# Purina Mills WellSolve Low Starch and WellSolve Weight Control....



## roxy's_mom (Dec 28, 2008)

Hello all! I was flipping through one of my horse magazines that I get and saw an ad for the Purina Mills WellSolve Low Starch feed. It's formulated for carbohydrate-sensitive horses. Purina Mills also makes the WellSolve Weight Control for horses who are over weight and need help maintaining a certain weight. I went onto their website for more info and it sounds like something I may need to look into for my one little girl who's slightly over weight and my other little girl who needs help maintaining her weight to help prevent another attack of laminitis that I've just recently been able to keep under control with an herbel blend from England. I emailed Purina for more help and info, so I hope to hear from them soon.

I was wondering if anyone else has heard of these two products or has used either one and what your thoughts of them were. The only problem I found was that their feeding calculator doesn't go low enough weight wise to adjust for feeding minis.

Here's their website if anyone's interested in reading more info on either product: www.wellsolveequine.com

Thanks for any help!

HERE'S THE RESPONSE I GOT FROM PURINA TODAY!!

*Miniature horses, as you well know, are very efficient little animals. Excess weight and increased risk of founder sure go hand-in-hand so it is important to keep them in a moderate body condition. This requires restricting intake of feed and hay or pasture and providing regular exercise if at all possible. WellSolve products can be fed to miniature horses. *

Recommended daily feeding rates would be as follows (choose either L/S or W/C and feed with hay):

WellSolve L/S (Low Starch) feed and what amount of Hay should be fed:

200 lb horse: 1.5 lbs of feed and 2 lbs of hay

300 lb horse: 2.25 lbs of feed and 3 lbs of hay

WellSolve W/C (Weight Control) feed and what amount of Hay should be fed:

200 lb horse: 1.0 lbs of feed and 2 lbs of hay

300 lb horse: 1.5 lbs of feed and 3 lbs of hay

These feeding rates would maintain current body condition with L/S but would cause weight loss with W/C. If you want to use W/C to maintain the proper weight once they lose down to that level, you would increase W/C by .5 - 1.5 lb per day, depending on the weight of the horse. These feeding rates will meet their nutritional requirements. They are estimates and individual horses may require adjustment by as much as 10% or so up or down so watch body condition and adjust accordingly.

I would recommend making any changes to the diet very gradually and divide the daily ration into as many smaller meals through the day as possible. Two meals would be the very minimum but three or four smaller meals help sensitive horses manage a smoother glucose and insulin level throughout the day.

Thanks for reading!

Becky M.


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## JourneysEnd (Dec 29, 2008)

I've been feeding the WellSolve LS for about a month now. Really can't tell anything yet.

I was feeding the Platform feed, but you have to feed so much of that to get the proper nutrients.

It's expensive though. Running $26 a bag. I'm hoping I can control the weight on a couple of easy keepers without having to add a lot of supplements.

Anybody else using ?


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## babygoose (Dec 29, 2008)

I don't have any info but I also have been curious if these products would be of any use. I have heard they are pretty expensive. I'll be watching this thread for info.


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## uwharrie (Dec 29, 2008)

Both my mare and stallion were obese when they came here in July. I put them on the Weight Control. Both are now down to an acceptable weight and have been switch onto Stragegy. Yes the WC is pricey but I was feeding so little it really was not that much.


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## Jill (Dec 29, 2008)

I haven't used either of those, but a couple months ago switched many of our horses to a feed from our co-op that is low starch. It is formulated by Kentucky Equine Research (<--- link)and available from many mills around the country. They call it "Fat & Fiber". We switched because our a lot of our horses were just getting toooooooo fat on the senior feed and this "Fat & Fiber" is very high in nutrients and can help stretch the hay. So far, so good. The ones that were way too fat have lost and the just right ones are still just right.


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## targetsmom (Dec 29, 2008)

My carbohydrate sensitive (Insulin resistent) mini is now on Blue Seal Carb Guard, which I am very happy with. She gets that plus hay that was tested and is also low starch/sugar, and soaked, rinsed beet pulp. I think the Carb Guard is about 11% NSC, plus it is also very low in alfalfa which my mare seems to be sensitive to. And it is about $16 a bag.


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## Becky (Dec 29, 2008)

I was feeding the Weight Control formula to an obese pregnant mare for several months back in the summer. I couldn't tell that she was losing weight on it, so I switched her back to the Progressive Diet Balancer that I feed all the other horses. She has actually lost some weight this winter and is at a good weight now. I also felt that with the WC formula, she wasn't getting enough needed vitamins and minerals on the small amount she was being fed.


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## Steph G (Dec 29, 2008)

I used the low starch kind for a few months, but was not at all impressed. It may work for really obese horses, but for my semi chubby guys it left them looking wormy (weight loss down the topline and neck area, but still a huge gut). They just didn't look healthy and they weren't acting themselves. They had very little energy. Usually when I go out to feed everyone comes running up and talks to me, but on WSLS they slowly walked up at feeding time with their heads hanging and nobody talked to me.

I have since changed their feed and they are all looking much better. I would rather mine be a little chubby than to look and act like they did on that.


