Sweet Feed

I won't feed sweet feeds. I won't feed anything with molasses unless absolutely necessary. Generally speaking, I think today's horses are grossly overfed. People are battered by ads for "the next best thing in horse feed" everywhere they look, so they feel they are neglecting their horses if they don't feed some super speshul expensive feed.

IMHO, average horses do best on a diet of good quality hay. In some areas, horses need some ration balancer or additive to make up for some nutrient or mineral that is lacking in their available diet (I think selenium is one of the most common needed). Other than that, horses don't need anything special by way of feed.

I have anywhere from 13-25 head being fed at my place at any given time, has been that way for decades. Since we stopped feeding sweet feeds in the early 90's and went to an all hay diet, we've not had a single instance of colic or founder or any of the other food-related illnesses so common in horses. Maybe it's just because I'm lucky, but I figure that their diet plays a very large part in it.

My guys are getting:
No.4 Top Line Conditioning Cubes
Everday High Fibre Mix
Welcome to HorseHage

But I have been doing an Equine Nutrition course online run by the Dick vet so have decided that maybe that isn't the best food for them. So I am going to change in to;
Sugar Beet pulp, the sugar beet has a molasses coating but much less then in the above food. A Vitamin and Mineral Supplement, Linseed oil and corn oil. We are still looking for something else to add as they don't eat the sugar beet by itself. As well as hay of course.

Mine get beet pulp and they aren't really fond of it but I add a cup of timothy pellets and a half of cup of rice bran pellets and they chow it all down.
It's soaked but rice bran has to be added at the last min. And not soaked as it will get gummy if soaked and they don't like that.

Basically what I've done is remove the confusion from my brain. Feeding horses was a lot simpler 30 years ago needless to say.

I've attempted to educate myself on the nutrition requirements that are now lacking in feed because of poor soil management or over use of the soil. My choice was to employ the KISS method of things.

Hubby and I purchase the BEST quality grass hay we can find. It is supplied to them 24/7 through slow feeders. They are given 1/2 lb of Nutrena Empower Balance and 1/2lb Timothy pellets twice daily to help even up what they are lacking nutritionally in their hay. Add in a little paprika to the top of that and that's what they get. Well of course good, clean water.

Zoot's been on this diet for 2 months and so far so good. The new boy, of course, is just transitioning over.

I have fed sweet feed since I have had horses. I give it to my goats too. They never get much though. My goats get just about a mouth full once they fight over it and get a taste here and a taste there. I have three horses - 2 mares and a gelding. They each get about 1/2 a pound each. It's mainly just a treat. I don't really feed it to get them to gain weight or anything. I have also found that they never get hot on sweet feed, or have bad attitudes. They just figure out that I am the one with the goodies, and it makes them easier to catch, especially when they are mad at me for giving them that nasty wormer. :)

All these years I followed the "keep your horse warm in winter with sweet feed".

I learned it is yuck and full of filler/junk crap. Paying for crap that isn't doing my horses any good.

Invest in good quality hay and read the lables on the supplements. Discuss nutrition with the vet based on each individual horse's needs.