Grain-free?

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Grain-free?

Postby blob » Sat Sep 28, 2019 9:54 pm

Do any of you have a horse that is in active work/training--rides of 4x or more a week and where there are training goals of some sort or another--that is on a grain/concentrate free diet?

If so, what do you provide other than hay and grass (if anything)? and why did you make the decision was it simply for weight control or something else?

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby musical comedy » Sat Sep 28, 2019 10:35 pm

My mare is IR and doesn't get any grain. I give 1/2 quart wet beet pulp to hide the thyro-l and the equithrive pellets. That's it. No ration balancer. The reason? Obesity. I adhere to a very consistent riding schedule of 5x a week and sometimes 6. I don't have a problem with lack of energy. That said, I am not working at FEI nor do I ride for really long periods. I put in about 25 minutes of 'work'. And I mean work! I do feed very nice quality hay which I'm trying to ration.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby blob » Sat Sep 28, 2019 10:45 pm

Thanks, MC. Helpful to hear about your mare's diet and schedule.

I'm thinking of transitioning RP to a grain/concentrate free diet. But all of the horses I know who are on a diet like that are either retired or do nothing more extensive in terms of 'work' than an occasional trail ride. So wanted to hear from others.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby AmityBee » Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:19 pm

I've been feeding grain free for years now. No specific reason other than my horse is a breed that tends to do better that way in the long run.

The feed I'm feeding is 45% Alfalfa and 38% rice bran, flaxseed and flaxseed oil. It's not really low energy, just grainless.

Energy is 11.9 MJ/Kg (I consider anything around 9 MJ/Kg low energy while 14MJ/kg is really high, oats are around 13MJ/Kg.)

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:52 pm

I did the full on grain free diet (a custom blend of ingredients, such as alfalfa pellets, rice bran, flax seed, chia seed, coolstance and some camelina oil) for a while because my barn switched to this way of feeding. My mare did not love it and did not do that well on it (never looked filled out, but we were also dealing with managing for PSSM, so it was hard to tell what to blame). However-- many of the IR-prone horses and hardy ponies did very well. I've since been feeding a lower NSC, higher fat extruded feed (Seminole Dynasport) for the last several years instead.

I've recently changed her to a ration balancer, though, in an attempt to cover protein and amino acid needs + provide some weight control (I can up or lower the Dynasport as needed through the year). I'll see how it goes. Our hay and browse quality is worse this year, due to extreme rain early and extreme dryness late, so that is probably having more of an effect than the feed.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby Chisamba » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:59 pm

I use soaked alfalfa pellet and oil for my grain free horses, and a balancer. They are in full work.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby Ryeissa » Mon Sep 30, 2019 4:28 pm

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Last edited by Ryeissa on Tue Oct 22, 2019 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby khall » Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:57 pm

Yes all of my riding horses are grain free. One is PSSM1 one is metabolic leaning (Iberian/Joplin) and the other 2 are just easy easy keepers. I use either Triple Crown Naturals soaked alfalfa cubes or the Alfa Lox for my ulcer prone ones and a vitamin/mineral supplement. I like Platinum. I also soak my hay for them all to reduce sugars and 2 wear grazing muzzles. All are fat except for my older mare, Gallie 24, who is in perfect weight. She is on prascend for early PPID and eats Triple Crown lite and soaked hay. She is not in work though.

It is a lot of work to care for easy keepers here in the south where the grass grows for 9-10 months of the year.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby Kelo » Mon Oct 14, 2019 5:20 pm

I have one nice and fat on free choice grass hay, a couple flakes of alfalfa, and then the minimum amount of Nutrena ration balancer. No grain.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby blob » Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:25 pm

Right now RP is on just enough grain to feed supplements with, and so that he gets something when others are being fed. But I'm debating instead doing a multi-vitamin + alfalfa pellets. My ideal would be best pulp, but my barn won't soak, unfortunately.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby Tanga » Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:29 am

Basically all three of mine are. They get a little bit of grain for taste with supplements. All three get flax, vitamin e and selenium, copper, and zinc. The older mare also gets msm, glucosamine, and chondroitin.

They basically get about 4 flakes a day (that's the way it works on the west coast) about 3/4ths alfalfa and 1/4 grass, or half and half.

The older one is not a super easy keeper and usually needs more weight, but that has to come from hay, and she's been great for awhile at this barn. She gets ridden by two people 4 to 6 days a week, lots of trails with steep hills and arena work. The daughters are both FEI competitors working on GP and get a lot of work, trail and arena usually five days a week.

All three are out 24/7 in what most people would call a very large paddock/small pasture. Maybe about 1/2 acre? No grass grows for long.

