Foal Feeding

[gotkiger]

Dollie can be very tempermental with her hay so I give her a mix of alfalfa and timothy pellets in one bucket and a second bucket with A&M in it. I didnt think anything of it the first time i saw Frodo tasting the pellets as he would gum them and then they would fall out of his mouth, much like how he would test they hay Dollie was eating. However today when i gave Dollie her pellets and A&M Frodo kept going back to the bockets and eating out of both.. and he didnt want to stop. Should I be stopping him from eating that or finding him something else to eat?

[Michelle Clarke]

I would not worry about him eating them, except if the pellets are large I would worry about choking. What is A&M? Make sure there is hay around for Frodo though, even if Dollie won't eat it.

[kimk]

i have had 2 horses choke on hay pellets that were not large pellets. so i soak mine. It doesn't take long for them to absorb the water, and they love it. I mix thier grain in with the soaked pellets and they all clean it up. i give this to the babies as well, especially Savannah's babies as she does not share her food well. The only thing that would concern me, as Michelle said, is choking, even on small pellets.

[barbhorses]

A & M is alfalfa and molasses

[Michelle Clarke]

Watch sugar with iberian horses....they tend to be insulin resistant and should stay away from molasses and corn.

[gotkiger]

ahh good to know... i have never delt with a horse with insulin resistance. I dont feed corn, only oats and wheat bran and even that is a super special treet. The closest thing to corn that I feed is about 1/3 cup of veg or canola oil to try to help the dry skin, which they both have. As far as the pelelts go, my dog food is in bigger chunks. It is about 1/4 inch in diameter and anywhere from 1/4 inch long to an inch long, but they break down super fast. Should i set up a creep feeder for him already and what does everyone use as a creep feed since i want to stay away from the sugar and corn?

[DianneC]

I never did a creep feeder and I think its better if they grow a little slower. If they are in pasture he should get plenty to eat with nursing Dollie and sharing her grain a bit.

[gotkiger]

i dont feed grain... I only feed alfalfa and timmothy pellets as extra feed and more timothy then alfalfa. I had her on a grain and she was higher than a kite so i said forget that. Otherwise she gets flake alfalfa and pasture time. I am trying to get her back out on pasture permaninately for the summer, now until the first rains come in November. It is a 12 acre pasture, i believe, so it gives them pleanty of room to run and exercise (plus being worked by me as well), and lots of food and water in case i have to go out of town for a few days.

[gotkiger]

I did have her on A&M but stopped that.

[Michelle Clarke]

Dollie needs more protein and vits and trace minerals while she is nursing - hay is not near enough. Frodo will not gain the muscle and ligament strength he needs. At his age, he should be rounded out - nice round neck, topline, hip and even shoulder. If you want some help, email me privately ([e-mail]). If you are looking at processed feeds, stay away from corn, sugars and soy. We feeds natural grains without getting the horses "high", you just need to know how to do it. I'd be happy to help.

[DianneC]

Do tell all of us Michelle, won't you? You have the best looking foals!

[gotkiger]

I will take all the help i can get. Thank you

[Michelle Clarke]

Thanks Dianne...after many years of trying just about every kind of feed, including some custom ones that were over $1/lb., I've finally got something down that especially works for the spanish type horses. I've been dealing with nutritional issues before Kigers when I had Andalusians (not to mention the Pasos...) and they had trouble adjusting to the feed over here in the US. They are fed mostly oats but did not even recognize ours as oats!

Most of the research I began doing was in other countries because here many of the horses that are used to test feed are Quarter Horses and because of the fact they have so many breeds in them and are major hybrid vigor, they could survive on plastic (so I was told by a nutritionalist...). In other countries, they use thoroughbred types, cobs and many types of Iberian horses.

One of the biggest fallacies today in equine nutrition is that starch is bad. Maybe for the twelve year old gelding out in the pasture that gets ridden once per month, but for growing, breeding or riding horses, it is needed for muscle function, energy, glucose regulation and absorption of other nutrients.

Simply, carbs, proteins and fats are essential for overall well being. All three of these have been condemned by many feed companies so they can come up with "new and improved" feeds that save your horses from all the evils of nutrition...

Back to starch. When starch is "bad" is when there is too much at once put into the digestive system and it can't process it all so it dumps it into the hindgut. This then changes the ph level and can cause a colic episode. There was a study done in Europe to see just how much starch was too much. They put a device between the stomach and the hindgut to measure the amount of starch being moved through undigested. Since every animal is different, they took out the most sensitive and the most tolerant (the most tolerant gelding could take 20 x's the amount of starch the others could, so it shows you how each horse is so different). On average, a horse can tolerate .5% of his body weight of starch per feeding. Per feeding being every two hours. So, an average horse being 1,000 lbs, can take in 5 lbs. of grains every two hours. Five lbs. of grain would be about a normal size scoop and a half - that's a lot of feed!! Some of our broodmares get up to that once the foals are three months old and also sharing food, but basically, that is a whole heck of a lot of grain!

