Cross Roads 12%?

Ok, so I'm adopting a horse and boarding him at a facility that feeds Cross Roads 12% sweet feed. I've heard both good and bad about this grain... and I was wondering what your opinions were? And, if this is not a complete form of nutrition for my horse, what supplements should I add to it to make sure he is getting everything he needs?

Here are the ingredients:

Crude protein (min) 12.0%
Crude fat (min) 2.50%
Crude fiber (max) 18.0%
Calcium (Ca) (min) 1.0%
Calcium (Ca) (max) 1.50%
Phosphorus (P) (min) .45%
Salt (NaCl) (min) .70%
Salt (NaCl) (max) 1.20%
Potassium (K) (min) 1.20%
Copper (Cu) (min) 8.0ppm
Copper (Cu) (max) 15.0ppm
Selenium (Se) (min) 0.10
Zinc (Zn) (min) 100.0ppm
Vitamin A (min) 2,000IU/lb
INGREDIENTS: Processed grain by-products, roughage products, molasses products, grain products, calcium carbonate, salt, propionic acid (preservative), vitamin A supplement, vitamin D-3 supplement, ferrous sulfate, potassium iodide, manganous oxide, cobalt carbonate, sodium molybdate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite. Ruminant Meat and Bone Meal Free. 030C-T511F 21% roughage products.


Currently, he is on Purina Equine Adult. I couldn't find the ingredients online, sorry about that.

Hi,

'Sweet feeds' - those with molasses in the top 4-5 ingreds - aren't a healthy option. Bit like feeding lollies to kids for every meal. As well as the excess actual sugar, high starch feeds are also generally best avoided. Upon looking at the ingredients list, it looks like a cheaper quality too, being all 'products' which means by-products - the rubbish that's left from making something else.

Ok, that's what I was thinking too, but it's just what the barn owner uses. Are there any supplements I could add to make it healthier?

Buy a different grain for your horse and ask if that can be fed instead. Adding a supplement would be like adding a flintstone vitamin to a kids meal of lucky charms and soda.

Ok, I will ask to see if I can do that instead.

Ok, so I was talking to the BO, and she said she feeds the kind without molasses. So I must have been mistaken. That should be better, right? Less sugar?

Sorry read your ingredient list again, even the BO has no idea what she is feeding.

INGREDIENTS: Processed grain by-products, roughage products, molasses products, grain products, calcium carbonate, salt, propionic acid (preservative), vitamin A supplement, vitamin D-3 supplement, ferrous sulfate, potassium iodide, manganous oxide, cobalt carbonate, sodium molybdate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite. Ruminant Meat and Bone Meal Free. 030C-T511F 21% roughage products.

I know, I looked that up online, but I may have gotten it wrong. She said it doesn't have molasses in it. When I am there next I am going to look at the label

If it's a sweet feed of any kind I would not feed it. It should not be that hard to buy what he is being fed now and have that fed instead. But looking at those ingredients I would change that as well. They are listed below.

Contains High-Quality Protein, Energy, Vitamins and Minerals

• Gives horses the right amount of energy when they need it without making them more difficult to manage or causing obesity.

Soy-blend Molasses

• Soy-blend Molasses Instead of using straight cane molasses which is high in sugar, Purina® Equine Adult® Horse Feed contains a unique blend of molasses and soy oil for a higher fat molasses that horses love to eat

Convenient

• Great for traveling or at home.

Easy-To-Chew Pellet

• Easy for adult horses to digest.

Fortified with Purina® Animax®

• A concentrated milk protein, a readily available source of protein, vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins and Minerals

• Provides 100% of the required nutrients for horses when fed as directed* so no additional supplements are necessary. *Based on “Nutrient Requirements of Horses Sixth Revised Edition – 2007” published by the National Research Council.

Feed Guard® Nutrition System

• The FeedGuard® Nutrition System is one of the industry’s most innovative and exacting quality assurance programs. FeedGuard® Nutrition System can help deliver the trust, quality and performance that horse professionals demand every day.

CRUDE PROTEINMIN12.00%CRUDE FATMAX3.00%CRUDE FIBERMIN25.00%CALCIUM (CA)MIN0.90%CALCIUM (CA)MAX1.20%PHOSPHORUS MIN0.30%COPPER (CU) MIN25PPMSELENIUM (SE)MIN0.30PPMZINC (ZN)MIN100PPMVITAMIN AMIN3000IU/LB

That's true. I appreciate your help a lot. The BO is giving me a bit of a hard time about changing it, but she said she is going to show me it and talk to me more about it when I'm out there next. She seemed a little offended when I asked her if I could. But I'm going to talk to her about it more, explain why I want to change it. I really want my boy to be getting the best