Pelleted Food

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Pelleted Food

Posted : 11/27/2011 5:09:42 AM

I'm typically a label watcher with all of my animals, one of thoes annoying people in the pet store that ask a thousand questions only to end up making their own pet food any way. Just recently I recieved my first horse. She is severly underweight and in rought shape. So, naturally, I drug my hubby off to tractor supply to do some label reading and employee interrogating. Much to my dismay the only lady there to help us told us just to read the back of the bag and pick one for our horse. I explained to her I wanted an opinion on what she would recomend as far as quality and ingredients, again we recieved a rude 'read the back of the bag'. At this point we were quite frustrated and I curtly told her that literacy was not my issue and that we would not be needing her help. After some extensive label browsing (EVERY bag available) I still do not have any idea on what a quality pelleted food should contain. The internet has recommended purina strategy... I have a hard time believing that purina could make a quality food for any animal, let alone for a horse. Every single bag of feed we looked at contains copper sulfate and several other ingredients that I typically avoid because they are either toxins or linked with long term health issues. I'm not even sure what should and shouldn't be in pellets. My horse will turn two in the spring, she is a quarter horse, and once she recovers a bit she will have moderate exercise and training. My questions pretty much boil down to the following:

What ingredients should be avoided in feed?
What should be in the feed?
What brands are good quality and which should be avoided?
What extras, like oats and other grains, can be mixed in with the feed?
What portions of grain and/or other feed can be mixed together?

Money isn't an issue when it comes to a quality feed, I'm not looking to cut corners on a cheep food. Any help decoding these labels would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a bunch!!

Durangogramma

Posted : 11/27/2011 6:08:09 AM

You need to start with a basis of good quality GRASS hay. Horses do not need grain unless they are being worked hard and their weight cannot be kept up with hay only. I especially would not give grain to a horse that is severely underweight.

Equine nutrition is complex and depends upon what you are feeding, pasture and where you live as that will determine what nutrients they are or are not getting from grass or hay.

An excellent, comprehensive book is Storey's Guide to Feeding Horses.

Also, you say that your horse is severely underweight but that can encompass quite a bit of area. Since you are obviously online, type in "horse body condition score" and check out a few sites so that you can see how bad your horse is. If she is a 3 or less, get your veterinarian involved. You can kill a severely underweight horse by trying to put weight on them too quickly.

I know I have not directly answered your questions, but I hope I've helped you a bit.

I bought a mare years and years ago that had a body score of less than 2. I put her weight on by feeding her hay only at first, then a supplement that you only fed 1 oz of twice a day. I put that in a handful (literally what I could pick up in one hand) of oats.

The horse I have now (who is in good condition) gets hay morning and evening with Triple Crown 30% supplement & 1/2 cup of whole flax seed & (for the last year) a joint supplement. I also give him warm beet pulp (pellets soaked with warm water) in the winter. Anything that you give your horse as a supplement needs to be given in small amounts at first and then worked up to the recommended amount. Also, if you change feeds or even hay, you should change them gradually from one to the other.