is this safe??

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
thats lyn. i see your point.. they had always been fed like that..1 1/2 - 3 cup max their whole 17 yrs here.. there was no info back then.. they seemed fine but the last 2 week midnight has lost some weight.. i never would have imagoned they should eat that much!! now i know i am fixing the problem..

thanks every one

desiree
 
You have got to remember all horses are different, some need different amounts with different nutriants. Some brands work better for some than others.

My horses get 2 cups twice a day and they are in good shape. Both of the trainers I have used give 2 cups twice a day and the horses of mine they had in training were in excellent shape!

If you can not get it there, get on websites, read labels associated with a name brand, and then read the labels of the products you have avaliable to you and try and find something close, that works for you.

Good luck!
 
[SIZE=14pt]Sorry to sound like Im screaming but sometimes I feel like I have to. I let a local family borrow one of my stallions to breed to their 2 mini mares and 2 pony mares. They fed him only 1 cup twice a day and figured his pasture and that was enough..... they couldnt BELIEVE what I fed him here . They brought him home thin.... I showed them all my others including the babies and the show mares and showed them what they ate. They were astounded and these are people that had big horses that they showed for YEARS! The just figured smaller horse less food and that isnt always the case.[/SIZE]

Lyn
 
Lyn i can not go down there & start feeding him these huge amounts all at once... it takes at least2 week utill i get him there! for the last 17 years at the most hes only had 3 cups.. i cann't just start feeding him the right amount.. i will make him sick!
sad.gif
i will have him fed the your horses in about 3-5 weeks.. that all i can say

desiree
 
[SIZE=14pt]Yes Desiree I know that you cant just give him all that at once. Gradually work up to it. It will probably as you say take 2-3 weeks to get him eating that much. Increase by 1/2 cup per feeding each day. If you see he is truly gettin fat on that new total amount then you can gradually back down again but at his old age he isnt absorbing his food like a younger horses anyway which is another reason he needs more than a younger horse.[/SIZE]

I am also feeding a geriatric horse. I got her last year she was bred and 15 years old. She was very thin.... I gradually worked her up to this amount. That is why Im recomending that.

Lyn
 
Last edited by a moderator:
thank you lyn, you are a true wise owner.. i just don't wanna rush him

i'll go in 10 mins.. do chores.

i'll give him another cup at 500pm & 1/2 cup or 1 cup at 800pm..

is that a good enoph start??

i'll slowly work it up each day..

& i have now seprated the boys

thanks

des
 
You have two minis eating a half a bale of hay a day ??? That certainly sounds like an pile of hay for two minis. My animals are getting roughly a bale of hay each per week. You need so look at your feeding program and start weighing and or measuring your feed. If you are using a complete feed remember its a complete feed. At this time of the year I do not feed any hay and in the winter its free choice and available 24/7 but the amount they get fed is still measured. If its not all consumed I cut back. Speak with a nutritionist at your feed dealer and they can direct you better based on the hay in your area and the other feeds you are using.
 
Desiree, I'm only adding this as I don't think I saw it in the other responses. One issue that causes many horses to be fed incorrectly is by trying to do it by eye or by measuring it using a measuring cup.

Since your horse may have special dietary needs and/if you are fairly new to feeding problems, please feed by weight according to the directions on the bag and increase or decrease from there. Get a food scale if you don't have one and weigh the feed. You may be surprised how much more or less it is volume wise as opposed to the cup method. Not to say you shouldn't use measuring cups after you find out the volume of what the appropriate amount of feed weighs.

If the feed was intended to be fed by measure it would say so on the directions of the forumulation but you will generally see it it pounds, kilos I'd asssume where you live. Anyway try feeding by weight and see if you get more flesh on your horse that way. An I'm sure that you know to increase slowly if it's quite a change from what you are doing now.
 
Has he had his teeth checked?? Rabbit gets as much as he does because his teeth have stopped growing- that is why he can no longer eat hay or grass, so he is living on what he is fed- it is not a question of him not having room for the hay/grass, he cannot chew it, old horses have problems with their teeth. Weight loss is one way you notice it!!! It is also the reason he has so much Alfalfa chop and pellets. He does have hay and grass but cannot eat them any longer. If Midnight is sharing his feed you will have no real way of knowing if he is eating the hay or not- Rabbit pulls it out of the rack and pretends all the time, it is instinctive and the reason I still give him hay.
 
triggynblue said:
Desiree,  I'm only adding this as I don't think I saw it in the other responses.  One issue that causes many horses to be fed incorrectly is by trying to do it by eye or by measuring it using a measuring cup. 
Since your horse may have special dietary needs and/if you are fairly new to feeding problems, please feed by weight according to the directions on the bag and increase or decrease from there.  Get a food scale if you don't have one and weigh the feed.  You may be surprised how much more or less it is volume wise as opposed to the cup method.  Not to say you shouldn't use measuring cups after you find out the volume of what the appropriate amount of feed weighs.

If the feed was intended to be fed by measure it would say so on the directions of the forumulation but you will generally see it it pounds, kilos I'd asssume where you live.  Anyway try feeding by weight and see if you get more flesh on your horse that way.  An I'm sure that you know to increase slowly if it's quite a change from what you are doing now.