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## babygoose (Dec 29, 2008)

Steph G said:


> I used the low starch kind for a few months, but was not at all impressed. It may work for really obese horses, but for my semi chubby guys it left them looking wormy (weight loss down the topline and neck area, but still a huge gut). They just didn't look healthy and they weren't acting themselves. They had very little energy. Usually when I go out to feed everyone comes running up and talks to me, but on WSLS they slowly walked up at feeding time with their heads hanging and nobody talked to me.
> I have since changed their feed and they are all looking much better. I would rather mine be a little chubby than to look and act like they did on that.


Interesting that they seemed to be less excited about feeding time. I don't think I will bother with it. None of mine are obese and the cresty, fat patchy mare seems to be losing some of that by adding cinnamon. Seems like folks are having just as good results (if not better) with less expensive brands of low carb feeds.


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## roxy's_mom (Dec 29, 2008)

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I'm seeing some mixed reviews on these feeds. I'm waiting to hear back from Purina as I sent an email to them Sunday night asking some questions. I'm trying to find some feeds that will help keep my easy keeper trim and nice looking for shows and my other mare with a steady weight to keep from getting laminitis back again. If anyone else has any more info to add about these feeds please do, all help and info is much appreciated. I want my girls happy and healthy and not obese and horribly thin.

Becky M.


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## roxy's_mom (Dec 31, 2008)

I hope some others read this and respond! Any one else use this stuff?

Thanks!

Becky M.


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## valshingle (Jan 2, 2009)

My vet recommended a low carb feed for a couple of our hard to trim down geldings. When we talked about the Purina feed and it's cost, the vet suggested we try Equine Senior instead. We've put the chubbier geldings on it and they are starting to loose weight, and they eat it right up. Just another idea for you.


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## cdailey (Jan 2, 2009)

roxy's_mom said:


> Thanks for all the replies everyone! I'm seeing some mixed reviews on these feeds. I'm waiting to hear back from Purina as I sent an email to them Sunday night asking some questions. I'm trying to find some feeds that will help keep my easy keeper trim and nice looking for shows and my other mare with a steady weight to keep from getting laminitis back again. If anyone else has any more info to add about these feeds please do, all help and info is much appreciated. I want my girls happy and healthy and not obese and horribly thin.
> Becky M.


What experiences do any of you have usng hay stretcher. I'm trying to come up with something that addresses the needs of my 'normal' minis, my cushings mare and my prone-to-ulcers gelding who has had occasional bouts of laminitis. I've heard good/bad abou using the hay stretcher. Thanks. Cindy Dailey NEK Minis, VT


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## yellerroseintx (Jan 2, 2009)

I had the cremella pony that had big fat blobs on his body.big crest...was very obese...I did put him on the Weight Control...and was very happy with his results..his crest went down and his bumps started dissapearing..he was happy cause he got to spend more time eating as you feed more..I think it was a wonderful feed and showed results on my guy...I lucked out because they were offering coupons for free bags so it was a way to try it and not go into debt...as for the vitamins and all... that is what it was formulated to cover..an obese horse on drylot..it gives them EVERYTHING they need.....nutritiously superb.....he also got 1/2 flake 2xs daily....I was happy with his results but every horse is different..just worked for me


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## rabbitsfizz (Jan 2, 2009)

I am really curious as to why people do not merely feed less, or even no grain at all, if the horse is too fat??

I would certainly not buy a feed for overweight horses, I just would not feed them.....good clean hay is enough, maybe a small amount of balancer if in doubt, but I have never fed it.

If I have a fat horse (dangerously so...I think you know how I normally feel about dieting!) I feed it less...plenty of hay, plenty of fresh water and exercise, that's it.

I never did grain the Shetlands at all, I feed my minis very little, plenty of bulk though, only my youngstock and stallions get fed seriously, and they would be cut back quickly if they became _too_ fat.


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## Shaladar (Jan 2, 2009)

I have fed the WC and was very happy with it..like Yellowrosetx, both I and the 2 boys were happy as they actually got to EAT..LOL...I tried the LS on 2 of my chubby geldings and they GAINED weight.

Jane/Rabbit....I can't feed most of my horses unlimited hay/pasture. They would die from either founder of just die from obesity. My pasture is VERY rich, I do allow limited grazing for some of the horses, and I do have a couple of overgrazed (on purpose) lots, and we do bale it also and while some of the horses are on sort of free choice hay/pasture, (the stallions, and the weanlings) they are hog fat but with no bellies so the hay/pasture also must be fairly high in protein. I really wish we had the kind of pasture grasses you have there for complete turn out, but we don't.

It seems silly to me too, that I feed specialized feeds when I have oodles of grass...LOL





Also the reason I feed grain/pellets, etc. to all , is that I have 9 of my horses in the same barn, and they know when their neighbor got nummies and they didn't.





Plus we show, and it's easier not to have to change anything when we go to a show.

Hope this isn't OT.

Sue


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## rabbitsfizz (Jan 2, 2009)

Electric fence, strip graze, it's what I'm doing with the five acre field at the moment???

But if that did not suit, why feed them grain??

Why not just feed hay??


