feeding advice??

[Bren]

I know this subject is asked about a lot but after working with our equine vet we are seeing no good results.

Our mini mares (both 10) are too fat. One especially has quite a belly on her. I worm every 60 days and follow my Vet's feeding advice but they seem to have gotten even fatter! I feed soft grass hay a small flake in the morning and one at night and not quite one cup of "Purina Enrich 32" each per day. Is this still too much? (the Enrich 32 was what my vet told me to use)

These mares are not working horses and probably stand around all day gabbing and making fun of our pot belly pig. LOL They are not stalled up and have access all day to the barn and a couple of acres and CAN run around but most likely don't.

We lunge or trot them around our one acre pond as often as possible but with work and school it's not often enough I am sure. The grass is dead this time of year so they are not getting pasture grass in addition to hay. We do give them carrots & apples too but not daily. I would sure appreciate some sound advice because my chestnut mare especially looks 9-10 months pregnant!I got her last April and she was a little round but not like she is today. I even had a sonogram done to be sure she was not pregnant because I was told she had been with a stallion. If she had just gotten prego and I had the sonogram done the same month she arrived is it possible they just could not see a baby yet? I just worry about my girls and want the best for them. Any advice on feeding 10-11yr old yard ornaments? Thanks!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

This is the kind of question you will get as many different answers to as people who answer. Different things work for different horses it seems. I can tell you I had an issue with a couple of my 'retirees' last summer so what I did was went out and purchased a scale. The scale I use is a hanging scale and only cost me about $9 Canadian so very inexpensive. I now weigh what my horses are eating and feed good quality feed to 1.5 - 2% of their body weight. hat is the body weight they should be not what they were In the winter when it is cold (it does get REALLY cold here) I will increase it by up to 1% more depending on the particular horse. The weight of feed is hay and grain combined so if I feed a total of 2lbs of grain (many who are doing no work get no grain either) a day I would feed that same horse 2.5 - 4lbs of good alfalfa mix hay a day as well. They all have access to free choice minerals, salt and water. That works pretty well to maintain them and I just adjust from that base according to what individual horses need. So I guess I would have to say, weigh the feed because it is hard to guess at the amounts. Other than that it may be not how much they are getting but what they are eating that counts.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Unless you have actually weighed them and had them body scored I would not assume they are fat.

If they are really, truly fat might I ask why you are feeding them grain??

If I knew my pasture to have a deficiency or an imbalance I might (might) give a balancer.

Other than that, half a cup is so small a quantity that you might really just as well save your money!!

But I would make sure they really are fat and not just a) wormy or b) undernourished (which can cause a pot belly) before I even considered dieting!!

 

[maplegum]

Seems like a very small amount of food to get fat on.

 

[Carolyn R]

Unless you have actually weighed them and had them body scored I would not assume they are fat.If they are really, truly fat might I ask why you are feeding them grain??

If I knew my pasture to have a deficiency or an imbalance I might (might) give a balancer.

Other than that, half a cup is so small a quantity that you might really just as well save your money!!

But I would make sure they really are fat and not just a) wormy or b) undernourished (which can cause a pot belly) before I even considered dieting!!

I agree make sure they are actually fat, some "show ring horses" aren't fit, they are skinny, SOME, not all.

Jane, enrich 32 is a ration balancer, I give a little more depending on the size of the mini (of the enrich), broken down into 2 meals, along with free choice hay. Only the horses that don't need grain get the enrich, just to make certain they are getting what they need. Is it possible, like the foals with the hay bellies, they are not getting the proper protien they need, making them look bloated?

Carolyn

 

[Keri]

Could you post pics of them???

Have you tried possibly cutting back on hay and giving them beet pulp instead?? I feed each of mine 1/2 flake grass/alfalfa hay in the morning and another 1/2 flake at night. Then in the evenings, they get 2 cups of a good all around grain, and 4 cups soaked beet pulp. This keeps most of my minis at a good weight. Some of the harder keepers get more beet pulp and more grain.