Grain-How much and What Kind?

[Chelley]

I have read and been told such varying opinions on feeding grain in miniature horse.

 

Just wanted some input from all the "experts" here. How much a day do you all feed? What kind do you prefer? What do you avoid? Do you add supplements to their feed daily or use mineral blocks or both? How does it vary from pregnant mares to stallions, etc.

 

Lay it all on me!

 

[Mominis]

Hi Chelley!

When I first got my littles, the feeding was the hardest thing to figure out. Step one, buy a feed scale and use it every single time that you feed. You'd be amazed at the difference even 1/4 pound can make in the diet.

I have two over horses, Shake is 37.5" and Eli is in the 35"-36" range. I feed Omelene 500, which I just love. They get three feedings per day. I also feed chopped hay (TNT Timothy/Alfalfa Chops) rather than stalk hay in show season. I avoid stalk hay during show season because it is so hard to regulate their weight with free choice hay (which I do in the winter).

I bag up their feed, which I keep at home, in Ziplock bags every morning and take with me to the barn. I do this so I have control of the environment that my feed is kept in and don't worry about spoilage. I do supplement them with Strongid and Omega HorseShine, Shake also gets Gatorade in his water once per day and also a bucket of regular water. They both have free access to mineral blocks in their stalls. Shake gets 3/4 pound of grain and 3/4 hay (he is in heavy work, thus the ratio) all three feedings. Eli, who is in moderately heavy work, gets 1/2 pound feed to 3/4 pounds of hay am and noon and 3/4 feed to 3/4 hay in the pm. They both look great!

You have opened a can of worms here, as feeding is often discussed on this board and everyone has their own way of doing it, so I'm sure you'll get lots of input. This is just what works for my kiddos.

 

[New mini]

Glad you brought this subjest up. I am also interested in feeding. Mostly on what kind of gain everyone recoomends. I can not get the Purina Min horse here.I need names of good feed. I have a 16.2 hand horse and he get Progressive senior and does real well on it. Know I can not feed that .

 

[ohmt]

I feed depending on the horse.

For mares in foal and nursing along weanlings-2 year olds I feed omelene 300 and free choice grass/alfalfa hay mix. No bellies, hips, or back bones and they are all shiny and full of energy.

For hard keepers I feed a complete senior feed mixed with a bit of veggie oil along with the free choice grass/alfalfa.

Stallions get grass hay and strategy. The rest of my mares have 20 or so acres of lush grass in the spring-fall so they get that with mineral and salt blocks and that's all they need or they gain too much weight. I keep salt and mineral blocks in all pens as a just in case. The horses rarely use them but I figure its better to be safe than sorry.

Mominis is right though-everyone has their preferences and own way of doing things

it's just a matter of what works best for you and your horses.

 

[Matt73]

I feed a ration balancer. It's great for minis as it's low in starch and sugars. It's just meant to compliment the hay that you're feeding. I'm feeding a grass hay and I use Buckeye Gro 'n Win. It's great stuff and I love how my horses look on it. I feed 1/2lb per day (1/4 in the am and a 1/4 at dinner). My lactating mare just gets double that. I also have a buckeye salt lick in their stalls (but because they get so many vitamins and minerals from the ration balancer, I hardly ever see them using them). I love how simple my feeding program is. In 6+ years of owning minis I haven't had one feed related issue (colic etc.) yet (knock on wood

)

 

[Miniv]

Our personal guidelines are no sweet feed and 2% of each horse's prime body weight in grass hay. We prefer a 14% protein complete grain - which means it includes supplements. The grain we buy is processed for this region, so it has the supplements we need. Purina Stategy is our backup if we can't find our usual. When the real cold weather hits in winter, we up our hay by half again as much. Every horse has access to a mineral salt block. Our pregnant and lactating mares receive more grain than the others. Amounts depends on the need of the individual horse. One horse may only need less than a cup, but another may need 4 cups or even 6 cups!

We also have some horses on pasture over the summer and their hay and grain intake has to be adjusted accordingly.

 

[wingnut]

I certainly don't consider myself an expert at this point, but here's what I'm doing that's working for us:

My 5 youngest horses (all mares 2 and 3 years old) get 1/4lb of Strategy twice per day. The only supplement I add is Simplyfly to combat the summertime flies.

Our oldest (13) mare is my hard keeper. She gets 1lb of Omolene 300 2x a day. With each feeding she also gets a 1/4 scoop of SmartGain 4 from SmartPak and 1/4 scoop of U-Guard. The addition of the U-Guard has really helped increase her appetite.

Based on some of the rave reviews and photos showing great improvement using the new Purina Pony & Mini feed, I bought a bag to feed to my hardkeeper. Unfortunately, she's refusing it now, a week into our switch process. I can't afford for her to NOT eat enough calories at each feeding, so this was a bust and we'll go back to 100% Omolene 300 for her.

They get pasture time and alfalfa/orchard grass hay to round things out.

 

[CharlesFamily]

I have all of my geldings on Strategy and I have been very happy with it! We don't have much pasture, so they also get timothy/alfalfa mix hay. None of them are in a strict "conditioning" routine, but even with that they don't have the "bloated" look I was getting with sweet feed and are keeping in great shape!

Barbara

 

[shorthorsemom]

my chubby geldings get a fine grass hay and some 30% supplement and some Remission for the weight. Very little pasture, and this time of year, they get none.

My hard keeper gets the same hay, same supplement and he gets to graze some.

 

[K.C. Lunde]

Half a flake of alfalfa with a cup or cup and a half of a maintainance feed is my basic formula.

I love Hoffmans horse mineral!

Really wishing we could get some of that awesome Purina food up here!

 

[weebiscuit]

I have read and been told such varying opinions on feeding grain in miniature horse.

