Should I feed this???

[lesean1977]

I was given a bag of MannaPro Hi Fiber bagged timotyh alfalfa oat mix. Its a chopped hay blend. It does have molasses in it. Should I feed this to my four year old mini? I have only had her about a week. My grass is getting sparce so I know I need to start supplementing but Im still very unsure what to feed and how. Should I do a mini formula feed and hay? Just hay?

Confused and afraid to feed my horse,

Kirstie

 

[disneyhorse]

What does the feeding instructions on the bag say?

 

[chandab]

If you are talking about the Lucerne Farms Hi-Fiber chopped hay (they are working with Manna Pro on distributing their product, Manna Pro name is on the bag), then yes, you could feed it to your mini. I'm feeding my senior stallion their tim/alf mix (molasses), and my Cushings horses get their Hi-Fiber Gold (no molasses); just started this month, and so far, its going well. [i don't normally feed bagged hay products, but I had to do something for these 3 horses to get weight on them; our homegrown hay wasn't doing it for their special needs. Its just a portion of their daily diet.]

If that is all you are going to feed for a hay product, then you'll need to feed 1.5-2% of his bodyweight daily (so if he weighs 250#, you'd need to feed 3.75-5# daily of the forage). Personally, if it were me, I'd mix it with regular long stem hay, so he wouldn't get quite so much sugar (molasses) added to his diet; in this case he'd only need a pound or so a day to supplement his baled hay. [i know some people feed exclusively one of the bagged forages, but in the long run, baled hay is usually cheaper.]

Do you have any horse experience? Especially full time care and feeding? If so, feeding and caring for minis is mostly like caring for their full-size cousins with just a few differences. The biggest difference being how much they eat; coming from full-size horses, I still have a hard time sizing down the minis meals, going from feeding 15-20# (or more) of hay daily down to 3-6# daily is quite the change (I have bigger minis, so feed about a 1/3 to them what I fed to the full-size). They can do quite well on their hay/forage plus a vit/min supplement. Although, some do need more feed or special feeds (growth, performance, etc).

 

[lesean1977]

If you are talking about the Lucerne Farms Hi-Fiber chopped hay (they are working with Manna Pro on distributing their product, Manna Pro name is on the bag), then yes, you could feed it to your mini. I'm feeding my senior stallion their tim/alf mix (molasses), and my Cushings horses get their Hi-Fiber Gold (no molasses); just started this month, and so far, its going well. [i don't normally feed bagged hay products, but I had to do something for these 3 horses to get weight on them; our homegrown hay wasn't doing it for their special needs. Its just a portion of their daily diet.]

If that is all you are going to feed for a hay product, then you'll need to feed 1.5-2% of his bodyweight daily (so if he weighs 250#, you'd need to feed 3.75-5# daily of the forage). Personally, if it were me, I'd mix it with regular long stem hay, so he wouldn't get quite so much sugar (molasses) added to his diet; in this case he'd only need a pound or so a day to supplement his baled hay. [i know some people feed exclusively one of the bagged forages, but in the long run, baled hay is usually cheaper.]

Do you have any horse experience? Especially full time care and feeding? If so, feeding and caring for minis is mostly like caring for their full-size cousins with just a few differences. The biggest difference being how much they eat; coming from full-size horses, I still have a hard time sizing down the minis meals, going from feeding 15-20# (or more) of hay daily down to 3-6# daily is quite the change (I have bigger minis, so feed about a 1/3 to them what I fed to the full-size). They can do quite well on their hay/forage plus a vit/min supplement. Although, some do need more feed or special feeds (growth, performance, etc).

I do have horse experience but unfortunately its old school sweetfeed and big round bale. It want until later I started learning about the better ways to feed. Now with this little girl Im even more overwhelmed lol. I just want to things the right way. It seems their feeding can be so varied. The previous owner had her on a dry lot I think. Didnt see all his property. But he had gotten no vet care for her since he had gotten her at a few months of age shes four now.

