Rice bran and calcium-phosphorus

I have a hard keeper, off-the-track gelding who I have a heck of a time designing a feed schedule for. I am trying to find a good balance of supplements/grains/feeds that will: -put and keep weight on him, -get his coat looking like it hasn't just been sand blasted, -NOT make him high and crazy, and -be nutritionally balanced. He is not a performance horse and does not needs tons of energy, just weight gain. He has access to clean water and trace minerals all the time.

I've been feeding corn oil and flaxseed with a basic complete pelleted feed, which worked well for getting the first 100 lbs back on him and cleaning up his coat. But, I'd rather do something simpler in the long term.

I have heard the benefits of rice bran for coat and weight gain, but I've also heard the warning about the calcium-phosphorus ratio. Any opinions/alternatives?

Personally, I like Calf Manna. It'll do what you want it to do and you won't have to worry about ratios and what not.

Just check and make sure it is Ca fortifies Rice Bran like Claf Manna's manna Glo


You might check into Ration Balancers and then add your flax and other stuff FOR CALORIES .. the Ration Balancer will provide your nutrition then you can add beet pulp, alfalfa pellets/cubes or rice bran for calories

Most of your name brand rice bran like MaxiGlow and EquiJewel etc are fortified rice brans that you should not have an issue with.

Ditto that. If you can't get a name brand, also be sure the rice bran says "stabilized" and for equine use.

For example, here's a link to Seminole Feed's rice bran G/A.

Seminole Ultra Bloom


Stabilized means it won't turn rancid if it's not used up in a short time. I prefer to feed the pellets as the horses feel like they're getting something to "sink their teeth into" and it's more palatable

I can't say enough good things.

Nutrena Horse Feed: Empower High-Fat Rice Bran Supplement

I'm using stabilized rice bran to add weight. I use the powder form since it's cheaper. I mix it in with his soaked beet pulp & hay cubes and he loves it so much that he licks the dish when he's done. He's gaining about 5 lbs a day. It smells like cookie dough. Yum.

Staablized adn fortified are two different things

Stablized means it has stuff added to help it store ...

Fortified means it is balanced Ca;P

So you want one that is fortified and stablized :)

Mine just says stabilized on the bag and it has added calcium to offset the phosphorus. I'm at work now, but will check to see if it also say fortified on it. Wasn't aware of the different terms.

It won't always say fortified which is why you need to check the lables :)