Search results matching tag 'feeding'

hay stretcher/grain

FluffyD — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:00:00 GMT

I have a QH mare that I keep on hay only. Due to having to change boarding stables twice this spring, we are having trouble getting her access to free choice hay. I have her eat hay only as she gets hot on grain. Her latest boarding facility wants to add hay stretcher or grain to her diet as she is slightly thin.

Important Note: She is a 4.5 on the body conditioning scale and her vet says he likes horses to be at that score - he is very happy with her weight

My question is this: can hay stretcher make her hot? She gets 5-6 flakes a hay a day and pasture turn out all day every 3rd day right now. (14.2, and approx 830lb mare) The woman who owns the barn would like her to gain 100 or so pounds to "look better". She has no physical problems and is a joy to ride right now. In the past, on grain, she has been like a bronc horse - just insane - its not good for her (injuries) or me. I'd love to see a little more weight on her - but not at the risk of her going cuckoo. I'd rather she be healthy, happy and be able to barely see 4-5 ribs, than risk her injuring herself because she got hot.

Would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks in advance.

Re: Grazing Muzzle

Winona Rider — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 07:00:00 GMT

I am new to this site also. I own a 9 year old Buckskin Quarter Horse mare named Winona Rider (Whinny for short)and she is what you call an "easy keeper". Like me, she loves to eat. She gets no grain, just hay in the winter and grass in the spring and summer. I love using a grazing muzzle on her. This was money well spent. Be sure to get a good muzzle. I use the "Best Friends" brand. It costs a bit more than others but it is made well and takes a beating. It attaches to her halter. When you use a muzzle BE SURE to attach it to a break-a-way halter just in case your horse would get caught on something. The hole to eat through is also a bit small and you can cut it wider to your liking. My friend bought a cheaper one that is already attached to a halter, and in no time it had ripped.

Re: Picky Hay Eaters?

t6834bl — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

"If you choose to introduce beet pulp do it a little at a time and with some kind of tastey addition.. We add flax seed and rice bran. Even my pickiest TBs like the beet pullp."

Barbara,

Don't want to hijack this thread but I'm curious about the flax seed. I feed Briahna a Cushing's type senior feed and it's mainly beet pulp (SHE LOVES IT!), but I see they carry flax seed at the feed store. Can you just feed the seeds or do you have to process them somehow? How much do you feed?

We are trying a different supplement (much cheaper) but I see it lacks flaxseed.

Thanking you in advance,

Bev and Briahna (and Carra too, as I make her buckets too!)

Re: Picky Hay Eaters?

Lizbethboz — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:00:00 GMT

I also have some picky hay eaters in the age ranges you mention. In fact your horses sound like they are my horses! I live in a state where hay is so dear that I had to do something. I put everyone's hay either up in a bag or in a feeder. I use bags instead of nets because there is way less danger of the horse's legs becoming tangled in the web. And I put the bags at shoulder height. I even use the bags when the horses are outside. I use old water tanks for feeders. If you buy certain brands of the plastic ones you can drill holes in the bottom for drainage during rain. They also have a couple of holes in the rim that you can use to tie them to a fence. This keeps the horse from dumping the hay out. I have almost completely eliminated the hay waste with this method.

My horses are all on a forage based diet. They all live in at night unless the weather is great. And they all eat seperately, not in a herd. I have found that the more choices that I give my horses, the pickier they are. I don't like alfalfa but the horses do. I find if I let them have the biggest share of the alfalfa in the AM and a smaller amount with some grass hay inthe evening, they do better with clean up because they have all night to finish the grass hay.

In order to insure that my horses receive enough roughage I also feed beetpulp. Beetpulp is high in digestable fiber. It is a little more work intensive but has several benefits for older horses. It helps to keep weight on TBs and older horses. It is easy to chew, also helpful for older horses. Older horses' teeth can loosen even though you have taken care of them. This makes it harder to chew and makes them require a longer fodder time. And soaked beetpulp insures that the horse receives a certain amount of water, which is especially helpful in the cold months. Horses slow down water intake in the cold and it's not unusual to see impaction colic. I can say that in the years that I have used beetpulp we have not had colic of any sort in our herd of 10 horses.

I use beetpulp pellets because shreds are often filthy. I set the pellets up with water before I go to bed so it is ready for morning. Then I set it up again for dinner after morning feed. I soak for shorter times in hot weather.

If you choose to introduce beet pulp do it a little at a time and with some kind of tastey addition.. We add flax seed and rice bran. Even my pickiest TBs like the beet pullp.

I hope that you will find someting useful with the ideas I have offered. Best of luck to you. Take comfort knowing that someone shares the same problem with you!

Barbara Fox riding@ushorsemanship.com

What human food is poisonous to horses?

toscabs — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 07:00:00 GMT

I realize there are well documented poisonous plants for horses, but does anyone know what human food is not the best for equines? I recently had a horse colic...she survived thank goodness...however I am racking my brain as to its cause. A day or two prior to her most severe symptoms, I remember finding a half eaten melon/squash/pumpkin/gourd of some sort apparently thrown over the fence by a neighbor. I have no idea if my horse is the one that ate it...it could have been a raccoon for all I know. But I am curious if melons or other squash cause gas colic that my mare experienced?

Thanks!

