Feed

What do you guys feed your horses? Does it vary summer or winter

My horse is 16.3 and right now he's on 4 lbs of sweet feed. He was on 2lbs of sweet feed and 2lbs of alam before. Im thinking about changing his feed. Not sure. He's also on vita plus supplements (basic multivitamin) and occasional msm powder added.
He's used for jumping.Though he is on vacation until mid january

He also gets a half a cup of oil (vegetable oil)
He chokes easy so its mixed with a lot of warm water into a goupy mashy glop that he just loves lol

All of or guys normally get a 10% Protein sweet feed made locally. Lately we've been mixing in some type of pellets(haven't read the bag yet, though!)

Annie, CD, Honey, Streak(except he gets his own feed, same amount though)- 2.5 lb coffee can twice a day(about 7/8 SF, 1/8 pellets).

Chopper, Copper and Skeeter- Full 2.5 lb coffee can of SF, and a half a 1.5 lb coffee can of pellets.

Magic- 1.5 lb coffee can, 1/2 SF and 1/2 Pellets.

All the horses get 2 flakes of a grassy mix hay twice a day and all of them are fat and sassy and healthy. Nobody is hot, everybody is on 24/7 turnout with the exception of days/nights below 20* F.

Annie also gets a scoop of AniMed's AniFlex GL.

Beau - 15.2hh. 1,100 pounds. 9 year old QH, easy/normal keeper:
AM- 2 lb. Blue Seal Carb Guard
PM- 2 lb. Blue Seal Carb Guard

Daisy - 15.2hh. 1,000 pounds. 16 year old TB, hard keeper:
AM- 3 lb. Blue Seal Carb Guard
PM- 3 lb. Blue Seal Carb Guard & 3 lb. (dry weight) soaked Blue Seal Haystretcher.
(The Haystretcher is winter-only. And soon to be replaced by alfalfa cubes.)

Cavalina - 13.3hh. ~600 pounds. 8 month old TB/Oldenburg, easy keeper but growing:
AM- 2 lb. Blue Seal Contender
PM- 2 lb. Blue Seal Contender

I feed 1.5 bales of either Orchard Grass or Orchard/Timothy (depending on which of our hay guys it came from) between the 3, so they're all getting +/- 20-25 pounds of hay a day. Plus a little pasture (there's not much left in the winter paddock).

Normally Beau and Daisy are on supplements, but I'm experimenting to see if I notice a difference without them. And I do. So I'll be picking new ones in the next few weeks. Beau will be on a multi-vitamin, joint and maybe hoof supp. Daisy will be on a weight and maybe a minor joint supp.

The only thing I change in the winter is if it's REALLY cold out and they haven't drank as much water out of their buckets as they normally do, I soak their feed with warm water. Just to make sure they're hydrated and to ward off impaction colic.

I have three horses - A 15.2h ASH gelding who I show, campdraft and do PC on - Heavy work, easy keeper, A 14.1h Arab gelding who is in light work and an easy keeper, and a 13.3h Arab mare who is being broken in.

They all get the same feed, only different amounts.

Speedi-beet, Copra and White chaff. I have changed to a no grain, no sweet feed diet and I think they are for the better. My show horse is like a different horse now.

The ponies who are easy keepers don't get the Copra unless we are competeing - They don't need it.

Bundy, the show horse, gets the Copra to had energy and oils for his coat.

When we go away Bundy gets meadow hay and the ponies get lucerne.

At the moment, we have enough feed, so they aren't getting any hard feed.

They have an iodised salt lick and a mineral block available at all times.

Nikki - 25 yr old QH, Hard Keeper
-8 lbs of Triple Crown Senior
-1/2 lb of shredded Beet Pulp
-Free choice hay/water/salt

William - 2 yr old Paint, Easy Keeper
-2 lbs of Triple Crown 30% Supplement
-1/2 lb of shredded Beet Pulp
-Free choice hay/water/salt

Rambo - 19 yr old Shetland Mix, Easy Keeper
-1/4 lb of Triple Crown 30% Supplement
-Free choice hay/water/salt

In the summer they eat off pasture and the shetland gets a muzzle on.

There have been a LOT of threads about this topic already. You might want to do a forum search for more opinions. You might also want to post where you're located. Types of feeds available vary widely from place to place.

My horses get free choice grass hay and 1.5 lbs of alfalfa (lucerne) pellets daily. Mixed in their pellets is 1/2 cup of milled flax, a complete vit/min supplement that is high in amino acids, and 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar to make it all stick. This is enough food for even my "hard keeper" in the winter and my lesson horses.

By stopping sweet feed and horse feed & grains in general, I have seriously reduced the amount of food my horses get and their health/condition is better. Coats are shinier, better feet, less thrush and rain rot, etc. My mare's heats are less noticable, my "spooky" horse is barely phased any more, and they all have better work ethics. I'll never go back to sweet feed or commercially prepared horse feed again!

All of that said, the key to a grain-free diet is HAY! The horse needs LOTS of top quality grass hay, mixed hay, or Timothy hay.

7 year old OTTB, very hard keeper. He gets all the hay he can eat (which is easily 15 pounds a day) and 6lbs 12% low starch extruded feed. Hay is the key for him.

Luvs2ride- My horses have always been on Sweet Feed, and my grandmother used to feed 16% SF to her horses. None of them were even the slightest bit hot, as none of ours are now.

Many horses do just fine on sweet feed - Most horses do better off it. None of mine were 'hot' while on sweet feed, but one was tying up, and the others don't have major changes but as mentioned coats are nicer, hooves tronger, etc.

Nothing but grass in summer and hay in winter. I prefer avoiding concentrates at all costs as horses were not designed to eat grains. I understand they become necessary with competition horses in extreme work, but ours do just fine on a natural diet.