My Horse Care
This page is to share what has and hasn't worked for me in the care of my horses. From feeding to grooming, to riding. I will add to this page as my experience with horses continues.
Feeding
All my horses are easy keepers and we don't compete, just occasional trail riding, so what works for me may not work for others. This is meant to give a starting point for people looking for what will work for them. I have had several horses that had been neglected and brought them back to health and will share what helped with those cases. Also, keep in mind the nutritional needs in my area may be different than in others as well. For example: our area is very deficient in copper in the soil so our hay is also very low in copper so this needs to be supplements.
WHAT I FEED:
The amounts vary from horse to horse and throughout the seasons but I've found what works best for me is beet pulp, ground flaxseed, and California Trace vit/min supplement. During the spring, summer, and fall months they also get Buggzo if I can afford it.
I use beet pulp pellets rather than shreds because, here, the pellets are cheaper than the shreds by weight and the pellets don't have the added molasses that my horses don't need. In the winter, smaller horses get 1 lb of beet pulp and larger horses get 3lbs. In the summer they get less, pretty much just enough to cover the bottom of the bucket to put flax and supplements on.
The flaxseed I buy whole from a local feed store (they don't keep it in stock but order it when I call) and grind it with a coffee grinder. It's much cheaper than buying it already ground but you do have to only grind what your feeding immediately or it won't keep. If you don't grind it they won't get all the nutritional benefits as the shells are very hard and the seeds are so small they don't get chewed up well. If you have too many horses to grind all that flax just feed it whole and double the amount. For my smaller horses I give 1C flax (measured before I grind it) during the summer and add a 1/2C in the winter. Bigger horses get 2C in summer and 3C in winter. I add enough hot water to the beet pulp and flaxseed to cover the top and let it soak for at least 15 min.
After using many different vit/min supplements (Grand Meadows' Grand Hoof, Grand Coat, Farrier's Formula, Farriers Secret, various expensive coat enhancer supplements that didn't really do much, to name a few) I turned to California Trace because I was fighting cronic thrush in my horses and I read CA Trace can help with this due too it's higher levels of copper and zinc. Copper is known to be a very good treatment for thrush both topical and through feeding. Copper in the diet MUST be balanced correctly with zinc. Since I started using CA Trace the thrush has improved dramatically without daily cleaning, soaking, medicating which I just couldn't do with several horses. I follow the directions for dosage and give a little extra during muddy times of year. I prefer the powdered form over the pelleted because the process of turning it into pellets changes the taste and the horses don't seem to care for it and the powder is harder for them to pick around. ;)
There is a lot of controversy over whether or not things like garlic and apple cider vinegar work for repelling bugs from horses. I have gone years without using them and with and to my ex0perience it DOES help. Buggzo contains these and other things that I feel work. The fear of garlic causing anemia is only if it is fed continuously at very high doses. Horses tend to like garlic and in a study done where horses were given garlic free choice, they didn't eat enough of it on their own to reach levels causing anemia. I feed Buggzo starting as soon as i see the first fly until temps drop and stay below 40. I also give a few pellets of this to my dogs and goats.
I have experimented with different supplements that are supposed to enhance coat color and as I have several different colors of horses, I was able to try them on different coat colors. Here's the link to the pics and the description for each pic says what they were on and for how long:
https://www.facebook.com/sarahmcroberts4/media_set?set=a.10150870907429488.518772.500259487&
~OR~
This year, to lessen the work load of grinding and soaking, I'm using sweet feed and pelleted CAT and more free choice hay. The easy keepers just get a handful of sweet feed. The seniors get a full scoop.
WEIGHT GAIN/HARD KEEPERS:
When I've had an emaciated horse here I start with all the grass hay they want and gradually start adding the following divided into 3 or 4 meals a day. Alfalfa hay, beet pulp, ground flaxseed up to 8C, vegetable oil up to 2C, Calf Manna. If needed I'll add a weight builder supplement as well. If it's not winter and pasture is available I start with 15 min of pasture a day for 5 days, then double the time every 5 days (or every week if that's easier to keep track of) until they're on pasture 12 hours a day. Ideally I'd let them have 24/7 pasture but I don't leave my horses out to pasture 24/7 to save it from being over grazed. I have a paddock area behind my house where they are free to move around and not locked up in a stall all for hours. I've had excellent results in rehabbing horses with this feeding regime.
