Nutrina Compete...or Purina Complete?

[MiniHoofBeats]

I have been told that Nutrina Compete and Purina Complete are basically the same feeds...but for some reason I have a feeling one of them is a better choice for a horse you're working out.

I plan to start my mini's on grain pretty soon here and I can't decide, which is the better choice grain to feed them so they gain muscle and lose weight while working out, but don't get bony skinny?? Is there anything else that should be added to their grain while they are being worked for show condition??

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Or what about - what is YOUR brand of choice for a complete feed during show season, and why??

 

[minimama]

Nutrena has a new feed out that I just love!!!! It is a complete feed and my horses look amazing since they have been eating it. It is called Horse Kwik. I just went and bought thirty bags of it a couple days ago. I love it! I was using a local feed mill brand and the horses were not looking tip top so I switched to this and they all look fantastic!

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Wow, thanks for letting me know!!! I'll go look it up =)

Oh and one more question, what do most of you work your horses up to as far as grain vs. hay amounts during show season?

 

[Jill]

I am using Purina Equine Adult for all of my horses except my yearling, DunIT, who gets Purina Equine Junior. They get that 2x a day and at night, everyone gets a little orchard grass hay.

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

oh shoot there's my next question I need to find someone in WI that has good grass/alfalfa hay available...thanks for reminding me!!

 

[Sunraye Miniatures]

We give Purina, but not the complete sorry can't help you there.

Remeber that a complete feed doesn't need much hay. I recommend that a horse gets some roughage in its diet, like if they are on dry lots I say still give them some hay.

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Right me too, when I got my appy filly she was on 2 cups of a junior feed and 1/3 flake of hay twice a day...but now that she's over a year I don't know what is good?

Is 2 cups of grain 2x a day good for show season or too much?? And obviously i'd start them out real small and add throughought a month until they're up to a good amount...but is that typical? 2 cups?

 

[Ashley]

Well every horse is different. BUt by the looks of your stallion he needs to gain alot of weight and before they can build muscel they need to gain weight.

I would be feeding them all Jr if it was me.

My yearlings get anywhere from 2-4 cups a feeding depending on the horse.

I also think that 1/3 flake a hay a feeding is not enough.

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Ok great! Thanks for your input, that really lets me know a better idea of what to be giving them - i'd rather start off giving them too much food than too little, er with hay anyhow...this is going to be weird because i'll first up their grain intake, then i'll start taking away hay (but not until I get GOOD quality hay, should be this March).

What do you think would be a good amount of hay?? I'll have my 2 fillies together so I wont be able to monitor who eats how much hay but my stallion will obviously be alone so I can give him an amount and know if he eats it or not.

And yes, in his clipped photo he sure is a gangly one! He was running with 18 other colts last summer but over the winter he's been penned with only 8 colts so he's chunked considerably since his clipped photo's. I for sure can't wait to see him first when he arrives home in March, and then this summer clipped and fully muscled!!

 

[minimama]

Any good feed will have portion instructions on it's bag. Go to the per pound amount and you will be able to figure out what you need to be feeding. And as for the hay amount, different parts of the country and world have vastly different sizes of flakes so, you need to judge on that. My flakes here are HUGE!!!! But when we were in parts of Oklahoma and other areas, they were very tiny and a third of a flake would not have been much. Here, a third will feed a number of our horses and they cannot finish that much. So, you will need to judge the size of your flakes before you determine whether or not it is enough or not.

 

[disneyhorse]

I agree with minimama, how many pounds are your "flakes"??? Out here a flake is maybe 7 pounds, bales come in 110 pound three string bales. My minis STILL get a ton of hay, half a flake twice a day!!! That is almost seven pounds a day, plus a pound of grain (currently Purina Strategy) plus beet pulp and supplements. Each horse will have a different metabolism and metabolize the feed differently. I think that's why there is such a broad range of feeding programs and products in the equine industry.

Andrea

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Oh boy I wouldn't have a clue, I know I should buy a scale and figure it out huh??

Our bales are the small ones, 3'x2' or something like that?? Each flake is 3-5" thick...that's the best I can do as far as comparison, sorry! Any idea's from this??

I've decided to look into the Nutrena Horse Kwik that was mentioned earlier, i'll check out the info on the bag as far as what each horse should be getting. If all else fails, we have a trainer at the ranch that can help me out lol!!

 

[Ashley]

Most of the hay I have came across in this area is roughly a 50# bale, give or take a bit.