Nutrition

[es2020]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I have been in the horse world for 6 years and took some driving lessons last year with minis and loved it. I recently purchased my first mini. He is 4 and a total love. I am showing him in hand and hope to train him to drive in the future. My question is what is the best diet to have minis on? For example which type of forage, and since he is being worked regularly is any grain needed? Ive read that minis can become overweight but I also want to make sure he is getting all the vitamins he needs. Right now he is on free choice good quality local no grain and he has access to a salt block. His body condition to me looks good but I want to make sure hes not lacking anything with the work load. Thank you for any help.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

O my. If you get 100 answers to your question, you will get 100 different answers!

Welcome to the Forum! Hope to see you on the Driving Forum soon. Kudos for doing nutritional research!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

My advice is keep it simple. If he is on free choice hay thats great, he don't need grain unless he needs it. My show horses don't get grained unless they absoutely need it, but they get so heavy I cannot let them be out on pasture 24/7, but they do spend time out in the pasture, since there is so much grass out there. The only other thing I recommend and mine get this is a mineral block, and not the ones you find near the salt blocks, most of them contain mostly salt and very little vitamins or minerals. I give mine a Pro-Vita-Min tub by ADM. It's a free choice tub and for just one it should last him a long time. Mine love it and that is how they get what they need without having to grain them. If he is lacking anything they will lick that mineral tub all over, if he isn't then most likely he will hardly lick it at all, and I've witnessed that with the ones I've grained they barley would lick the tubs the ones don't get grained they will lick it like candy, and it's molasses free.

 

[wingnut]

Welcome to the wonderful world of minis!!

I've had my minis for 5 years now. I was asking these very same questions. And I'm not sure I have the answers even now

I agree that making it as simple as you can works best, but that's not always 100% possible.

I'm certainly no expert on the matter! All that said, I'll tell you what I do with my 5 mares:

Hard keeper (diagnosed with a disease that inflames the lining of her digestive track causing nutrients to not be absorbed well): She gets a high fat, high calorie diet. She is a picky eater, so I feed her essentially whatever I can get her to eat. Right now, that's Nutrena's ProBreeder Mare & Foal which is a textured sweet feed. She gets 1.5lbs a day, sometimes more. She gets as much pasture time as she wants and as much hay as she wants. She gets daily shots of steroids as needed (a month at a time) to help minimize the inflammation. It's been two years since her diagnosis and everyone is amazed she's still doing well.

Yearling: the nutritional needs of a yearling are still very high. I feed her Nutrena's SafeChoice Mare & Foal. I also feed her 1.5lbs a day along with crimped oats (1/2lb), and alfalfa pellets (1/2lb). I also include soaked beet pulp a few times a week. She gets all the pasture time possible. And is only limited on hay by what the others allow her to have (which I watch carefully to ensure she's getting enough...separating her when necessary).

6 yr old (1) and 5 year old (2) mares: These are my easy keepers. The 6 yr old is also confirmed with EMS (equine metabolic syndrome). They all get 1/4 lb ration balancer (a pelleted supplement only, no calories). I do this mainly to make feeding time easier. They get really cranky about their sisters getting a bucket of grain when they don't! The one 5 yr old is generally on pasture time along with the hard keeper and yearling. The other 5 yr old splits her time with her EMS sister and the rest. The EMS sister gets some pasture time simply because our pasture is so sparse, I can give her limited time to keep her emotionally happy. Otherwise, she gets hay in small portions throughout the day.

I've increased the workload of everyone but the hard keeper (can't risk her losing weight). I watch them closely with regards to body condition throughout the year and make adjustments accordingly.

 

[es2020]

Thank you all so much!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

You might do a search on the Forum. This topic comes up pretty often, as there are so many variables. Some feeds are available only in certain areas. Some owners have pasture and some don't. Some owners feel strongly about corn and soy. Some hate oats and some love them. Some show, and some don't.

There is so much to know about nutrition, and more information is becoming available all the time. Hard to stay on top of it all!

I, too, keep mine pretty simple. I feed 1/3 C oat groats, 1/4 C boss, a tsp of vitamin/mineral supplement formulated for horses on pasture, and a handful of alfalfa. Mine work in the cart lightly and rarely show, and, according to the obesity chart, they are both slightly overweight. They are dry lotted 12 hours a day, or more, and I even try to limit their grazing during the day. I think our air here is fattening.