’m weighing the TC Balancer Gold and the Purina Omega Match. They are coming out at 3 cups per lb. Just shows how important it is to weigh one’s feed!
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It really matters when you need to be certain. I normally don’t need to be so precise but this gelding is more labor intensive than any horse I have ever had…
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Or the trainer did tell the client, but the client can’t remember what it was or why. Seen that plenty of times.
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