Help me with my feed plan! Please!

When I moved barns and was trying to balance a new diet for my horse, another poster suggested the website feedxl.com to me.

It cost me 20 bucks, I tailored a diet specifically to my horse, it told me where I was over adding and under nourishing, and gave me suggestions to fix it.

Worth EVERY penny.

Ok let me say that he is very handsome (love his colour too) and he's already looking pretty good and yes could use a bit more weight but I would say you are almost there :)

I have had great sucess with keeping things simple which is both easy on their stomachs and your wallet too!

Please stay away from sweet feed, alfalfa, beet pulp, corn, oats, etc.. Even wheat and ricebran are not the greatest on their stomachs. After years and years of experimenting this is what I swear by please consider something like this for your guy...I have also added specific weights based on my mare's size she is just over 15hh and is 1100 lbs.

24 lbs of good old fashioned hay :)
2 lbs of a supplement that contains only the basic vitamins, minerals and amino acids etc... that they need
2 cups (about 1 lb) of Canola meal which helps them gain weight with healthy fats and keeps them super healthy and shiny with omegas

That's it! And a bit of grass everyday :)

This has brought my rescue mare from a body condition score of about a 2 to about a 6! Lol I like my horses on the full side :)

I would say your guy is at a 4 right now and you probably want him at a 5 given that he is a TB so it shouldnt take long to get there :)

Here a before and after photo of my monkey lol to show how well it worked on her!

I wouldn't stay away from alfalfa, RB or beet pulp. Sweet feed & corn, yes, but definitely not alfalfa, RB and beet pulp - neither are hard on a horses stomach if fed properly.

Ride the sky, your mare looks fantastic! She packed on the pounds beautifully and her coat is great!

Also disagree with staying away from alfalfa, rice bran and beet pulp. They are 3 of the key ingredients in my horses' diets.

I used alfalfa, beet pulp and a rice bran based senior feed, along with free choice hay to turn this....



Into this...

[QUOTE=HowClever;1089619]Also disagree with staying away from alfalfa, rice bran and beet pulp. They are 3 of the key ingredients in my horses' diets.

I used alfalfa, beet pulp and a rice bran based senior feed, along with free choice hay to turn this...."


Your gelding looks great you did a wonderful job with him and thanks to the last person for the compliment on my mare :)

I never said that those things wouldn't work they would and I have used them with good results as well however beatpulp and alfalfa when fed on an ongoing basis can upset a horse's insulin levels and even foster a greater production of stomach acid which can lead to tummy upset or even ulcers. Fortunately the alfalfa contains a high level of Calcium which offset's this but sugar/startch in any form is not ideal for the long term. I know people who feed beetpulp everyday for years and years that have switched to soyhulls or a mix of the two called Fibremax. This has also been recommended by equine vets and nutritionists. As for the ricebran I know people who have fed this for years only to find out their horse's bones had become weak developing osteoperosis type symptoms. The thing with Ricebran even the stablized kind (which is the only kind you should ever consider feeding btw) is that the cal phos ratio is very finicky and depending on how much cal/phos they are getting from forage and other supplements (there is really know way to know exactly how much they are absorbing especially from hay and grass) so because it's unbalanced I think it's smarter to use something like Canola Meal where you don't have to worry about that. I'm not saying that if you use the above items in your feeding regimen that your horse is going to be full of ulcers, get diabetes, or have crumbly bones tomorrow lol I myself have used all of these things before and for an extended period of time but there are very good reasons why I have switched to other options.