I recently posted pics of Aires for a conformation critique and the biggest thing everyone seemed to be concerned about is that he appears underweight. In the pics, he had just been curried and bathed (getting rid of all that nasty winter hair) and was still wet. He'd also just had his mane roached. He doesn't appear skinny or underweight in person, but I figure it couldn't hurt to add a ration balancer or something to his diet.
He's boarded, so I don't know exact weight on what he's fed, but I know he gets Bermuda grass hay morning and midday, and alfalfa for supper. He's usually fed in his stall, but every once in a great while, he gets his midday meal in the turnout with four or five other geldings. Each pile is a good five to six pounds of Bermuda grass hay, and there is usually one more pile than there are horses turned out. I'm assuming he gets the same amount in his stall when he's fed (so 10-12lbs of Bermuda grass hay per day and probably 10lbs of alfalfa [the alfalfa tends to be heavier and more densely packed]). I haven't had a chance yet to figure out how many calories he's getting yet.
Right now, he's 16.1-16.2hh and weighs approximately 1300lbs. He just went through a growth spurt.
So, I've been looking at adding a ration balancer to his diet. I'm not sure if I should feed a grass formula or an alfalfa formula. In addition to a ration balancer, I'm thinking of adding pellets to his evening meal (locally produced alfalfa mix hay pellets).
Here's my problem. I have three feed stores to choose from in my area: CAL Ranch, Olsen's Grain and Warren's Hay-N-More. I know for sure that CAL Ranch doesn't carry anything even remotely resembling a ration balancer. I'm going to be checking the other two this week armed with this list: http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/ration-balancer-products.html . So, what do I do if I can't find a ration balancer at a local feed store?
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He's boarded, so I don't know exact weight on what he's fed, but I know he gets Bermuda grass hay morning and midday, and alfalfa for supper. He's usually fed in his stall, but every once in a great while, he gets his midday meal in the turnout with four or five other geldings. Each pile is a good five to six pounds of Bermuda grass hay, and there is usually one more pile than there are horses turned out. I'm assuming he gets the same amount in his stall when he's fed (so 10-12lbs of Bermuda grass hay per day and probably 10lbs of alfalfa [the alfalfa tends to be heavier and more densely packed]). I haven't had a chance yet to figure out how many calories he's getting yet.
Right now, he's 16.1-16.2hh and weighs approximately 1300lbs. He just went through a growth spurt.
So, I've been looking at adding a ration balancer to his diet. I'm not sure if I should feed a grass formula or an alfalfa formula. In addition to a ration balancer, I'm thinking of adding pellets to his evening meal (locally produced alfalfa mix hay pellets).
Here's my problem. I have three feed stores to choose from in my area: CAL Ranch, Olsen's Grain and Warren's Hay-N-More. I know for sure that CAL Ranch doesn't carry anything even remotely resembling a ration balancer. I'm going to be checking the other two this week armed with this list: http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/ration-balancer-products.html . So, what do I do if I can't find a ration balancer at a local feed store?
Posted via Mobile Device