Recently transplanted from Ontario, and I’m totally clueless on how to feed my new horse here. I do know he needs selenium supplementation, but at what rate?
He has quite a bit of pasture, but how much nutrition remains in the grass in the winter? He does immediately clean up the good timothy hay I provide him ( at 28.50 bale ! Ouch although it is a huge bale).
He is a 4 yr old 14.2 hh quarter horse of average build, not in heavy work right now, but groundwork lunging etc.
Thanks for any help.
There is a fabulous feed made here on the island, for island horses! It’a a ration balancer called Island Horse Supplement. It’s fed at a rate of 1 cup/day(not a typo) for a 1000lb horse, so should be just right for your guy. It’s available at Top Shelf Feeds on the highway just south of Duncan, or at about 6 satellite feed stores across the island (depending where you are). I’ve fed it for about 7 years to my horse and she looks fabulous on it and home-grown grass hay with a bit of supplementation with soaked alfalfa cubes for ulcer prevention.
The last week or so since it’s been so warm there’s likely a lot of sugar in the grass, so something to be aware of if he’s not used to much grass.
Once the temps drop below 6 degrees C the grass will stop growing, but until then it will grow a little each day and provide some nibbling effect, if not total nutritional needs.
You could probably manage to incorporate some local grass hay w/ your timothy if you choose to feed the Island Horse r/b since he has grass to eat all year.
If you decide not to go with the Island Horse, then you need to discover his base Se level and figure out his supplement needs from that so you don’t over- or under supplement. I have found the best Se supplement is Platinum (but it can only be purchased from a vet) as prescribed by the vet.
Welcome to the Island (I was a transplant from Ontario, too, over 26 years ago)!
The ration balancers from Otter Co-op are also popular out here (All Phase and All Phase Lite) http://www.ottercoop.com/index.php?id=126. When fed as directed along with good hay or pasture, most horses get enough of everything they need (including Se).
If you have questions, their nutritionist is friendly and helpful.
Yes, I fed All Phase for many years too. I guess the difference is 1 to 1-1/2lb per day vs 1 to 1-1/2 cups per day.
Thanks for the input. I will look for the feeds mentioned here in the Coombs area, especially that island horse supplement.
Cheers
Ahh, Coombs!! I know Coombs (well); I used to live in Errington. Lots of lovely places to trail ride in and through Coombs.
Re: the Island Horse, try Station Farm & Feed right on the hwy- Emile is a distributor of Top Shelf, so he should have it.
The Island Horse supplement has (or had, last time I checked) more inorganic than organic selenium. So if your horse doesn’t absorb inorganic selenium well, watch out for this. (It also has alfalfa and some grain.) I think Otter Co-op only uses organic selenium now, but some horses can be sensitive to the soy in All Phase (it has hulls and some oil).
I don’t know what the hay grower’s situation is like on the Island; I’m sure there must be local hay production. In the Lower Mainland, there are a lot of options for what’s called “local hay,” meaning grass hay grown by smaller producers in the rainy zone of the Fraser Valley. Commercially grown timothy, orchard grass, or alfalfa comes from the dry zones in the BC Interior or Washington State. The commercially grown hays are often big three-string bales, 100-plus pounds. The “local hay” is usually two string bales, in the 50 lb range. The local hay is usually much less per pound than the commercial hay, especially if you buy direct from the farmer.
“Local hay” can be much higher in sugar, lower in minerals, and sometimes lower in protein than the commercial hay, because of the climate; the rain washes the minerals out of the soil (hence the low selenium content). You can however always get it tested, to see what it contains. Some of it is very good, some of it not so much.
As with the hay, the quality of pasture can vary a lot, depending on the soil, the water table, and the actual plants in your field. Some of our local wild grasses like Canary Reed Grass don’t have much nutrition; some of our fields get overrun with toxic plants like buttercups. Some fields have rich black silt from being in the river bottoms, while others are mostly sand/gravel glacial till. Some fields drain OK year round, others turn into ponds and can’t be used from November to April. And many people limit winter turnout to avoid destroying all the grass for the next year. I’m thinking about the Fraser Valley in all of this, but I imagine the same things would apply to Coombs, which is a similar climate.
The difference with Ontario would be that the fields will continue to look green all year around, but will pretty much stop growing over the winter. The grass will start up growing again in February or March, if there is no snow. If you have a large, well-drained pasture, and not a lot of horses, you can leave the horses out all winter without damage to the pasture. But if there are too many horses, or the ground is wet, you can make quite a mess of a pasture, so that it isn’t very productive the next year.
Anyhow, if hay is a big part of the diet, then you might also want to find out where the hay comes from, as the mineral profile might be different if you are feeding hay from the BC Interior.
I second Scribbler. There’s no good reason to assume that the hay is low in selenium. I live in the BC Interior, and hay from one farm can be low and a farm a 1/4 mile down the road can be very high, so I would not consider supplementing with selenium unless/until a blood test clarifies the situation. Sugar content can also vary wildly, so hay analysis can help quite a lot when deciding what you need to supplement and what you don’t. Sort out your forage ration first, and then only add what you need to add, instead of thinking about adding things without having a valid reason…
Dr. Reed’s fills the bill for lots of horses in the PNW, and was formulated by a vet on the Island. I’d also support Islandgirl’s suggestion that you talk to the nutritionists at Otter Co-op in Aldergrove (Langley) once you’ve had the hay analyzed.
Assuming you are talking about that area being low in Se, then you need to get a baseline on your horse to start. Then you need to know how much Se you’re feeding on top of whatever is in the hay. That tells you your baseline of Se that you can control. You can’t control the forage, but you can control how much extra you give.
Then in 2-3 months, re-test. If he’s fine, then what you’re feeding is working. If he’s dropping, then you know you need to add some, starting with 1, maybe 2mg extra, assuming it’s an organic form, like selenium yeast, or selenomethionine. Then test again in 2-3 months to see how that’s working.
He has quite a bit of pasture, but how much nutrition remains in the grass in the winter? He does immediately clean up the good timothy hay I provide him ( at 28.50 bale ! Ouch although it is a huge bale).
If he’s immediately cleaning up hay, then either it’s really amazing-tasting hay (probably high in sugar), or he’s simply not getting enough from the grass. You can’t know the nutrition of hay or grass without testing. If you don’t want to or can’t get that done, then I wouldn’t worry, and would feed a concentrate that fits his caloric needs, whether it’s 5lb (or whatever )of a regular feed, or 1lb of a ration balancer
Thanks to all. It seems my first move is to discuss with vet and have him tested.
He looks good, weight fine and nice coat without much former grooming, so I don’t have too many worries.
Where is your hay grown? If it’s E Wash hay, like mine, then your timothy won’t be super high in sugar to account for the scarfing. In fact, when I switched all mine over to timothy to make life easier for ME, the other horse that had been getting an orchard/alf mix looked at me like I was the biggest meanie ever for feeding him meh hay. Eats it now though ;).
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