Your favorite all around vitamin

[Marty]

I'm seriously thinking of quitting Purina Born to Win ration balancer which is what I add to my other daily grains. Some eat sweet feeds, others eat oats, all get beet pulp etc.

With regards to Born to Win, not only did they go up to $22.00 a bag, (and climbing yet) they never can even give you a lousy coupon, but now they are changing their recipe in ingredients yet again. So I was thinking about just going back to a good broad spectrum vitamin and can't decide which one. They also changed the ingredients in their free choice 12/12 mineral and now the horses won't touch them.

In the past I've used Drive, Source, and also a variety of Farnum vitamins for the big horses.

Your vitamin suggestions?

 

[Jill]

I use red mineral blocks and loose minerals free choice from my local co-op (which is forumlated by Kentucky Equine Research). Feed a good complete feed (also formulated by KER), good hay, regular deworming and flax seed for the show horses. Simple, and the horses look awesome. If the feed program is good, shouldn't even really need a vitamin supplement.

 

[Reble]

This is my Choice and find my babies are up on all fours immediately.

My Stallion & gelding keep just the right weight with hay cubes and horse plus

Now my mares get Tiz Whiz Broodmare pellets and hay cubes. with this added.

check the contents out...I am like you getting tired of changing feed....

http://www.agribrands.ca/Screens/horseplus.aspx

 

[Marty]

Thanks. We are so deficient in all kinds of stuff around here I just feel better feeding a vitamin especially now since they aren't eating the minerals since the recipe changed and have a fit when I top dress the feed with a little bit. I"m also going to change the free choice minerals I put out too. Just prefer to cover my basis. This place is built on rock

 

[Leeana]

Marty all grains are rising, if you go to another product the price will continue to raise as well. My grain price is raising as well and so far all together it has raised maybe 50 cents. What is another 50.cents a week / bag ..that is no biggie.

Most likely they are changing the formula to improve it, if so that may be why the prices have raised also.

I feed Purina Strategy and Purina Omelone 200, i have a sr classic gelding that gets the strategy as he seems to get a belly when fed "sweets", the rest get Omelone 200. All horses have salt/mineral licks in there stall and my drylot / pastures all have reg. salt / mineral licks available. This has been a crazy year for me as i normally feed Buckeye Gro N Win but my buckeye dealer got dropped. I topdress (if you want to call it that) with Buckeye Ultimate Finish ($45.00 a bag ..it is worth gold to me. My dealer has only 6 bags of it left and i got dibs on all 6, lucky i got that) and Nutrena Far XTN (high in flax seed) and of course i feed Beet Pulp to a few that need it as well.

 

[wendy4mini]

I have been very happy with Select. It has a ration based on grass hay and one based on alfalfa so the prosperous/calcium ratio is correct. I also like that there is an expiration label on it so that you know that the product has not be sitting for an extended period of time.

 

[MountainMeadows]

For me, Horse Guard, I love the way the minis metabolize the product. We feed a grass hay and 12% sweet feed, Horse Guard, daily wormer & leave a mineralized salt block available at all times. Seems to work for us.

Stac

 

[Marty]

Leanna sorry I didn't mean to sound cheap and I know everything continues to go up. I'm not really complaining about price nearly as much as they keep changing the recipe and then the horses are poo pooing it. I don't cut corners to save a buck but I do expect quality and want products they will enjoy. I don't mind spending the money at all on the best I can possibly get as long as everyone will use the products.

 

[whitney]

I've also quit the ration balancers after doing alot of research I'm not sure probiotics are really good for minis........my mini mare would get intermittent loose poop they stopped as soon as I took her off the balancer and hasn't had an episode in about 5 months now.

How much of the 12/12 were you adding? I started with 1/2 teaspoon twice a day and after two weeks are up to 1 teaspoon twice a day all that the directions require for a 1/4 of a horse. I mix mine with 1 cup of soaked alfalfa pellets.

Marty I think you would be really happy with just ground flaxseed. It does just what Jill says it does. Plus doesn't plump them up.

