I’m looking for a feed recipe for Whole Foods. Something off of a whole oat base, peas, alfalfa pellets, flax, herbs for stomach soothers, etc.
any ideas???
thanks.
People usually just make up a mash of oats beet pulp alfalfa cubes, and whatever supplements or herbs they choose. Start with s minimal amount and feed as much as you need for energy and calories. Good idea to familiarize yourself with the nutrition profiles of the different feedstuffs. Concentrates are such a small component of the menu compared to hay. Hard to give a recipe, depends on your horse’s needs.
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Dr. Joyce Harman has an article on her website: harmanyequine.com/holistic-equine-nutrition/
I feed all but my senior horse a whole food diet: whole oats, steam rolled barley, alfalfa meal, flax seed, rice bran, and a mineral supplement. The proportions vary based on horse’s needs. They have thrived on this, including one pregnant and lactating mare. One of my horses went away for training this spring and the barn preferred to use a commercial feed. It was a very high quality senior feed. Interestingly, this horse lost condition and I am interested to see how he does with a return to his whole food diet. Hopefully he will get his shine back!
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Recipes will vary based on the horse’s calorie needs, the type and quality of hay, and nutrient deficiencies common for forage in your area.
CryptoAero is a feed exactly like you describe - is that where you go the idea of trying to make your own for a fraction of the price?
It can be very tricky trying to play the whole foods game, because unless you are familiar enough with what each thing brings to the table, you can create a very unbalanced diet, and either not help things, or make them worse.
The place to start is - what does the horse need? What’s currently being fed, if it’s not working do you have a feeling for why, if it IS working is your goal just to get away from soy or the potential contamination issues? Are you feeding grass hay, alfalfa, or a mix (and if so, what proportions)? Broodmare, youngster, horse in hard work?
If you are looking for a whole foods/stomach soother…I would look at Cavolor Strucomix for sensitive stomachs… I would suggest trying a bag or two then seeing if it helps and trying to make your own version.
