supplement and RB questions

I have my TB currently on 13 pounds alfalfa/grass mix pellets plus four pounds Intregrity Low Starch. He has gained weight nicely seems very happy. Today was my first lesson with my trainer and she said Brown (and myself) will be working harder and she said to I need to keep an eye on him to see if I need to up his feed. Question one: Should I be giving electrolytes in his feed especially now that its getting hotter and he will be working harder? Question two I just ordered my first smartpak and I ordered Tri Amino, Smart Joint maintinence, and Nu Image, should I be worried about oversupplementation? Should I back off the Intregrity or leave it and add my supplements on top? Thanks and sorry for the novel!

Supplement should be given on an as needed basis, not because you think a horse might need them. If you need to increase his feed, give him hay, from a bale. It will help keep him occupied. Unless he is heavily sweating every time you ride there is really no need for electrolytes. Give him an apple, it's full of them. The supplements can be over done and can actually create problems plus make for expensive manure.

Women like to shop! For horses, purses, feed, clothes, supplements, etc.
1. Good water
2. Good quality hay or pasture
3. Good mineral program.
4. Little feed if necessary.

5. If your animal is performing in the top 1% of the breed, sport, etc. you might need and can justify "supplements".

I don't know much about performance horses, so I was wondering why you feed grass/alfalfa pellets instead of grass and alfalfa forage/hay? Does your horse have any forage at all?

Sorry I can't offer any tips or insight, but my horses are just pleasure/trail horses, so I'm not qualified to offer suggestions on a performance horse's diet.

I was just asking out of curiousity not criticism.

So true about women loving to shop lol. He isn't a performance horse but he does sweat heavily by the end of a training session so that's why I asked about a electrolytes. Plus our summers can get into the 120's. He doesn't get hay because where I keep him doesn't allow it, please don't get upset that I don't feed it, I know the advantages of feeding hay but where he stays its just not possible as this moment. So that's why the pellet mix. I chose those three supplements not just because but because he seems lacking in those areas. Joint maintenence I thought was important as a preventitive, the amino acids because I have read how it helps build muscle, and the nu image for hoof because his are not growing and has some cracks/chips and are very dry. I just didn't know if I should still be feeding the intregrity so much. He looks much better he did when I first got him and I just want to continue that.

Thank you for explaining that to me. This may sound stupid, but I didn't know a horse could live on just grain/pellet feed, honestly. Horses are grazing animals, with a need for a near constant intake of grass/hay...doesn't he get hungry between grain/pellet feedings? Why won't the place you keep him at allow hay? Does he get grass?

You don't have to answer my questions, of course....since you started this thread to look for answers and not to be questioned.

I am just curious about his unorthodox diet. I am not one to criticize someone on how they take care of their horse as we all have our own way of doing things and we need to be less critical of each other.

Your reasoning behind your supplementation sounds reasonable to me....I have our horses on supplements also.... and like you, I have reasons for it.

I lived in the Phoenix area for many years and never used electrolytes. Maybe we should have, but we didn't know any better. We never had any issues. And I trail rode a lot and the horses sweated a lot. But they always had salt available.

So I would definitely make sure he has free access to salt. I personally don't feel electrolytes are needed unless you are doing endurance or something.

Is there any way you can feed cubes instead of pellets? That way he could be getting a little bit of long-stem fibers if you're not able to get a regular bale of hay. I would only give electrolytes after a really hard workout, but I wouldn't think you would need to give it everyday. I always make sure my horses have a salt lick though. The joint stuff I don't think I would spend my money on. I give my retired boy 10g of MSM everyday to help his ole joints since he gets stiff a lot, but I don't give any joint stuff to my barrel horse since he doesn't have any issues. The Nu Image you're giving him already has amino acids in it, so if you still want to give him amino acids then I would cut out your other supplement to save some money.

Sorry to come back to reply to this so late but thanks for the replies. Especially about the electrolytes, I had been wondering about that for a while. I think I will just stick with the nu image and the integrity. To answer about getting hungry in between feeds, he doesn't seem to. In fact he takes his time with his pellets like its hay, he will eat a majority of it but leave a little to nibble on throughout most of the day maybe that's why he doesn't get hungry. To answer the hay question, we had a couple of bad loads of hay that a bunch of horses got sick off and ever since then my FIL won't let it on his property. He says the pellets are a complete feed and he knows whats in them. They are supposed to have vitamins, minerals and salt. And as a plus they are cheaper than hay...here anyhow. Thanks again for the advice. Supplements get a little overwhelming sometimes, it seems like you just need all of it....not just with horses either,lol.