Where Scottie lives out over summer and in at night over winter he has different feeding patterns. Over winter he has 2 feeds a day, hay at night an sometimes in the field and a treatball. Whereas over the summer he has one feed a day and occasional hay if the field is looking bare. Because of this I need to make sure that he is getting enough energy and nutrients.
Scottie is a very good doer for a thoroughbred and is very good condition where he has moved onto the summer grass and started to build up muscle. (Maybe because he throws his food EVERYWHERE!)
Scottie is currently on (summer feed):
– 1 scoop Alfa A Oil
– 1/2 scoop Conditioning Cubes
– 50ml Turmeric
– 50ml Rapeseed Oil
– 25ml Supa Hoof
– 30ml Garlic Granules
I recently contacted Baileys Horse Feeds looking for a bit of advice on feed as I would expect Scottie to have built up more muscle by now, despite the fact that he has massively improved from when I got him. I contacted Baileys as I really like the company and their products.
The advice they gave me was that his diet was generally good, but he needed more. They suggested the following for the day:
– 2 scoops Alfa A Oil
– 1 1/2 scoops Conditioning Cubes
However, they suggested swapping the conditioning cubes for a performance balancer as not only does it have more nutrients, but also has more energy, meaning I wouldn’t need to feed as much concentrate. There final feed for the day was:
– 2 scoops Alfa A Oil
– 2-3 cups of Performance Balancer
– 50ml Turmeric
– 50ml Rapeseed Oil
– 25ml Supa Hoof
– 30ml Garlic Granules
Although I do highly value their opinions as feed specialists. I personally like a high as possible Forage:Concentrate ratio, which I do not feel they have taken into account. I also feel it is important to point out that Scottie is in very good condition and has plenty of energy for all activities we do. And especially now that he is out 24/7 with plenty of good quality grass, I do no feel that he needs the amount of feed they are suggesting. However, I will change the type of feed and up the amounts slightly and see what I think down the line.
(I think he’s looking very good! Despite doing his giraffe impression :P)
What are your experiences with feed companies?
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
I don’t know if you are aware but the rape seed oil is not a good oil for inflammation, I also feed Turmeric but I feed it with either linseed oil or virgin olive oil as they are cold pressed oils . I hope you don’t mind me commenting on this.
I know it isn’t great for inflammation as it has more omega 6 than omega 3. However, with turmeric having such high anti-inflammatory responses I would rather not feed more natural anti-inflammabilities as they can mask lameness ect. I only feed oil as you need to with turmeric, no other reason. I found this graph really helpful for choosing what oil. http://www.equusfeeds.co.za/chart.jpg