425137[/snapback]


how do i find out how much my guy weighs?

i am feeding/add new feed slowly.. i am not a beginner w/ horses at all.. just feeding
 
You can buy cheap scales at Wal-Mart to weigh your feed. Mine cost around $10, I think.
 
rabbitsfizz said:
Has he had his teeth checked?? Rabbit gets as much as he does because his teeth have stopped growing- that is why he can no longer eat hay or grass, so he is living on what he is fed- it is not a question of him not having room for the hay/grass, he cannot chew it, old horses have problems with their teeth.  Weight loss is one way you notice it!!!  It is also the reason he has so much Alfalfa chop and pellets.  He does have hay and grass but cannot eat them any longer. If Midnight is sharing his feed you will have no real way of knowing if he is eating the hay or not- Rabbit pulls it out of the rack and pretends all the time, it is instinctive and the reason I still give him hay.
425196[/snapback]


rabbitsfizz im sorry i didn't know.. it only sounded like that
 
ThreeCFarm said:
You can buy cheap scales at Wal-Mart to weigh your feed.  Mine cost around $10, I think.
426553[/snapback]


Palomino88 Posted Today, 11:14 AM   Do you have a weight tape ?

I would guess your guy is/should be 250-300 pounds.

For weighing feed on a scale.. I bring mine to the feed store and use there scale, only have to use it once before you know how much you should feed them.
thanf guys! i'll check it out!

is increasing 1/2 a cup a day too much to soon?they are now getting feed 1 1/2 cups 2 times a day & still in creasing........
yes.gif
 
I don't know about Ontario, but here in Manitoba the feed stores do not carry feeds such as Purina and strategy, so when you guys are all telling her to feed him Purina senior, she's going to have to have it ordered in specially, and probably pay a fortune for it.

Desiree, there are many good Canadian feeds available, at a much more reasonable price. Can you get Feed Rite? They sell a Senior feed, as does Nutrena, but I'm not a Nutrena fan. Is there a Masterfeeds dealer near you? They have excellent feeds and at realistic prices--I'm certain they sell a senior feed.

Feeding in handfuls....well, it depends what kind of handful. I can take a huge handful that measures out to a cup & a half...so I found when I was feeding 4 handsful to one of the horses, she was getting 6 cups. Some of our pregnant & lactating mares get 8 cups of grain, and still eat a lot of hay, and just hold their weight--they aren't fat. Some of our senior horses will eat that much too, but it takes them longer if their teeth aren't so good any more...even our senior horses have never had senior feeds, just rolled oats and sometimes sweet feed to mix in their supplements.

If you're now graining Midnight separate from the gelding, that is a good thing. By feeding him alone you'll be able to see exactly how much he's eating, and he'll be able to have the time to eat his full ration.

I like to have senior horses on a bit of alfalfa--nice soft, leafy alfalfa--or soaked alfalfa cubes, that puts weight on them good.
 
Some general comments about feeding-amounts, kinds, set-up, etc.-seem in order.

It is ALWAYS best to feed each horse separately; that is the ONLY way to know exactly what an individual horse's food intake is, and to control what/how much they get-especially important when there are weight/physical condition issues.

Every horse is INDEED an individual; NO blanket statements can really be made about how much to feed, according to height and other parameters! I think it is a mistake to 'insist' to someone that their horse 'simply must'(to paraphrase)be given a certain number of cups of concentrate/day.(And yes, though the measuring cup is a convenient unit to use in doling out concentrates to miniatures, it IS important to know how much that WEIGHS-and the ultimate decider of what is 'correct' for an individual horse is the horse's condition.)

I am continuously amazed at how often what is to me an astonishingly large amount of concentrated feed is insisted upon...now, if feeding ONLY one of the "complete" pelleted feeds, this might make sense(though I personally would never rely completely upon such a formulation, as I STRONGLY believe in the importance of good hay, or grazing,at all times). I am in the process of moving my concentrate program over pretty much to Purina Senior for EVERYONE, based upon research and personal observation. I have a 23 yr old, 34" mare who looks GREAT on 1 cup(which weighs at @ 1/4 lb.), twice daily, of Senior, along with prime alfalfa, and good grass(brome/orchard/timothy), proportioned, for her, at about half and half. My 38", QH-build(I DON'T mean 'drafty'!) R "Over"mare is thriving on only about 1 1/4 cup(about 1/3 lb.,total),AM & PM,of a mix-whole oats, BOSS, Mare and Maintenance ration balancer-twice daily, but I am in the process of changing her gradually over to Senior only(as her concentrate-Purina Senior can indeed be fed as the 'only'ration, but can also be fed in conjunction with hay); will probably end up giving her about the same weight of that-plus, she gets about 1/4-1/3 alfalfa to 2/3-3/4 grass. My others all get the same mix, but -I have not seen any real ongoing benefit from the BOSS, along with having some concerns about recent research that indicates that there "might"sometimes be colic problems associated with its use-so am giving it up when I run out of my currrent supply. I really want to simplify my feed program, and the prep of same, so will gradually be changing over to the Senior(and probably some of the Mare and Maintenance),as fits their individual situations-I have one gelding who only gets a tiny handful of alfalfa, and will get a minimum of the Senior(if ANY!), plus Mare and Maintenance, based on his hay intake-as he gets hefty just looking at feed-while others will get different, varying proportions. Even my 15 hand, approx. 950-1000 lb. APHA mare only gets 1 2/3 cups of Senior, plus 1/3 cup corn oil(to aid in ulcer prevention), AM and PM, plus @ 2 lbs. of alfalfa, and 5-5 12 lb. grass hay-and she is in good flesh and excellent health!)Edited to add: I very much support the use of moderate amounts of quality alfalfa, for both nutritional rounding-out, AND for picking up/maintaining condition!)

If ANY horse is not thriving as you feel it should, ALL possible causes should be considered and addressed--possible tooth problems, possible parasite load, any other possible health issues-along with individual feeding and observation, and only GRADUAL changes in a feeding program, whether it be changes in either type OR amount.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top