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annas
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1129 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Oct 2008 : 9:16:20 PM
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Hi all, I was hoping to draw on yor knowledge of feeding.
My new boy is 3 and had his last race on 31st August. He is looking well and has not lost weight in the last 3 weeks since I had him.
He was fed a basic 'Pegasus' mix and chaff with hay whilst in training...to my amazement!
He is out during the day on grass and has ad lib hay when in and a himalayan lick.
Anyway as mine have been on Saracen I rang them and they suggested a mix called Relieve and some Alfa A. He is doing fine on it BUT
I mentioned it to the feed specialist at my local feed merchants and she recommended...
Tesco corn oil upto 1 full mug twice daily(introduced slowly)
1 scoop three times a day of Spillers High Fibre Cubes
1 scoop three times a day of Alfa A
Any comments welcomed.....I am ready to be totally confused...
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Edited by - annas on 01 Oct 2008 9:49:15 PM
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ashabarab
Gold Member
England
1378 Posts |
Posted - 01 Oct 2008 : 9:45:14 PM
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why fix it if it isn't broke?
if he is doing ok why change it?
l tend to not feed alfa a as l prefer hi-fi and there has been a lot of problems with the alf alfa.....
and although a lot of people do feed a lot of oil l personally would only use a tablespoon...but your choice
ash
keep it simple...works a lot better.. |
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annas
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1129 Posts |
Posted - 01 Oct 2008 : 9:54:53 PM
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Thanks for your reply. I have had a couple of people wince at Saracen suggesting Relieve as they seemed to think that this is a feed for horses in work. I forgot to mention in my previous post that I am giving him a 3 months holiday to chill out and be a horse for a while, Saracen were aware of this.
This is the link for Releve
http://www.saracen-horse-feeds.co.uk/products/17630428/re-leve/ |
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Pauline
Platinum Member
England
3185 Posts |
Posted - 01 Oct 2008 : 10:20:51 PM
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If you want oil in the feed change the Alfa-A for Alfa-oil.
If he is not going to do any work and the fact he is still a youngster I would use a balancer with the alfa + some speedy beet.
Although he is a TB and has raced he is still growing.
Pauline |
Pauline Higgs
Equine & Human Holistic Therapist
www.thegentlestouch.co.cc
www.endurancegbmidsouth.co.uk
Berkshire / Hampshire Border |
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ashabarab
Gold Member
England
1378 Posts |
Posted - 01 Oct 2008 : 11:09:07 PM
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thx for the link.....but unless you need that type of food why would you use it?
probally great if that is what you are looking for...but it is 13% protein...bit high for a horse at rest
ash |
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Qui Gon Jinn
Platinum Member
Scotland
1627 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2008 : 08:28:38 AM
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I have an ex racehorse and they can be difficult to feed to say the least!!! Avoid any mixes or nuts that have a high starch content, as you run the risk of silly behaviour then! I've always been a fan of Allen & Page feeds and give my arab gelding Calm and Condition and he is fine on that, as well as any of the Alphalfa type chaffs.............however the starch content of that feed is 19% and made my TB silly, as did any of the conditioning type feeds. Even something like A & P Quiet Mix is 30% starch, so don't be mislead that cool mixes of any kind are going to be suitable!!! Be wary of feeding your TB chaffs that contain a lot of molasses as that too can create silly behaviour.
I spoke at great length to the nutritionalist at Top Spec when I first bought my TB and they were great. They don't just try to push their own products onto you, but will suggest other feed companies products too. I was advised to look carefully at the Starch and not be quite to obsessed about protein levels and energy. If you study most feed companies feed breakdowns, the lower level starch feeds also do have lower Energy values in any case.
I am currently feeding my boy Fast Fibre, which he loves and he looks great on it. He is an Irish TB, so fairly heavy set and chunky. He seems to be a good doer which is helpful and means that I can work him on a diet that is low in starch, but high in fibre. My TB is 5 years old and has had the last 3 months off to become a horse again and we are starting riding properly now. He has good days and bad, but is a trier and enjoys riding.
Hope this helps you.
Edited to add:
Saracen's feed that you mentioned has the following levels
OIL 9.0%
PROTEIN 13.0%
FIBRE 19.0%
ESTIMATED DIETARY ENERGY 13.1MJ/kg
STARCH 8.5% - 12.5%
VITAMIN A 11,000IU/kg
VITAMIN D3 1,000IU/kg
VITAMIN E (E-Max Ester) 340IU/kg
SELENIUM 0.50mg/kg
CALCIUM 1.3%
PHOSPHOROUS 0.4%
If you bear in mind the energy usage of a TB, you could in fact event your new boy off these levels! The oil content is very high at 9%, as the DE at 13.1mj/kg. I'm also a bit confused as to why the Starch level seems to fluctuate between 8.5% and 12.5%!!
The Fast Fibre I am feeding contains these levels:
Oil: 2.5%
Protein: 8.5%
Fibre: 27.0%
Estimated DE: 8.0 MJ/kg
Starch: 5.0%
Calcium: 1.1%
Vitamin A: 10,000 IU/kg
Vitamin D: 1,500 IU/kg
Vitamin E: 100 IU/kg
I realise that your 3 year old is still developing and will change a good deal once you re-educate him, but remember he has been doing a strenious job over the last 12 months or so and will have been fed high energy feeds along the way to enable him to do so. Given that you aren't working him over the next 3 months and he has been turned away, his requirements will be more towards fibre I think. Just my opinion though! |
The Soul would have no Rainbow....If the Eyes had shed no Tears. |
Edited by - Qui Gon Jinn on 02 Oct 2008 08:38:23 AM |
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kimzi
Gold Member
865 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2008 : 2:01:31 PM
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| I must say i would not be tempted to use half a liter of corn oil a day coupled with high fibre - energetic tb and excessiveley full wheelbarrow in the mornings. When we had the nh horses, we used a simple maintenance mix, alpha a, soya meal (for those in hard work) and mollassed beet along with a good comprehensive vitamin and mineral supplement. Saracen seem to have given some good advice, his feed doesnt need to be complicated, whilst he is being turned away you just need a maintenance feed to keep his condition on and because he is a tb it rather different from natives and arabs and he could drop off very quickly so keep it simple and keep him wrapped up warm. |
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Qui Gon Jinn
Platinum Member
Scotland
1627 Posts |
Posted - 02 Oct 2008 : 5:08:46 PM
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| Very good advice Kimzi. |
The Soul would have no Rainbow....If the Eyes had shed no Tears. |
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annas
Gold Member
United Kingdom
1129 Posts |
Posted - 04 Oct 2008 : 6:13:36 PM
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Thanks all, some very interesting points. The Saracen feed charts on their website show that the feed he has been on is not for horses 'on holiday' or just maintenance at all!
Qui Gon Jinn - thanks for your breakdowns!
He does look fab at the moment but I have a feeling that he is getting more energy from the feed he is on now than he was getting from the cheap mix they used when he was in training.....
I'm not convinced that amount of oil is right either? |
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Gemma
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
1802 Posts |
Posted - 04 Oct 2008 : 9:08:11 PM
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| Not the Releve!!! My Mum had her (arab) gelding on that for a while, and it was far too high in protein for him. He had liver diseaese earlier this year, which was made worse by the high protein diet. |
 
Photo 2: West End Photography |
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CeliaS
Gold Member
Wales
646 Posts |
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