Need Help Coming Up With A Feed Plan

I'm needing some pretty big help with my mare. When he got her, she was a little tubby and undermuscled. I managed to get her back in shape and get all of her muscle back, but at the same time she lost a lot of weight in her tummy area and is ribby.

Sooo...I need help coming up with a feed plan, and basically choosing a feed for her. She cannot go on sweet feed because she colics on it, so I've basically been feeding her some cheap feed from our local Co-Op (like a farmer's market) which I know is bad, but I don't know what to feed her.

If you could help me develop a feed plan for her, that would be great. Or maybe I'm missing some key vitamin or some little detail? My other horse is a very easy keeper, but this mare is not. You should know that she has been wormed recently, so that is not the reason.

I'm not really sure what all details are needed, so I'll just throw out a bunch. Hah.

Age: 12
She is exercised about an hour a day, except for the past two weeks she's been out due to the fact that she ran through a fence and hurt her leg. She has one more week of recovery and then I'll get her back into work. Usually work involves some pretty streneous work like long trotting, barrel practice, basic reining stuff, etc.
She does not have hay because her pasture is verrryyy green, and I don't want to overdue it.
She is out 24/7 (excluding extreme weather conditions of course).
She is on MSM and there is a salt block in the pasture.

Uhmm...anything else you need to know? If anyone could help point me in the right direction as far as what I need to be feeding her that would great.

You don't raelly say how much you are feeding your horse and that uis important also
You can worm a horse and they can still have worms. Any way I would get a feed nutritionist to help you. You might get your hay tested at the county extension office also. You might also use a pelleted feed like strategy or safe choice also

Thank you for your response!

Oh duh! *smacks self* I apologize. She gets 2 1/2 pounds in the morning and 2 1/2 pounds in the afternoon. The feed is (like I said) some cheap stuff called Equi-Mate from Co-Op.

Well, my vet did a fecal check for worms and didn't find anything, so I don't think that is it.

I was actually looking at Safe Choice the other day. Do you have any experience with it?

Do you know exactly what it is in the Sweet Feed that makes her colic? Or is it one specific type of sweet feed that makes her colic?

I have used Purina products with great success. I personally feed Omolene 200, which is a sweet feed. But, Purina also makes pelleted feeds like Strategy, and Strategy Healthy Advantage. I have used the Strategy, but moved back to the Omolene 200 because it keeps my paints from sunburning. The thing that you have to keep in mind when feeding Purina products, is less is more. My 1,200lb mare gets 2lbs of Omolene 200 a day. That my soon change as she is started into a heavier work load, but she never gets a whole lot, and always looks good. If you are just wanting to add fat to her feed, pour Corn oil on her feed. My vet told me that secret when I was nursing an old mare back to health a few months ago. Go to Purina's website Purina Difference - Home and research their different complete horse feeds. If all else fails, ask your vet to help you with her dietary needs, he/she would be the best person to ask.

Double posted...whooops. Scroll down. Haha.

I have no idea what causes her to colic on it. I learned that from her old owners (who are much more experienced than I) and I don't want to put it to the test.

We use Omolene where I work (which is a speed horse farm) and that seems to work well. I would invest in it if I knew that Molly Jo wouldn't colic on it, but like I said, I don't want to take the risk. I'll check out Purina's website though, and I guess it would be a good idea to ask my vet.

Thank you so much!

You are so very welcome. Have you thought about asking your employers to help you come up with a feed plan for her? Just a thought. If that is what they do for a living, they must be good at meeting an individual horse's needs.

Hah. I haven't thought of that. That's a good idea.

Someone that sees the horse and knows what is going on would be more helpful. Is your horse on grass or hay? Is that hour a day light or hard work? Bottom line is more nutrition is needed. Yes I have used strategy and safe choice and both are fine. I feed my easy keeper which is getting an hour of work most days. Not hard or light work but med. 8 flakes of quality grass hay and about 6 pds of safe choice total per day. I just upped her from 5 pds a day as she looked to be loosing a bit of weight and I have just started working her a bit more for a show

The easiest way to feed a hard keeper IMO is a balancer pellet or vit/min supplement as a constant base to ensure nutritional needs are being met - Then add some forage, so chaff/beet pulp/hay cubes to buffer the spike in sugars a hard feed can cause, and then add calories/protein as needed.

If she is lacking weight, I would add something high in fat and protein. Full fat soy is a good one, as is rice bran (A stabilised and balanced version is best, here in Aus we have Equijewel. I think you have a product there called TDI Conditioner, which is a mix of rice bran and flax, sounds like a good product).

Then you can increase/decrease the calories/fat/protein as needed and not effect the nutrient value.