WHAT I FEED:
The amounts vary from horse to horse and throughout the seasons but I've found what works best for me is beet pulp, ground flaxseed, and California Trace vit/min supplement. During the spring, summer, and fall months they also get Buggzo if I can afford it.
I use beet pulp pellets rather than shreds because, here, the pellets are cheaper than the shreds by weight and the pellets don't have the added molasses that my horses don't need. In the winter, smaller horses get 1 lb of beet pulp and larger horses get 3lbs. In the summer they get less, pretty much just enough to cover the bottom of the bucket to put flax and supplements on.
The flaxseed I buy whole from a local feed store (they don't keep it in stock but order it when I call) and grind it with a coffee grinder. It's much cheaper than buying it already ground but you do have to only grind what your feeding immediately or it won't keep. If you don't grind it they won't get all the nutritional benefits as the shells are very hard and the seeds are so small they don't get chewed up well. If you have too many horses to grind all that flax just feed it whole and double the amount. For my smaller horses I give 1C flax (measured before I grind it) during the summer and add a 1/2C in the winter. Bigger horses get 2C in summer and 3C in winter. I add enough hot water to the beet pulp and flaxseed to cover the top and let it soak for at least 15 min.
After using many different vit/min supplements (Grand Meadows' Grand Hoof, Grand Coat, Farrier's Formula, Farriers Secret, various expensive coat enhancer supplements that didn't really do much, to name a few) I turned to California Trace because I was fighting cronic thrush in my horses and I read CA Trace can help with this due too it's higher levels of copper and zinc. Copper is known to be a very good treatment for thrush both topical and through feeding. Copper in the diet MUST be balanced correctly with zinc. Since I started using CA Trace the thrush has improved dramatically without daily cleaning, soaking, medicating which I just couldn't do with several horses. I follow the directions for dosage and give a little extra during muddy times of year. I prefer the powdered form over the pelleted because the process of turning it into pellets changes the taste and the horses don't seem to care for it and the powder is harder for them to pick around. ;)
There is a lot of controversy over whether or not things like garlic and apple cider vinegar work for repelling bugs from horses. I have gone years without using them and with and to my ex0perience it DOES help. Buggzo contains these and other things that I feel work. The fear of garlic causing anemia is only if it is fed continuously at very high doses. Horses tend to like garlic and in a study done where horses were given garlic free choice, they didn't eat enough of it on their own to reach levels causing anemia. I feed Buggzo starting as soon as i see the first fly until temps drop and stay below 40. I also give a few pellets of this to my dogs and goats.
I have experimented with different supplements that are supposed to enhance coat color and as I have several different colors of horses, I was able to try them on different coat colors. Here's the link to the pics and the description for each pic says what they were on and for how long:
https://www.facebook.com/sarahmcroberts4/media_set?set=a.10150870907429488.518772.500259487&
~OR~
This year, to lessen the work load of grinding and soaking, I'm using sweet feed and pelleted CAT and more free choice hay. The easy keepers just get a handful of sweet feed. The seniors get a full scoop.
WEIGHT GAIN/HARD KEEPERS:
When I've had an emaciated horse here I start with all the grass hay they want and gradually start adding the following divided into 3 or 4 meals a day. Alfalfa hay, beet pulp, ground flaxseed up to 8C, vegetable oil up to 2C, Calf Manna. If needed I'll add a weight builder supplement as well. If it's not winter and pasture is available I start with 15 min of pasture a day for 5 days, then double the time every 5 days (or every week if that's easier to keep track of) until they're on pasture 12 hours a day. Ideally I'd let them have 24/7 pasture but I don't leave my horses out to pasture 24/7 to save it from being over grazed. I have a paddock area behind my house where they are free to move around and not locked up in a stall all for hours. I've had excellent results in rehabbing horses with this feeding regime.