I like to feed what they need. They don't need grain for high level work. I feed ingredients, not conglomorates of stuff so I know what is working. Everything is feed for a reason. Flax is amazing for the coat and weight. Vitamin e and selenium supplements the hay grown here. Copper and zinc are my newest thing which is a big thing for hoof quality (they are all three barefoot) but it also makes their coats amazing.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby exvet » Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:14 pm

Mine too are grain free, of course, they're welsh cobs and a mustang! They get bermuda hay 3-4 times a day and a daily dose of alfalfa pellets as a vehicle for their MSM, vit E, flax seed oil, electrolytes (season appropriate) and the pony's anti-allergy meds. Mine are also turned out in a large paddock 24/7. They only come in to the stalls in the morning so that they can each eat their morning gruel in peace. None of mine are hard keepers (after getting the mustang up to weight).

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby blob » Sun Nov 24, 2019 3:23 pm

exvet wrote:Mine too are grain free, of course, they're welsh cobs and a mustang! They get bermuda hay 3-4 times a day and a daily dose of alfalfa pellets as a vehicle for their MSM, vit E, flax seed oil, electrolytes (season appropriate) and the pony's anti-allergy meds. Mine are also turned out in a large paddock 24/7. They only come in to the stalls in the morning so that they can each eat their morning gruel in peace. None of mine are hard keepers (after getting the mustang up to weight).


My mustang definitely needs grain to maintain weight and muscle while in work. But it's the welsh, i'd like to take off grain partly because now that he's finally put weight on, I think he will keep it on easily and because he has such a finicky stomach that I think the less concentrate probably the better.

He's out 12 hours in a pasture with grass and a round bale and has mostly free choice coastal hay when in his stall. He gets 1 flake of alfalfa a day and is on 1/2 a pound of grain at the moment.

I'd like to remove the grain entirely and replace with alfalfa pellets our outlast or something he can get that can work as a supplement vehicle and so he gets something when other horses are being fed

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby Srhorselady » Sun Nov 24, 2019 6:51 pm

If you want to feed beet pulp try beet pulp pellets. It’s a lot less messy. I’ve fed my senior horses 1-2 lbs of beet pulp pellets for over 5 years without soaking. I’ve never had a problem. I mix with their other pellets and senior and moisten slightly so salt, msm, flax, etc sticks. They also get Bermuda hay 4 times daily.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby piedmontfields » Sun Nov 24, 2019 11:33 pm

I'm now about 3 months into to switching Emi to a ration balancer (1 lb a day Seminole Equalizer) + some feed (Seminole Dynasport) + hay + turnout. I like that the ration balancer is full of protein and covers basic V/M (1 lb per day, split into two servings). I found when I cut out all of the low starch/high fat feed (Dynasport) that she lost weight, so I put her back on half as much as she was getting pre-RB. It seems to be a good compromise for her and she is actually building more top line. I don't think her work has changed much, so I credit the diet.

She is still getting her usual supplements, but minus a v/m supplement thanks to the ration balancer.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby mld02004 » Tue Dec 24, 2019 4:55 pm

My Morgan gets a handful of grain plus vitamin mineral supplement. She is typically in full work, schooling first and second. I also have to be careful with hay I take to keep her slim. No energy issues.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby Quelah » Tue Dec 24, 2019 10:23 pm

I guess Splash and Milagro are both on grain free diets. Wait no I lie, Milagro gets a scoop of Ultium a day, but that's for the pretty bloom, not for weight or energy, he's got plenty of both of those. Splash gets some beet pulp but that's because he gets the squirts without it, he's fat as a tick and has plenty of energy. The only horse that I've given concentrate to in recent memory was Jet when I was showing him, then he got about 10 lbs of Ultium a day, remember he weighs 2,000 lbs. Everyone just gets grass hay and a lot of it. I have the sense that Grass hay in California is richer than grass hay in other places.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby redsoxluvr » Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:25 pm

Have you considered Crypto - Aero? Not sure if it is available in your area but it may be an option for you.

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Dec 30, 2019 4:18 pm

FYI, Crypto-Aero is quite oat heavy in ingredients---which makes it a poor match for easy keepers, IR or PSSM horses. The oats make it quite high in starch (like 24%), which many horses cannot tolerate...unless they are something like a TB hunting 3 days a week!

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Re: Grain-free?

Postby blob » Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:05 pm

My goal would really be to have RP on a concentrate-free diet. I might have to break that a bit to give him at least a multi-vitamin. But I'd love for him to only get hay, grass, and other forage. My barn doesn't soak beet pulp. But if they did I would have him get unsweetened beet pulp with a vitamin/mineral supplement for dinner and breakfast


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