Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by PJ on March 29, 2009 at 3:26pm

I'm no nutritionist, but I would not recommend feeding oats. There are so many extruded feeds out there to meet our horses needs. Oats are primarily carbs and though they give our horses energy, there are much better and more digestible ways to supply that. If she has lost weight, you may want to supplement her with beet pulp. We have a mare on the farm that was very underweight when she arrived. We are feeding her a 12% complete feed and mixing that with beet pulp. If you can find sugar free beet pulp, that would be better, but it is tough to find depending on where you live. The hay quality in our area this year has been poor, so substituting with a complete feed helps meet there nutirional needs. You may want to have her teeth checked and ensure she does not have worms. Good luck! pj

Permalink Reply by Chloe on March 30, 2009 at 11:17am

Thank you for the advice. Chloe

Permalink Reply by Equissage Canada on April 7, 2009 at 8:21pm

Hi! I just had the Purina nutritionist out to visit my gang--2 Percherons, a PerchXPaint, and a ClydeXTB. We had the Dr Phil tough love talk--they are morbidly obese! In any case, they are all on Equilizer, my Mare and Foal will have sweet feed (12-14%) to help her condition. My ClydeX who works hard just gets Equilizer and a fat and fiber extruded feed.
Oats are not great for young growing horses as the calcium and phosphorous ratios are reversed.

Permalink Reply by Lori Tankel on May 27, 2009 at 11:05am

Google EPSM diets. There is a vet, I can't remember her name and unfortunately my notes are at home and I am at work. Drafts should have high fat/low carb diets. I think that sweet feed is bad for them. Unfortunately, my draft x is allergic to alot of the ingredients in a high fat diet (beet pulp, flax), so I have had to compromise with his diet. He gets all the t/a hay he wants and seminole ultra dynamix, which he has had no problems with. There have also been good discussions on this on COTH.

Permalink Reply by Chloe on May 27, 2009 at 11:40pm

Thanks for the info. I actually ran across EPSM diets while I was researching what is best to feed draft crosses. She was getting very anxious on grain so I decided to start her on a diet of hay + alfafa pellets + oil + vitamins. She is the best she has ever been on this diet. She has energy but is her normal sweet personality. Also her coat looks great and she is a nice wieght.

Permalink Reply by Lori Tankel on June 12, 2009 at 3:17pm

Glad it worked! My draft is on a pellet and alfalfa/orchard hay diet. Unfortunately, with his allergies, he cannot be fed a true EPSM diet (beet pulp is usually an ingredient, as well as flax, both which he is allergic to), but I have found a feed that is pretty close (Seminole Ultra Dynamix) and he looks awesome!
I personally do not like feeding sweet feed for any of my horses. My oldest daughter took one of her TB's to college last year and the barn he was at fed him sweet feed. He was a nut! As soon as he returned for the summer (actually, he came home in April as he injured himself), I switched him back to pellets and he is doing so much better and looks better too! And I can feed him less!