Anyone feed their show horses a ration balancer?

[mydaddysjag]

Every winter I look over my horses condition in the past year, and decide if they are where I wanted them or not. Looking over this past year, domingo was all over the place. When I got him he was on a 12% sweet feed mixed with oats. Honestly he looked pretty good when he came home, he wasn't conditioned, but he was not fat nor thin, and with work he would have been muscled. I couldn't get the brand of sweet feed that he was getting, and honestly I really dont like sweet feed. In our area it seems to freeze in the winter, "melt" in the summer, and attract bugs. I decided to switch over to Strategy, because that's what we fit Midas on, and had good results. Well, even feeding a minimal amount of the strategy and working the horse 5 days a week, I couldn't get him to stay in condition. After two months, I switched again. The next grain was Purina Equine adult. It is 12% protein, 3% fat, 25% fiber. Now, Domingo is eating MUCH less of this than the suggested amount on the bag. He almost keeps condition on this. He looks pretty good, but when he moves out he looks a little ribby. If I up the grain even slightly he gains a bit of weight and loses condition. What im actually worried about is that he probably is not getting the correct amount of vitamins and minerals on this small amount of feed.

What I am considering doing is putting him on a ration balancer, and oats. He did look awesome on the sweet feed and oats, so Im thinking that this might work for him. Im just worried that he will lack "bloom". Im wondering if I could just add something like body builder for that though.

I know when we fit quarter horses for halter its grow n win, oats, alfalfa pellets, and supplements. I always fed the minis differently than the big horses, but now im thinking that going back to what I know from big horses and adjusting it to size might be my best bet.

Does anyone have their show horses on a ration balancer, and if so, do they keep bloom? any pictures?

 

[Sandy B]

Every winter I look over my horses condition in the past year, and decide if they are where I wanted them or not. Looking over this past year, domingo was all over the place. When I got him he was on a 12% sweet feed mixed with oats. Honestly he looked pretty good when he came home, he wasn't conditioned, but he was not fat nor thin, and with work he would have been muscled. I couldn't get the brand of sweet feed that he was getting, and honestly I really dont like sweet feed. In our area it seems to freeze in the winter, "melt" in the summer, and attract bugs. I decided to switch over to Strategy, because that's what we fit Midas on, and had good results. Well, even feeding a minimal amount of the strategy and working the horse 5 days a week, I couldn't get him to stay in condition. After two months, I switched again. The next grain was Purina Equine adult. It is 12% protein, 3% fat, 25% fiber. Now, Domingo is eating MUCH less of this than the suggested amount on the bag. He almost keeps condition on this. He looks pretty good, but when he moves out he looks a little ribby. If I up the grain even slightly he gains a bit of weight and loses condition. What im actually worried about is that he probably is not getting the correct amount of vitamins and minerals on this small amount of feed. What I am considering doing is putting him on a ration balancer, and oats. He did look awesome on the sweet feed and oats, so Im thinking that this might work for him. Im just worried that he will lack "bloom". Im wondering if I could just add something like body builder for that though.

I know when we fit quarter horses for halter its grow n win, oats, alfalfa pellets, and supplements. I always fed the minis differently than the big horses, but now im thinking that going back to what I know from big horses and adjusting it to size might be my best bet.

Does anyone have their show horses on a ration balancer, and if so, do they keep bloom? any pictures?

I just started feeding a ration balancer made by Purina. Its called Enrich 32. Its made to feed with a hay diet. Being new to minis but having had big horses for 35 years, feeding minis have been a whole new ball game. I am feeding alfalfa cubes & Meadow grass hay with 1 cup of the Enrich 32 to my two 2yr olds that are in training. My broodmares get Meadow Grass & 1 cup of the Enrich 32. I have fed my large performance horses a daily wormer and have just started the 2 yr old minis on that as well. I have found feeding minis to be trail and error. What works for one does not always work for others (just like the big horses). Since you have experience in fitting big horses I am sure you will get it figured out

Good luck!

 

[Becky]

I've been feeding Progressive Nutritions' Alfalfa formula Diet Balancer to my show horses for a few years now. They get that plus alfalfa pellets and some grass hay. No grain. The adult horses have done very well on it with great body condition and tight underlines.

I have had problems with my yearling and 2 yr old show horses developing bellies on this diet; especially the harder they are worked. I did some research this year and found that young horses (foals - 2 yr olds) don't have the ability to digest fiber well. A lot of fiber = big bellies. So I switched my younger horses to Progressive's Growth Formula feed which is a cooked grain feed formulated for young, growing horses. Amazingly, the bellies went away within a short period of time. I also upped the beet pulp on these horses as it is a very digestible fiber source. It doesn't contain lignin which is in other fibers as in hay and is very hard to digest.

Feeding horses is an art and certainly trial and error. As others have said, one feed doesn't fit all and you may have to experiment to find the right ones for all of your horses.

 

[mydaddysjag]

Do you feed anything else for additional calories such as oats, beet pulp, or alfalfa pellets? Any coat supplements?

 

[Sandy B]

Do you feed anything else for additional calories such as oats, beet pulp, or alfalfa pellets? Any coat supplements?

The Purina Enrich 32 does have a coat product in it (Omega's I believe). Thats been one of the most positive responses people report that are feeding it. But I also ad Healthy Coat (its probably over-kill) and it is full of Omega. The Enrich 32 is made to not be fed with grain. I hear some people feed it with a small amount of oats though. The horse should be getting the calories they need from your hay. Again, I feed Alfalfa Cubes & a handful of Meadow Grass hay to my performance minis, the broodmares only get Meadow Grass a handful of Alfalfa Pellets & the Enrich 32 until late gestation. Again, I am still learning and not opposed to change as needed for each horse. My 2 yr olds bellies are still not as tight as I would like them so I am going to look into what Becky said about the fiber for the young horses causing bellies.