Feeding Guidelines That Really Work Part 3 of 5

Guideline 4: Understand the usefulness and drawbacks of mixed and pelleted feeds.

Mixed and pelleted feeds are often vitamin/mineral supplemented. This is a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that if fed according to the directions, they can save you money by providing balanced nutritional supplementation without the need for an additional supplement. The bad thing is when they are fed in quantities never intended by the manufacturer or the horse owner feels compelled to add an additional vitamin/mineral supplement to the already supplemented feed.

First of all the over-supplementation issue: Some is good, more is not always better. Read labels closely and discuss possible interactions with your vet before adding additional supplements that contain the same vitamins/minerals as your feed if your horse is already on a supplemented grain.

Second the amount fed issue: This is where choosing the right feed is important. Many feeds require about 3 lbs to be fed in order for your horse to get the full vitamin/mineral dose. If your horse will keep weight and maintain energy on less than this (or whatever the recommendation is) then you are effectively throwing money down the drain by paying for supplements your horse isn't getting. So choose feeds with care. You want to be able to feed the full amount to take advantage of the supplementation without extra weight gain or hyperactivity.

For the easy keepers that don't need 3 lbs of concentrates, you might assess why you want to give them grain in the first place. Not every horse needs grain; if your horse is in good health, recieves good quality forage and has no need for specialty supplements or medications, then perhaps you should put the bucket away. But sometimes there is a logical reason to find something you can put in that bucket without all the extra calories.

Maybe your hay is stemmy and otherwise less than ideal because of a bad drought in your area last year and you want to get a general vitamin/mineral supplement down him to help offset the poor hay. Maybe you have an older semi-retired school master who needs grain in which to hide the daily joint supplement and gram of powdered bute that keep him sound. Or maybe you have the one horse in the barn that doesn't get grain and he gets so distressed at feeding time from “bucket envy” you are worried he's going to injure himself.

In all these cases, finding something that you can put in that bucket may be the best solution. If you like the prepackaged and presupplemented convenience of mixed grains or pellets then try one of the newer products on the market meant for the easy keepers. Products like these are meant to be fed in the 1 pound kind of quantity and still give the horse all his vitamins/minerals without all the extra calories. Purina makes a line of these called under the name Enrich. As with all prepackaged feeds, please read and follow the directions on the package.

If you are more the DIY type, try my recipe below.

Lindsey's Daily Vitamin Mash:

1/2 Cup Mollasses (Can reduce or omit for founder prone horses.)

1/2 Cup Olive Oil

1 Dose Vitamin/Mineral Supplement of Your Choice

Specialty Supplements or Medications As Needed

1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

1/4 Pound (Approximately 1/2 Quart) Bran

1/4 Pound (Approximately 1/2 Quart) Rolled Oats

Add ingredients to feed bucket in order, stirring constantly, adding just a little water if necessary to form a stiff mash.