Feeding Crossroads - Need Advice

I am truly ready for my local mass of humidity to move out!! I found the beginnings of mold growth in the horse feed. Fortunately I caught it early and Scout didn't take any of the moldy grain in. Needless to say, the remains of that load has been tossed.

The silver lining of the moldy grain is that now I'm thinking of finding a more suitable menu for Scout. He had been on a very small amount of sweet feed - our feed store calls it 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 Rolled Corn, no brand name, just the feed-store sweet feed. He literally gets one small handful 2x a day when the other horse in the barn eats, purely to prevent mutiny. The amount doesn't even register on my grain scale.

I'm thinking of switching to a pelleted feed. My Dad thinks that a dry pellet will resist mold and last longer than the "gooey" sweet feed, as Scout eats so little of it and a 50 lb. Bag is the smallest I can buy. I'd prefer not to cut out grain altogether, since he doesn't get any other kind of vitamin/mineral supplement (He does have free access to a salt block), and he "expects" breakfast and dinner when the other horse gets his.

Some info on Scout - Ballpark 8 years old, ridden 4-7 days per week as weather allows, medium work/light trail riding, and daily turnout as weather allows (no real shelter from rain or sun in the paddock, unfortunately). He isn't a hot horse by nature, but I don't really need him to have grain-fueled energy at this point. He has free choice hay of good quality when stalled, free access to grass during turnout. Currently in very good weight, a condition score of 4 to 5.

I'm somewhat constrained by what Tractor Supply carries regularly as far as what is readily available in my area. I was looking at Blue Seal's Strider formula (11% min. Crude protein, 3.5% min. Crude fat, 7.0% max. Crude fiber) as a potential candidate.

Opinions or advice on what to switch to? As I said, the grain is essentially his supplement, and I'm looking to get away from the sweet feed and not have him hopped-up on high octane horse feed.

Sorry that got so long... e-cookies for reading; trying to cram in unnecessary info, as always. Thank you in advance, and let me know if more info is needed!

Scout, I use the Blue Seal line of feed, but instead of going with Strider, what about Trotter?

Trotter is alfalfa based and pelleted. My horses like it just fine, and I like it because it's basically just pelleted alfalfa with some added vegetable oil.

I was using Blue Seal Charger while I was trying to put weight on my TB, but it has some things in it I really didn't want the other horses eating. So now that his weight is where I want it, I've switched everyone over to Trotter and beet pulp pellets.

Or better yet Sunshine plue .. it is a vitamin/mineral supplement with some added protien .. low sugars and HIGH nutrition.

If you PM me your zip code or post it I might be able to suggest some others

Thanks for the replies!

Speed: My TSC does stock Trotter as well, so that's certainly on the table. I'll definitely take a close look at it. Have you ever had issues with the alfalfa base making your horses hot? The previous owner of my sisters horse once told us about an experience she had in which a BO switched the entire barn over to alfalfa hay without telling her, and the switch had her horse nearly climbing the walls with excess energy. I know all horses react to things like that differently, but I'm curious as to what your thoughts are. I do like the idea of basically giving him a handful of alfalfa, rather than a "mystery pellet".

Peggysue: I just Googled Sunshine Plus, and it looks like a supplement additive to be put over an existing grain ration?

You don't have to add anything to it UNLESS they need more calories.. which doesn't sound like either of yours does.


It is a vitamin/mineral supplement to "balance" your hay/pasture and can be used as a stand alone

Same as the Enrich32, Buckeye's Gro N Win, Progressives Pro Advantage Grass Formula, Triple Crown's 30%, Kent's Topline32 and many others

Thanks for the advice!

I went to TSC, and that one didn't have Trotter in stock, at least not yesterday afternoon. :roll: I bought a sack of Strider, and with 3 feedings there's no hotness or anything really different than the sweet feed. I think we have a go! If our other semi-local TSC carries Trotter, I might switch him to that for the winter when he spends more time stalled and is eating almost no grass, just free-choice grass hay.

I'm definitely letting my sister know about the Sunshine Plus. Her guy was on oats with a scoop of Grow 'n Win with the last owner, and really had some "bloom" to him that he hasn't really had since we've had him. He's not at all underweight or anything, he's just holding weight differently, if that makes sense, and that's probably attributable to the increase in ridden exercise he gets now. Grow 'n Win just isn't available here (bought the horse out of state), but if the Sunshine Plus is she might be interested in experimenting with that for Rio.

Thank you both so much for your insights and advice!

You could use the sunshine plus as well and jsut add calories :)