Re: Need to put weight on my mare, but she has Cushings

t6834bl — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

I let my vet, Dr. P, know what I was feeding Bri, she said that was OK. Here's the article she wrote for Horse Illustrated on Cushing's Disease:

http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-health/equine-cushings-disease-24321.aspx

She only gets 1/2 flake of alfalfa a day. Her grain, Integrity Lite, is beet pulp and other things OK for Cushing's horses. I don't feed that much carrots. She also gets Grand Complete for vitamins, minerals and other things.

Like my original post said, I'm looking for advise from people who have already gone down this road and what worked for them. Thanks for the heads up on Equi-Jewel. I'll look into it. Also the Canola oil. This is the information I'm looking for.

I'm also coming to the conclusion her changing body is what Cushing's does to the horse. Several articles have noted the loss of muscle in the topline and rump, sway back and pot belly. But the ribs and hip bones aren't. I just want to get some weight on her before winter comes. It may not get that cold here in Southern California and I do blanket her November through March, but I don't want her to lose any more weight.

Bev

Re: Need to put weight on my mare, but she has Cushings

t6834bl — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

[quote user="walkinthewalk"]

That is a great article and I copied the link over to my local messge board. Now that I have an EMS horse and realize how subtle and insidious Cushings can be, I am trying to raise awareness.

Dr.Posnikoff must feel your horse isn't in the severe Cushings category, as she permits it to have a bit of alfalfa and carrots.

[/quote]

I just got back from the stables, had a recheck on Bri's abcessed hoof. Hoof is looking real good, will get the eggbar shoes off this next trim, BACK TO BAREFOOT! YAHOOOOOOO!

I made it a point to ask about the carrots. She said the carrots don't have that much sugar, just don't feed excessively, like 5 to 10 pounds a bucket! Sheesh, she only gets five carrots in her bucket, only when I make up the bucket, so that's like three times a week. Dr. P was OK with that!

Speaking of barefoot again (YAHOO!, can you tell I'm excited?), I'm wondering if she'll be sore? She's had this abcess for over two years. Worst one Dr. P ever saw. But now that we are treating her Cushing's the hoof is healing. I've been lucky in my life, all my horses did well bearfoot so didn't have to shoe, only trim.

The smoke is getting worse again. Yesterday it was going straight up. Today it is coming across the mountains and down into the valley again. The Santa Ana's will be back this weekend, but not near as bad as when the fires started. Here we go again. Here's some pics from that general area:

http://picasaweb.google.com/BrianMillsap/FoothillRanchFire

Bri is coughing if I try anything more than a walk, so we walk. More than half the refugee horses have left, hopefully to their old barns and stables. I do know of one couple who lost their barn and garage. But the house was saved. The owners of a big tack store down in South County lost their Geodisic home in Modjeska Canyon. It was like a landmark, ya know, turn just past the dome house and then go a mile down the canyon.... So sad.

Thanks for asking. I think the fire is almost contained. Pray for the Santa Ana's to be light so no one will have to go through this all again so soon.

Bev

Re: Vision problems in horses

kiwilou — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

so glad to hear Ben got a good report with his vision. take care and good luck.

Re: feed experts . .

Dazed&Confused — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 07:00:00 GMT

I am in the same boat you are in. I have a 16 month old Oldenburg that is also about 700 lbs and 14.2 h with mild Physitis. I have been reading and learning all I can. I called an Equine Nutritionist named Jayne Dewey with Porgressive Nutrition. She has mapped out a personal feeding plan for my horse and has put him on a mineral suppliment called Rejuvenaide. It's about 11 dollars a tube and he's getting one tube a day for a week. I've also put him on Progressive Nutrition's Pro Advantage Grass Ballancer and Envision for fat and amino acids. He also now has free-choice minerals and a white salt block available. We've been experiencing a terrible drought here so our pasture is worse than poor at this moment.

My colt is getting better but it's only been 5 days since I started the Rejuvenaide and 3 days on the Progressive feed. I have to travel 2.5 hours to the closest dealer but if this helps him it's well worth it. I did have x-rays done on him and no OCD was found, thank God. But that will always be in the back of my mind.

At first I limited his pasture to a small yard to keep him rested by I've since opened him up to more room. He still limps a little bit but I have more hope now than I did before I talked to Jayne. She says the problem is often cause by an imbalance of the Calcium and Phosphorus ratio.

Re: Concerned about what a boarder is feeding...

MeasureMe — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 07:00:00 GMT

I worry about Laninitis (founder being the extreme end of laminitis) any time grain is fed.

Beet pulp, shredded, soaked, rinsed, soaked & rinsed again is a much better alternative to any grain.

The way we feed our horses (twice daily, in most cases ) and what we feed them (sugar & carb loaded hay, grain and/or lush green, sugar loaded pasture) are killing them. I know we do the best the can with what we have, but I would make an effort to see if these boarders can cut down on the grain & try the beet pulp.

If the horse is not being turned out on pasture & is depending on this one feeding these boarders are heading for disaster: not only founder,but colic, too. Horses are naturally foragers (not grazers) and in the wild they constantly move (looking for food) and eat small quantities all day. When a horse is "starved" (fed only once or twice a day with no pasture turn out or free choice hay in a dry lot) the sudden ingestion of food causes a build up of acid and that acid (& other toxins) effect the hoof. What goes in the horse's body ends up in the hoof.