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## uwharrie (Jan 2, 2009)

I just had the Purina Equine Nutrition Specialist come out and evaluate my horses body condition and feeding program. Both Dreamie and Romeo came to us this summer VERY obese. I am pleased to say six months on the Well Solve Weight Control both were scored at 5.5. Since Dreamie is pregnant he advised me to switch them over to Strategy or Enrich 32. The yearling's were on Junior. I switched everyone over to Strategy two weeks ago. It was great to have the specialist come out. I now know for sure that I am feeding them right and how to adjust feed amounts if needed. He also was able to demonstrate how to use their weight tape correctly. The best thing about it was it was totally FREE! Apparently anyone can have a specialist come out and do the same thing at no charge.


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## Candice (Jun 27, 2009)

I'm curious if anyone has anything else to add to this. I would like to hear more results on both WS feeds. I have a mare with a metabolic imbalance that I've just swtiched over to the LS, plus she's on Thyroid L and mid grade T&A per the vet. She's not quite herself and I'm just curious about others results. In this case we're dealing with hormonal issues, metabolic issues, feed changes and lifestyle changes and she's naturally not going to be a happy camper.

Is there a better LS feed alternative? Price doesn't bother me, I just want her on the best feed for her situation. Obviously pasture is not a good choice for her on a continued basis. She is also having anyhydrosis issues and abdominal edema. The vet is aware. The anyhydrosis is being dealt with by a short haircoat, frequent hosings and stall time under the fan. The edema is a new development over the past two days and we're observing.

thankyou,


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## AppyLover2 (Jun 27, 2009)

My IR mare has been on WellSolve Low Starch for a year now. Very marked difference in her weight. She only gets 1 cup twice a day (in addition to her hay) so even though it's expensive it really doesn't cost all that much to keep her on feed that I know is helping her lose weight. She did founder (very mild) last year and is also on Thyro L. That costs $5 a month. Not a terrible expense to keep her healthy and feeling sooooo much better than she did.

This picture was taken 2 years ago:






This one was taken a couple of weeks ago:


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## icspots (Jun 27, 2009)

I started using W/C about a month ago on a little gelding, he is not fat, has never been fat, but he is only 29" tall and a GELDING, (I think their metabolisms get slow upon gelding, might be my imagination, but it seems to go that way) I thought I'd be proactive so he doesn't become a chubby. OK, it IS a diet food, looks like a diet food and I think it tastes like a diet food, because initially he looked at me like "you've got to be kidding, where is my REAL food??" So I've just been feeding him 1/2 W/C and 1/2 normal sweet feed just to keep the calories a little lower and keep him in better shape.


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## drivin*me*buggy (Jun 27, 2009)

This is an interesting thread...we are feeding our crew Nutrena Lite balance right now and are happy with it. My chubby Buck has slimmed down, Wish is looking beautiful and Banner has plenty of energy to drive...he just gets more than the other 2.

Angie


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## Alex (Jun 28, 2009)

IMO The LS feed has its place, as already stated, but I can not, like rabbit, understand why there is a feed for overweight horses. Hay IS enough! If you are concerned that your hay isnt fully nutritious or your horse is missing a few things you can use vitamin/mineral supplements or a ration balancer.

Call be cheap but I'd never pay that much for a bag of feed lol.


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## chandab (Jun 28, 2009)

Alex said:


> IMO The LS feed has its place, as already stated, but I can not, like rabbit, understand why there is a feed for overweight horses. Hay IS enough! If you are concerned that your hay isnt fully nutritious or your horse is missing a few things you can use vitamin/mineral supplements or a ration balancer.
> Call be cheap but I'd never pay that much for a bag of feed lol.



Weight Control feeds are more for the owner than the horses... Some people can't help but feed their horses "grain", and something like weight control is perfect for them; they get the satisfaction of feeding, and the horse doesn't get obese.

I prefer to feed hay, but I know my hay doesn't have everything they need, so I feed a ration balancer and they are all happy; and I know they are getting what they need.


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## Shari (Jun 28, 2009)

I have been using Nutrena's Safechoice for the chronic founder rescue mare for over two months now and I am very happy with it. At the time it was the only local feed for this kind of horse, with the vitamins I wanted.

She was very underweight, chronic founder and other issues.

I have been using this because of her issues and it has the vitamins she needs in this feed. She also gets soaked non molasses beet pulp and as much grass hay as she wants. Not only do I have to get weight back on her, she has a young nursing foal at side and she is a hard keeper.

She will never be able to go out in the main hay field with the other horses.

I am slowly switching over to Nutrena's Balance lite for the others... _for the vitamins_ and it allows me to soak the pellets so I can mix in their Omega Horse shine and cinnamon in. The Omega horse shine really keeps my mini's dandruff at bay, nothing else works nearly as well.

They are sent out in one of the small paddocks to eat grass twice a day, which is more than enough.

They do not get traditional grain but I do feel it is important to make sure they get vitamins, as they are fed only grass hay off my farm. These vitamin pellets allow me to mix in the other things I need to feed them.

It is much safer for these kinds of horses to use these pellets, instead of moist wheat bran to get them to eat their vitamins.


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