Big Horse Feed Advice

[Sassy'sMom]

I recently purchased a big horse. Actually, it was my second one. I don't know if anyone remembers that I bought a TB mare back in January, but she didn't work out for me. She was over 16 hands and acted too much like a TB for me. Go figure, I know! But, I found her an excellent home. So, I then bought a 14.3 hh black and white TWH with blue eyes back in April. She is beautiful! She was skinny when I got her. She still had her winter hair, and she looked brown, not black. You could almost see her backbone and her ribs were pretty noticable. I put her on Buckeye Cadence feed and gave her lots of good quality hay. She has gained weight nicely, and when she shed out she is a very pretty black color now.

My question is, what feed can I switch her to? I don't want to keep buying the Cadence, because it is $24 a bag and she goes through a bag about every 2 weeks. I don't think I need to keep her on the Cadence anyway, because she has gained weight nicely and is looking really good. I don't want her to keep gaining weight and get fat! I want to put her on a feed that doesn't have a lot of molasses in it, because I don't want her getting hyper. That was what I liked about the Cadence. It is a textured feed, with no molasses, and it had Buckeye Ultimate Finish in it to get her to gain weight.

I want to find something that will keep her coat looking as good as it is, not add a lot of sugar, and not cost a fortune. I am not a huge fan of the pelletized feeds, but would consider any type of feed if it is recommended.

 

[Kira98]

I would recommend just a nice 12%sweet feed for a maintence for her with good quality grass hay/pasture or maybe some alfalfa once aday

then of course in the winter to up the hay amounts.

the hay is goin to help keep the weight on them more so than the feed IMO.

I have my full size 16h paint stallion that is on a 14%pellet feed he gets a scoop 2xday

I had him before breeding season on a 12%sweet feed from the local Atwoods farm store and he got a scoop 2xday and a flake of alfalfa

my mare got the same they both looked real good - didnt get worked on a reg. basis and were not to hyper you could go with at 10% too

if you dont want to get her to much and you have access to that buckey ulitmate finish ( wish i could get it out here were i live ! i used it before when lived in okc ! good stuff) you could just give her some crimped rolled oats a bit of alfa. and cut her UF to half of suggested to keep a nice coat on her and she prob would look great !

these are just a few suggestions

 

[h2t99]

When we were on a dry lot our horses got rolled oats and a mineral pellet mixed in. You could just do oats, sunflower seeds and get a mineral tub. That would make her look great!!

Our horses are on 40 acres of grass so all they get is a mineral tub!! Until winter!!

 

[5StarRanch]

I am a huge Purina fan.........so if you have a Purina dealer near you, I totally recommend Strategy. My big guy was severely malnourished when I rescued him. He was a three year old QH/Mustang cross stallion that had never had a real meal in his life. I brought him up to weight feeding Equine Senior and good quality hay along with probiotics. That was over a year ago. He is now on Strategy and pasture. Hay when he doesn't get pasture. It keeps them sleek, at a good weight and gives them all thier vities, but doesn't make them crazy. In asking around, I have found that a lot of minis are on it and do well too. Its about $14 a bag, but well worth it IMO.

This is Koda the day that we brought him home............



This is him last summer after 8 months of good care.............