 

[chandab]

Just with like all horse owners, any size: Ask 100 horsemen how to feed, and you are likely to get 100 different answers.

It comes down to what works for you, your horse, what you can get and your budget. Start off with the basics of hay/forage, salt and a vit/min supplement (I'm using a locally available one right now, but did use Manna Pro ShoGlo for awhile, and there are many others out there); see how she does on it, if she needs more then look into bagged feeds that will suit your needs.

 

[lesean1977]

Thanks so much for the straight forward advise. I just wasnt sure. Someone I talked to near me had a little on edge lol. I think maybe shewas a little extreme with her suggestions feeding nothing but grass and if I did feed other stuff my horse would founder. Ill take your advise and go slow and add in when I deem it needed.

 

[chandab]

Unfortunately, I do have a couple horses that have laminitis issues (many call this founder, but actually full blown founder is much worse than laminitis; too much for me to go into right now); one got contaminated feed (she's sensitive to corn), one got sick, and one has Cushing's (laminitis unfortunately seems to go hand in hand with Cushing's). The first two are pretty much recovered from the laminitis and doing quite well with a somewhat strict diet (just grass hay, vit/min supplement; NO grazing); the third is an ongoing battle due to her Cushing's (metabolic disorder), but is coming along.

My senior stallion eats a senior pellet, the yearlings (coming 2s) are getting a growth formula, my young stallion gets a bit of performance feed; all are doing well on these feeds and none are showing signs of anything bad. Most of my mares are easy keepers, so get their vit/min supplement, a bit of oats and their hay (a bit of pasture in summer).

You'll do fine, your in the right place for mini answers. And, there is a search feature for the forum in the upper right hand corner, enter what you are looking for, and you are likely to get more information than you know what to do with.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

She's a pretty girl and lucky to have a thougthful owner!

Why were you given the feed? Someone didn't like it? They were doing you a favor?

Horses are browsers. They cannot thrive on single feeds, such as a lawn, or grass that is all the same, like bermuda or timothy. When browsing in the wild they will eat all sorts of things. They need a supplement if you are going to offer only grass hay.

I've found that some people (even vets) get so paranoid about a miniature getting fat that they starve them. What looks like a fat belly can be a horse that doesn't have enough protein for muscle development. A belly that hangs and a backbone that you can feel means a less than thrifty horse.

You do not say where you are located; hays and supplements are different in different areas.

I would make an appointment with an equine dentist soon; unshed caps and sharp points will keep a horse from maximizing his feed and cause other physical problems.

I like a little alfalfa for mine everyday, in addition to their supplement and pasture. If you begin to see her getting too heavy, you can cut back. But building muscle is important and they can't do that on single grass hays.

I don't feed sweet feed (mainly because I don't like the corn and "floor sweepings" that are in it), but I know horse folk who do and their horses do fine.

I hope you will help her get some excercise, which will go a long way to developing muscle tone and making her more fit. Maybe we'll see you over at the Driving Forum soon!

Four years old is a great age! Young enough to give you years of pleasure and old enough to have a brain!

 

[jess - bentley]

I am not sure about the feed you are talking about, but I feed a little sweet feed morning and night, just a few handfuls. Make sure it's a complete feed. I also give hay twice a day. A good quality grass hay works best with minis as the small pieces are easiest for them to digest. I have never had a founder with any of my horses, but I also do not have a lot of grass at my place. I have had horses, minis and ponies for over thirty years and never a problem feeding this way. Hope this helps!

 

[lesean1977]

I was given the bagged hay just as a gift. It was brand new. This all is sooo helpful in pointing me in the right direction. Im licated in Charleston South carolina. I do have an interest in training her for driving though that is all new to me also. Lots of reading up to do! Im starting from scratch with her. Shes really been taught no ground manners although she is very laid back. Some of that could be because of her health.

 

[chandab]

It ate my message.

 

[Miniv]

It should be fine, as was said by a previous poster.....but I would still look into locating regular good quality grass hay for the long term. Horses are grazers and need the munching time. We've only used bagged hay as a last resort when the baled was hard to find.