Any certain brands to look for?

Okay, thanks! I'll probably talk to the vet about amounts and frequency but it's nice to have an idea, just so I can estimate how much we'd be going through a month.

I'd really recommend a forum like chazhound.com/forums or dogfoodchat.com/forum/. You'd need to make an account (I think) if you had a question, but if you browse around, you'd be sure to find information on different types of food. A lot of people are advocates for raw, but they have good suggestions for dry food too. :)

Poppy, here's the link to the analysis on MaxiGlo. Nutritional Information | Manna Pro

One of my metabolic horses now has trouble holding weight; I couldn't feed this to him if it had molasses, etc in it.

Jore, horses should get fed twice daily, if that's possible. Sometimes three, in the case of a hard keeper and/or there's serious ulcer issues. Eating smaller portions is better for them, yet they still get their nutritional requirements.

Pellets won't need to be soaked ahead but I do add a bit of water to everything so the powered or meal stuff all stick together. Sometimes where meds are involved, the horse's blowing while eating can send some of the stuff flying.

Definitely soak the cubes - you don't want to get into choke issues. My Arab has four molars missing and the 25 yo TWH has hooks on his back molars the vet does not want to file clear away, elst he's got nothing back there.

I soak the cubes until they look like mushy grass and crush everything up by hand to be sure I didn't miss a cube.

Most horses love the taste of rice bran (Maxi-Glo makes a meal form and a pellet form). It's a good "carrier" to get meds down them or other not-so-tasty supplements. I feed twice daily and will divide their daily portion of rice bran in half if I have to give someone something they may not readily eat.

Most of the ration balancers are tasty, as well. I feed Triple Crown 30% to my 26 yr old Arab and the fussy little Curmudgeon loves it.

My 25 yo TWH with metabolic & hind gut/lipoma issues is successfully eating Triple Crown's Senior --- for the most part. I gave him one pound this AM but it's going to be over 90 today and I know he's going to be "not well" when he comes in tonight. Heat/humidity have been horrible on him this year and that's a first

So to get his needed arthritis and metabolic supplements in him tonight, I will feed him 3/4ths measuring cup of rice bran, with a handful of crushed carrots and apples.

He shouldn't have carrots and apples but we crush them in the blender and that little bit actually seems to be doing him more good than harm at night. It's become a huge sigh of relief when he goes right from his feed pan to his hay.

Regarding flax -- one can rarely go wrong feeding flax. Every once in awhile there are rare horses with a flax intolerance. I think I have one but since I have heard the intolarance can take the form of laminitis, I am afraid to re-test that theory on my other horse with true insulin resistance

I feed my other three Omega-3 Horseshine. Tractor Supply also carries that. They all had healthy hooves before but, after I started feeding this product, their coats really slicked out, got a lot "tighter", and their hooves very healthy with an unbelievable natural shine to them.

With the exception of my horse with a minor club hoof or, unless I've trimmed someone wrong, even in the severe drought we just came out of, nobody had chipped or cracked hooves

A vit/min balanced diet, some flax and some cool energy rice bran for the hard keepers seems to be the simplest way to go. Not the cheapest but not the most expensive either.

It's like feeding humans - what's cheapest to eat sadly isn't the healthiest.

Thanks, you have both been so much help!

I'm definitely planning on keeping it simple, just because it'd be easier on my instructor and her dad (who do the feeding unless the owners are around). I could also just pre-mix everything as well.

So would it be better to simply just split everything she needs in half and feed it once in the morning and then in the evening? That way she'd have all day to digest the vitamins and bran, and then she'd probably be more than happy to have some more. Our last visit was right before her supper time and she was quite anxious to get her food, haha.

Is there a type of supplement that is combined? As in, it'd have all the vitamins/minerals and then something for ulcers/digestive health? That'd probably make it a lot easier as well.

ETA: Is flax just a powder? Or does it come in pellets? I'm sure it's probably included in a lot of supplements too.

Regarding flax -- one can rarely go wrong feeding flax. Every once in awhile there are rare horses with a flax intolerance. I think I have one but since I have heard the intolarance can take the form of laminitis, I am afraid to re-test that theory on my other horse with true insulin resistance


Ok this just made me really really freak out. Lizzy came up slightly lame 48 hours after starting flax seed oil... she's now got shoes as that seemed to really help but the farrier said she may have the start of low grade laminitis. So now that she's on the Healthy Glo rice bran with flax in it, kinda scared right now. Do you have the place where you read this info? Or could you send me more info in a pm please?

But I will definitely second the wetting all feed. Especially dry pellets and alfalfa for sure.

EquiPride is not only soy-free but has a pre-probiotic in it. It comes in meal form or a lick.

I am feeding the meal form to two of my horses but will stop when I run out as the nearest place to buy is 92 miles away. I can't make that drive anymore. I get a huge price break from that dealer because I buy in bulk.

EquiPride also has a pre-probiotic built into it. It wlll help unless the horse has serious ulcer issues.

It's not a flavor a lot of horses like but mine eat it willingly with the timothy pellets and rice bran mixed in.

The bad part of EquiPride is the price. The best part is that it only takes 10 ounces daily and smells an awful lot like wine

Horse equine ? EquiPride and EquiLix

Triple Crown's "30%" ration balancer has a probiotic in it. I'm sure most of the quality brand names ration balancers will, too.