I determined I was feeding WAY TO MUCH hay. Since I started to weigh ALL their feedings they are starting to slim down. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I am happy with my (more simplified!) current feed program, and my horses are all looking good for this time of year-shedding sooner/faster than before, soft, shiney hair coats, in good flesh but not 'fat'(out of condition, after a long inactive winter, but in decent flesh). I am feeding three Triple Crown feeds-Senior, Complete, and Lite. Most get mostly Lite, some w/ about 1/4-1/3 Complete; the two elders get Senior. I recently began Omega Fields' stabilized ground flax, and am liking it--all get some daily-and because of that, I am 'weaning' them off of BOSS. Of course, they have both white and mineral salt blocks available free choice, and fulltime access to fresh water. I feed grass, or grass with a portion of alfalfa, in the AM,followed by their 'concentrate', and a mix of grass and alfalfa in the PM, followed by their soaked beet pulp. It's the simplest feeding program I've had in awhile, and seems to be working well.

Triple Crown are pricey feeds(aren't they ALL, nowadays?!), but, very uniform bag to bag, and you CAN get a proper ingredient list--not 'grain products'.....

Margo

 

[disneyhorse]

I'm not really a believer in the "multi-vitamin" type supplement. I feed enough good-quality hay and a mixture of grain that any supplements I add are for something specific.

That said, I stumbled upon a supplement that I can't really figure out what it is for, and it's kind of a strange one, but BOY does it make healthy looking horses with AMAZING coats. I use it for a shiny coat, but I am sure it's a little more broad-spectrum than that. My farrier was amazed at the difference in hoof quality since I put my horses on it... her comment was made without knowing what I changed, she just knew I changed something.

I think the product is fairly new on the market, it is called "Equi-Pride" and it is made by SweetPro. It smells weird and the horses aren't sure of it at first but it really does make a noticeable difference you can see in only a couple of weeks.

Andrea

 

[targetsmom]

I have been using Dr. Bensons TNS since we bought our first mini in 2004, but I might switch them over to the TNS Plus. http://www.drbensons.com/supplements.html. I feed this (1 tsp/day/mini) even though everyone also gets Nutrena Senior Feed or Safe Choice along with their hay, beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, and plain and mineral salt. The mares are on pasture and everyone gets daily wormer too.

 

[KTS@Sawmill River]

have been using Dr. Bensons TNS since we bought our first mini in 2004, but I might switch them over to the TNS Plus. http://www.drbensons.com/supplements.html. I feed this (1 tsp/day/mini) even though everyone also gets Nutrena Senior Feed or Safe Choice along with their hay, beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, and plain and mineral salt. The mares are on pasture and everyone gets daily wormer too.

We feed the same supplement that Mary (Targetsmom) gives to her horses. Up until a few years ago, it was just TNS(Total Nutritional Supplement) but the company improved its supplement, and came out with TNS plus, which we switched over to. All I give for supplements is TNS and Strongid daily wormer. We have never had a supplement in all of the years that we have owned miniatures that worked as well as this. TNS is worth its weight in gold. I also like the fact that a little bit goes a long way....

 

[user 488]

Horse Guard

 

[suz]

Marty,

I'm looking for a good loose vitamin/mineral also.

I'm leaning towards Accel by Vita Flex.

Accel

What do you think of this one?

I've dropped his Born to Win and am going with free-choice timothy, small amount of pasture (about 1 hour am and 1 hour pm) and incorporating a loose vitamin/mineral supplement.

This feeding program, with increased exercise, will hopefully have him drop a few pounds!

 

[barefoot]

Good article called 'The Missing Link' which recommends "Power Horse". I have used it for 3 years and love it. I really notice a difference in my own and my client's horses.

http://tribeequus.com/trace.html

A practitioner I know recommends Dr. Dan's stuff. They say he really gets as close as you can get with minerals, etc. I want to read more about his stuff and will be attending a clinic where they will have his info this weekend.

http://www.thenaturalpetvet.net/cgi-bin/ge....exe/home1.html

Emma

 

[mgranch]

I'm a Horse Guard feeder too!! I get cheap every once in a while and stop feeding it and my husband notices right away and tells me go buy Horse Guard!! My horses look amazing on it and you can tell very quickly when I've taken them off of it.

 

[SweetOpal]

horse gaurd here too! I love the product, I do like the product Disney horse mentions, but I do not use it daily and only have one horse that gets it.

 

[Miniv]

We prefer Equerry's Choice, which is a supplement designed for the NW. As a "fall back" when we can't get it, we use Horse Guard.

 

[suz]

Looks like alot of votes for Horse Guard. How much do you feed per day? Is this with and/or without grain?

Where do you get this? Locally or online?

Thanks.