My insulin resistant mini is slightly underweight on just free-choice hay and ration balancer. Any recommendations for what kind of grain to feed her? I had been giving her half a cup of Trimax since that is what was on hand. But I’m not seeing much weight gain and I don’t want to increase the Trimax since it’s pretty sugary for an IR mini.
For mine flax seed, alfalfa pellets (soaked), and beetpulp (soaked) works. The Alfalfa is very low sugar, and the beet pulp is without molasses. The flax has some added protein and omegas.
You could also feed an oil, I would think. I’m not so offended by an IR horse or pony being a little on the lighter side, but depends on what slightly underweight means to you/how the mini looks.
Is the hay not tested? Or soaked? Have you done blood work to check her insulin and glucose status lately?
How much does/should she weigh, and how many pounds of hay is she getting?
Here’s a list of “approved” feeds from the ECIR website
Thanks for these suggestions. She is a very picky eater and has rejected alfalfa cubes and oil, but she has eaten flax in the past so maybe that’s worth a try. She’s slightly ribby and the vet said she should not drop any more weight but they weren’t worried about her given how careful we have to be about what we feed. My bigger concern is that recently she comes running in for dinner, which is new behaviour that makes me think she may be hungry.
Maybe I should give her a course of ulcer treatment? She had a really rough winter last year and could have developed ulcers during all that. She has free choice hay and is out for a few hours with a grazing muzzle but the grass is basically finished here now.
Thanks for this resource, I’ll look into it. All her levels are good and the hay is good too. I don’t soak it because she won’t eat soaked hay. She gets free choice hay in nets and her teeth are great. She seems to eat all day, so as I’m writing this, I’m thinking something else may be going on. She’s on thyroid medication, which the vet said could cause weight loss but I haven’t seen the same degree of weight loss for the pony that’s on the same meds. I should do more reading into the meds.
Since her hay is tested good, no need to soak anyway 
Thyroid meds - it’s absolutely implicated in her weight and lack of gaining. If her insulin/glucose levels are normal, is there a reason she’s still on it? Levothyroxine absolutely causes weight loss, there’s no “could” about it. It just doesn’t necessarily cause the same kind of loss in everyone.
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Without molasses, that Integrity Lite feed is 4.3% Starch and 5.9% ESC, for a total of 10.2%. Technically that’s “too high”, but only barely, so would probably work for any but the most ultra-sensitive, depending on how much is fed at once.
Also important is the WSC is only 8.9%. While it’s ESC + starch that’s the most important for EMS horses, if the WSC gets too high - usually heading into 15% or higher, it can cause problems no matter how low the ESC and starch are.
The mini I have on loan is 21. He gets the Haystack Low Carb, Low Fat pellets (about a cup) once a day with Trifecta and Thyro-L. He is fed hay in small amounts multiple times a day and is on pasture for a few hours, with or without a grazing muzzle, depending on the time of year. He did founder with a previous owner, so I watch his weight. He is doing well. Of course, it’s easier because he’s at home and I can monitor him.