Flax is generally in powder form, to my knowledge and yes, some supplements do have flax added.

Poppy, I sent you a PM

Too bad they don't have any dealers in Maine! (or so the website says)

With everything I learn, the more complicated things seem to get. :P

So would the Triple Crown 30% Supplement + balanced rice bran + gastric health supplement + joint health supplement + access to a salt block (redmond rock or himalayan.. any ideas would also be appreciated) be good? I read that a lot of the nutrients will come from the grass but the Triple Crown would fill in the gaps.. the rice bran would add the weight.. the gastric supplement would keep ulcers at bay (hopefully).. the joint supplement will just keep her feeling her best (plus she's an OTTB so it's pretty important).. and then the block will just be there if she needs anything extra. Plus maybe alfalfa pellets every so often.

Would that be a pretty good diet? I'm going to go grab a notepad document and look at prices and such.. to give me an idea of what to spend per month on the food. My instructor already said I could work off a lot of the board so that'll make it easier on my parents until I managed to get a part-time position. :)

ETA: I went on the Triple Crown website and they have a dealer in Houlton! So that's a plus! :) It's only about thirty or so minutes away. It wouldn't be a problem bringing horse feed across the border, would it?

Also, if anyone has a list of good brands for supplements that I can look for when I browse around the somewhat local feed shops, it'd be greatly appreciated! :)

Carrying livestock feed across the border is something you'd have to check with the border patrol, or the feed stores in close promixity to the border might know.

As far as supplements, whatever products you choose, just be sure the products are guaranteed pure and without fillers.

First thing would be to talk with the vet doing the PPE and get that person's input. Then talk to your regular vet for their opinions. Don't be surprised if you walk away shaking your head after those two conversations because they said something different - lol lol lol

Somewhere in the middle will be the truth and sadly, it will be on you to figure out what's going to work best for your horse. That's where folks on these forums come in handy:) We can say what works for each of our horses, so you at least have Plans "A", "B", "C", and "D". Lollollol

When it comes to ulcer meds and arthritis meds, there's no such thing as cheap; these are two things that we get what we pay for.

Along with being assured of the efficacy of the product (always check the expiration dates), it takes a smaller amount when feeding pure products.

My vet flat-out refuses to give injections to my 25 yr old with hock/ankle arthritis. This horse is drug sensitive to begin with (he can't even have Bute), so I keep him on the maximum dosage of Hylarin/Boswelia.

I buy Med-Vet Pharmaceutical's Hylarin/Boswelia. The company won't sell directly to you but you can get anything they have thru United Vet Equine.

I think Valley Vet may sell some of Med Vet's products but I'm not sure.

I'm at a loss on ulcer meds, except to say over-the-counter antacids USED to work on my Arab but, if he gets a gastric stomach ulcer flare-up now, I just go right to the vet and buy liquid Omeprazole. Aloe Vera juice never did a thing for him but others say it worked for their horses, if fed on a daily basis.

The horse with the hind gut ulcers is also suspected of having lipomas in his digestive tract. It costs me $90/mo for his Succeed but the Succeed works.

EquiOtic did not work for him and I have since found out that, in all likelihood, it was due to the lipomas and I should have doubled the dose.

EquiOtic is $45/mo and that's also not an amount you'd want to spend unless your new gal is confirmed with serious ulcer issues.

Is it this weekend you are going to see her? Be sure to get pictures:)

I'll have to see if they have that information on their website.. because there's only two feedstores I know of on this side of the border, one is Purina and the other is Shur-Gain.. and even though I've gone there a dozen times, I haven't looked at the horse feed.

And yeah, that's the main reason why I'm asking here.. so that I can get lots of different opinions on whichever I choose. I've looked at reviews and such, but I have to say, I'd rather here it from people on here.

After reading a lot of the symptoms of ulcers, I'd really only say she has either none, or just a small amount.. because she was in no way girthy or the least bit grouchy. Just the cribbing, but apparently she's had the collar on for a couple months now and it's been helping a lot. I know they say it's a habit, and for her, it definitely is.. so I can't say for certain if it's because she already has ulcers or if not.

I'll probably just keep her on the diet I've said above, after talking to the vet about it and Amanda.. and then if anything changes, we'll go back to square one and think about what can change. I think though, if she's doing decently on Purina and Co-op brands.. then she'll do just as great on this.

I had talked to Amanda about what she spends per month on just the feed, and she said $110.. because Honey (although I'm wanting to change her name to Indie) eats 8 quartz a day when not on pasture for the whole day. I think even with the supplements, it'll end up being a tad cheaper for everything than what she's getting fed now.. plus she'll probably gain weight faster too. :)

ETA: And yes, we're going down on Sunday! :) It would've been Saturday but I have to lifeguard in the afternoon. Hopefully my dad will be completely sold on her this time and we can tell Amanda that we'd like to buy her once we get her checked out. He was pretty smitten with her the last time, so I think one last trip should seal the deal. Amanda has even offered to trailer her down for us if we pay for gas.. which is a much better price than what my instructor would've charged.

Check out Frank Lampley. They have great supplements and awesome customer service.