At the barn I work at, the horses live in sand paddocks so we feed our horses psyllium once a month for a week. We've never had a horse colic from the sand since we started.
I feed my guys over a piece of plywood that I can sweep off before I feed. I keeps them from eating dirt
Thats a good suggestion, I have seen people put down old conveyor belt rubber (do you know the black flexible rubber?) and feed over that to prevent their horses from eating too much dirt if they are eating in the paddock.
I've done the plywood thing!!! LOL, and it does work, I think the issue is that the summer has been just so dry that the dirt is getting mixed in w/ the hay because I do feed my hay on the ground... I may have to consider the corner hay feeders....
Ryle, When I said compressed alfalfa, I don't mean the cubes, I do have the cubes but I use them for treats, I meant the compressed bales of alfalfa that you buy at Booth feeds for an astronomical price.... Do you think I could wet them down? Just a teensy bit...
Wetting down the alfalfa isn't likely to do much since it's not a processed pellet. It's the processing to make the Equine Senior so easily digestible that also makes it easy to turn into a mush with just a bit of water. Adding water to a compressed, but otherwise unprocessed forage isn't going to do anything to make it more easy to chew or digest.
Farmpony, I'm glad to hear your guy pulled through. I wonder if a bit of oil would help him with his food? Maybe Ryle would know. I do know it makes it easier to go down, but once it's in the digestive system, I don't know.
Hav eyou tried other senior feeds that do not have as many grains as the Purina does?? I would look for one that had little to NO grains .. and has a fixed formula so you know the feed is the same everytime and NOT least cost effective