Protein has also been toted as bad, but we get back to the fact it is needed for muscle building, stamina and general health. The same as fats; the right kind of fats are essential for a balanced diet. Our horses out in the Wild Bunch eat mesquite beans (30% protein) and acorns in fall - major protein! We never have any issues and they don't regulate themselves - they pig out! Again, a hefty, lazy mare eating acorns in her paddock probably will have issues with it...it is all about balance.

So, back to the diet. The base is whole oats, crimped oats and altered barley (I can only get rolled here). Oats and barley balance each other, they are the yin and yan of grains. Oats are your energy feed and barley is your maintenance. Oats are a nervine in the herbal world, so they can affect the nervous system and make some horses hot; however, you have to find the right balance for your particular horse. Just because you give your horse a scoop of oats and they get hot, does not mean oats are bad. It simply means you need to back off a bit and balance them with other feed stuffs. Working and growing horses need more oats in general than barley.

Barley not only helps hold weight on a horse, but helps regulate blood sugar and process it more efficiently. Barley is used in folks with diabetes quite a bit. I up the barley after we have a rain and the grass gets higher in sugars and it really helps the horses, especially the Spanish horses that tend toward insulin resistance (IR). IR reaction is easy to spot. They get fatty deposits over the croup, around the wither and the biggest indicator is right above the eye gets filled in (there is a hollow socket there and when the body has too much sugar, those are soft and swollen). Also, the horse will "toe dive" or land with his toes first when he moves (especially at a trot or canter) and then even develop separation at the toe. Horses move sugars through the feet by the laminae and when it gets sensitive, they want to stay off the heels. This is what happens in extreme cases in founder. Many times, you can look at your horses feet and see rings across the hoof - these can be indicative to small pre-founder bouts and a big warning sign to check your diet. They can also be from some stressful event or a fever.

I use both whole and crimped because they have different nutritional values and the crimped are easier to digest for older and younger horses. If you are seeing oats come out the other end of your horse in excess, then you are feeding too much OR your horse has other digestive issues and is not processing the oats. Ulcers and leaky gut are two of the things to look at: both fixable quickly with Aloe and Whey protein...

My usual mix is 1/3 equally of each. However, I've gone to half barley now due to the grasses and even the hay having a higher sugar level. After the last rain, I noticed the broodmares getting puffy eyes, so I upped the barley and in a few days, they were back to normal.

Next is BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds). A whole grain diet is lacking Vit. E - which besides needed fat, is a super anti-oxident which assists in general health and well being.

For trace minerals, I feed sea kelp three times per week. Sometimes I up it to five- six days per week depending on why I am using it. Many Spanish type horses also can have thyroid issues and in most cases it is hypo-thyroid, meaning they are not in-taking enough iodine (even if they have a salt lick). Kelp is high in iodine, so I'll use that more until the thyroid begins to regulate itself better.

That is the base of the diet. I feed a grass hay and one pound to a flake of alfalfa per day to balance cal/phos levels. As far as amounts, most horses here get 3lbs. per day (some once, some split). The growing stallions get 5-6 lbs/day (depending on work load or breeding); Charro gets 3 lbs. in winter and almost double during breeding season when he is walking all his weight off. Nursing mares are getting between 6-7lbs/day right now depending on milk demand and size of mare. Yearlings and two year olds are getting 8 lbs/day each; casual working horses are getting 3-4 lbs/day and pasture puffs are getting 1-2 lbs./day.

You have to keep an eye on each horse and adjust as needed. It is rare that they get the same amount of feed each day. It depends on the weather, work load and each individuals constitution.

One of the new things is "forage first", meaning horses need all the hay/grass they can eat because it is more natural and eating grains is not. Well, firstly, they naturally eat all day, small amounts of different grasses, roots, leaves, etc while traveling. They do not eat a bunch of dried, chemically sprayed grass dumped in one spot. The reason many horses get fat (and hay bellies) is because their nutritional needs are not being met by a well rounded diet, so they eat more hay because that is what is available to them. They are trying to fulfill their needs by eating more. Kind of how we feel when we eat fast food or junk because it is empty calories - we are not satisfied. The diet must be balanced with proper concentrates to meet nutritional needs - horses will back off of the hay all on their own because they don't need it. Make sense?

Oh, BOSS, about 1 cup per day per head and the kelp is 1 tablesthingy when fed.

I do feed other supplements that I can discuss later today after when I have more time...

[stormyranch]

Very interesting Michelle! I am going to try this. I have a 3 year old that won't gain weight;-( I have him on alfalfa pellets and beat pulp soaked in water and whole oats. He has been wormed 4 times this year. His teeth are fine. Any other ideas why he won't gain weight?

[gotkiger]

For feeding to one mare with a "small" foal on the side... How much has to be bought at once, and how fast will it go bad?