 

Just wanted some input from all the "experts" here. How much a day do you all feed? What kind do you prefer? What do you avoid? Do you add supplements to their feed daily or use mineral blocks or both? How does it vary from pregnant mares to stallions, etc.

 

Lay it all on me!

For every person who responds to this post, you are going to get a different feeding plan.

I will say that mineral blocks are not going to supply enough minerals *if* your horses are deficient, as a lick here and a lick there aren't going to provide much. I am also a strong believer in loose salt, and not salt blocks. If you feel your horses are mineral deficient, then buy a loose mineral and mix it into their grain. don't rely on the blocks to provide what they need.

My horses get grass hay and grass pasture. It's all seeded in a mix called "Pasture Perfect" and is formulated especially for horses. The only grain they get is Nutrena's Safe Choice as there is no corn in it, and it's very low starch, and I want my horses on a low starch formula. I would never feed any kind of "sweet feed" with added molasses.

They also get soaked beet pulp ONLY in the winter months when they are not grazing. I can't get molasses free beet pulp here, so I soak the beet pulp and drain and rise two times prior to feeding, to get rid of a lot of the molasses.

Sometimes I think people tend to make feeding more of a smorgasbord than they need to. Horses are not "grain eaters" in the wild. They are grass eaters.

 

[Minimor]

Pretty much unlimited hay, usually a grass/alfalfa mix, sometimes straight grass, depending what we can get for all the horses. Many of the horses don't get grain at all--they all have mineral blocks (Equest, which is made for horses, not cattle) The young ones do get grain, usually straght rolled oats as we're not big on pelleted feeds. Amounts vary, depending on the horse. Some are getting 2 litres twice a day, some get one litre twice a day, some get just a few mouthfuls out of the pail as it's going by their paddock. Pregnant/nursing mares always get grain.

I will say that mineral blocks are not going to supply enough minerals *if* your horses are deficient, as a lick here and a lick there aren't going to provide much. I am also a strong believer in loose salt, and not salt blocks. If you feel your horses are mineral deficient, then buy a loose mineral and mix it into their grain. don't rely on the blocks to provide what they need. {/quote] I disagree. Loose salt works for some, but never has for us. For whatever reason our horses simply don't use it. If it's in a box on the ground they pee in it, put it up off the ground & they back up to it & poop in it--and otherwise it sits there until it is a hardened block & they still haven't touched it. The cattle blocks won't be sufficient for correcting a deficiency, but the made-for-horses variety is--those are more porous, the horses don't have to lick them, they can bite off the corners and chew on it--the important thing is, our horses do use these blocks. Loose mineral used as a top dressing doesn't work for those horses that don't get grain--the mineral blocks work for everyone. The year we did have a serious mineral deficiency (lost 2 foals at birth because of it) we corrected it by switching to the Equest blocks. I questioned one of the leading research vets at WCVM about the effectiveness of the Equest blocks & he told me that if we switch to those we will have no further issues with a mineral deficiency and the related foal losses. He was right.

 

[Sandy B]

Each horse and mini on our property are fed according to each individual for the most part. The minis have been the hardest challenge but I have finally got them on a good feeding program and I am a freak about my feeding program.

Each mini gets 1.5-2% of their body weight in feed a day. I bought a fish scale (has a hook and I hang a bucket on) to weigh the hay and grain. Our minis get grass hay, usually a Meadow Grass in the summer (low calorie) and Orchard in the winter (helps keep them warmer). I used to feed Purina Enrich 32 (a ration balancer) but because of the rave reviews, I switched to Purina Miniature Horse & Pony Feed. Every mini LOVES it and eats it well. On the back of the bag of the feed it has a suggested feeding chart for hay and grain for all ranges and working conditions of minis. My 30" mini stallion who is just finishing up breeding season, gets 2 pounds of the grain & 3 pounds of Meadow Grass Hay per day. Our 29" gelding gets 3/4 pound of grain and 2.5 pounds of Meadow Grass Hay per day. 4 of our mini mares 33-34" get 1 pound of grain each and about 12 pounds of Meadow Grass Hay (these girls are all pushing over-weight), then we have 2 mares that were a bit thin and they are on 1.5 pounds of grain and 10 pounds of Meadow Grass a day. I adjust their feed to their work load or individual needs. I also feed the mare with foal a grass hay mix pellet and feed it wetted down to make it a mash daily. I like to soak the stalled horses hay in water as I find that they do not drink as much water as pasture horses tend to do. Also if I have any colic problems or horses with past colic issues I soak hay. It is cheap insurance that they are getting additional water.

 

[weebiscuit]

Minimor, whatever works for you is best for you.

My horses eat their loose salt, but I keep it in a small feeder in their stalls next to their water buckets. For them, it's like a margarita. Lick the salt, take a drink!

When I used to keep the loose salt in the pasture or dry lots, they weren't much interested in it. Probably because I didn't have it close enough to their water.

My only concern with the Equest blocks is that they have molasses in them to get the horses to eat them, and I am a very firm believer in NO added sugars at any time for horses. It can only lead to health problems down the road if they ingest too much of it.

 

[frostedpineminis]

For the most part all of my horses are slowly started on grass and by mid june they are on full time ( I have a very "hard" grass, so please be careful of founder) and everybody does well, as for the most part I have lactating mares, busy stallions, and yearlings and 2 year olds. I have 2 heafty girls that are on grass hay. I also feed hoffmans mineral as it is a loose powder mineral made especially for our region. I dont feed any special feed unless they need it (hard keepers, working ect) as I dont think they need it. I ocassionally feed beet pulp as a treat to make sure that they eat it for emergency weight gain and to add antibiotics to so dont have to give them a bunch of needles. In winter most of my horses are on full feed grass hay. It all depends on the horses as to what they need.