Can we talk about........

[Soggy Bottom Ranch]

I've been working with an Equine Nutritional expert for my minis nutritonal needs. I was tired of being confused as to what was the right thing to be feeding. One of the things that was suggested, was putting 2 of my "easy keepers" on Quiessence. One has a big cresty neck, and gains weight on air. The other easy keeper also has fat, tight muscles around the neck and hind quarters. The problem that I have, is I just don't feel the Quiessence is cost effective. When I got it, was suprised at how big the pellets were, and how little you got for the price.........not to mention, I just can't get them to eat it. I've also read about a product from Ucklele called Glycocemic-EQ, and then some others who buy both supplements seperate for a much cheaper cost, but then you are dealing with two supplements, and which ones are better than the others?

Do any of you have any experience with this, and can share info please?

 

[Cathy_H]

Quiessence ......not to mention, I just can't get them to eat it.

I ordered some awhile back & the horse I got it for will not touch it even mixed in with a lot of grain. I spread it out to see if the other horses would eat it & they would not touch it either........ ..... Only other way would be to pulverize it & mix it with molasses in a syringe & I am not doing that. We got it for Lees yearling shetland in hopes that it would make her less jumpy.. Don't know how these people get their horses to eat it. Even left in the stall all night, it is still there in the morning.

 

[Stephanie]

I have a mare with a very hard cresty neck. I changed her feeding program and added Quiessence and her neck started to soften. When we ran out of Quiessence I thought we just try the new diet, but in a few days her neck hardened back up. I then reordered the Quiessence and within a couple days my mares neck started softening and reducing in size again. I will never go without Quiessence again. It seems very cost effective to me. We only give 1/2 oz a day. You can order the smartpaks in the 1/2 oz size and months supply is only 4.99. You can order six months or a year at a time and the shipping is only $6.95. I mix the Quiessence with beetpulp and my mare just wolfs it down.

 

[xxs]

Geri, I have some good info that was given to me at Equine Affaire several years ago, by the makers of Quiessence. It came from Horse Journal magazine and not from them. It tells how Magnesium can help those horses that tend to be chunky,cresty,prone to founder. It has to do with Magnesium deficency. It has to do with magnesium deficency causing insulin resistance which causes abnormal fat deposits along the crest and tail base.

Anyway, you probably know all that from your vet. But the thing is, the article states that you can use Epsom salts to get the required magnesium and it is really cheap! But, they don't like it any better..lol!

There is also a feeding program that is in this article.. do not starve an obese animal, NEVER give grain-not even a handful!,stick with hay only,avoid alfalfa because it is high in calcium and that increases the need for magnesium. no wheat bran or beet plup,very little carrots or apples.,

It says you can give the mag. on a "fresh salad" using lettuce or other salad greens and using virgin olive oil and the mag. as a dressing for it. or you can mix it with water and spray it on the hay. Other horses will take it in applesauce or spiked with pepprmint extract. or use flaxseed or rice bran as a carrier. In fact, if you use rice bran, you can deduct one gm. of the mag. that you need.

The amount of mag. that you need depends on what kind of hay you use...anywhere from 10gm. for Bermudagrass,to as little as 1.5 gms for orchardgrass.. for each 10lbs of hay fed.

So, it seems to me that if you use the orchardgrass, and about 1 oz. of rice bran a day, you wouldn't need to give but 1/2 gm. of mag. per 10lbs of hay..with a mini, that wouldn't be very much at all!

 

[targetsmom]

I hope this isn't off topic, but my mare's crest is bigger than I would like, but not hard. She is not obese by any means, but she has fat on her neck and in front of her udder. I changed her diet and have worked very hard to keep her neck looking good and then WHAM on Monday, it was blown up like a balloon. She is on a fairly low starch diet (grass hay, beet pulp, and Nutrena Sr - a complete feed) and the neck gets sweated daily, often with sweating lotion. I did try magnesium for awhile and saw no difference. I am wondering if the weather or hormones could affect her neck? It has been very hot and humid this week. I did have her thyroid checked and that seemed to check out OK. I would gladly use the Quiessence if I thought it would help.

 

[Soggy Bottom Ranch]

no beet plup

Can I ask why no beet pulp? Not even w/o molasses?

 

[chandab]

I use Remission for my foundered mare, it's a chromium and magnesium supplement (plus a few other ingredients). It's like $11 for a 4# tub that lasts one mini like 8 months. It's granular, I have two that eat it with no problem and one that will sometimes and won't sometimes (I bought it for the foundered mare, but feed it to a chubby mare and one other, just because the one tub would last one mini a very long time - 4# tub lasts full-size horse 3-4 months).

Here's a link to the Ani-Med website: http://www.animedproducts.com/

Here's a link to the page for Remission: http://www.animedproducts.com/images/Remis..._Comparison.pdf

[On dial-up its a really slow to load PDF.]

You can get there from the main page, by going to the horse products sections, then vitamins/minerals section and then to Remission.

I think it has helped my foundered mare, her hooves have been looking much better and overall she seems better. My chubby girl is the one that isn't good about eating it, so I haven't notice much change in her yet, but she's only been on it a short time.

 

[xxs]

Geri, I believe that the reason they say no beet pulp is because the beet pulp is high in calcium. Not as high as alfalfa, but high none the less. And, that would make you have to supply even more magnesium.

They also say not to let them have young grass, but grass later in the season is ok in limited amounts. The article also states that when exercise is added to this diet, that the effects will be dramatic and faster.

 

[targetsmom]

Thanks xxs. I think the grass is the major issue right now with my mare. She only gets an hour a day on very short grass (about to stop TOMORROW) but I think I read that even the time of day can be an issue. She is getting worked almost daily but I will increase that some too. She is going to hate me for reading this thread! But I hope it helps.

 

[xxs]

You are welcome. I do hope the info from the article is of help to the horse.