It’s been a hot minute since I wrote, well anything really, but specifically about horse maintenance around here. I’ll start with feed.
Gem and Pete
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| Pete running up for dinner |
These two are the easiest horses ever. They both get a handful of the ration balancer Tribute Essential K twice daily. They have eaten this for 4 years now and do well on it. Their coats remain shiny and overall they remain on a good weight with it plus all the grass they are on.
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| Yum…Pergolide and horse muffin |
Gem does wear a muzzle now during the day and gets it removed over night. She also gets Pergolide in a German Horse Muffin at night which is sorta like a diabetic taking their insulin with a slice of cheesecake, but she eats her pill readily and is doing really well.
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| The blandest looking feed ever, but they eat is right up |
Hamilton
Hamilton took a bit to settle into his nutrition. He came to us starved and severely malnourished so it took a bit to get him up to snuff. He also melts off the weight with any exertion so what I feed him when he is in full work versus being a fluff in the pasture is different.
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| Gosh is he dreamy tho |
Currently he gets 2 quarts of Triple Crown Complete twice daily with a pump of GutX with his morning meal. He isn’t an ulcer horse but he does crib like a freaking machine even with a collar on, so anything I can do to prevent issues I’m game for. He is a bit chunky at the moment so we keep threatening to switch him to the Tribute but I am ramping back up his exercise so he should drop it quickly.
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| Much more edible looking |
Leonard
Oh the problem child. He is such a big lanky horse plus he runs patterns around the trees in the pasture for fun so he burns a ton of calories just being Lenny. I’m still not really happy about his condition but I’m trying to be patient. He was skinny when he came 5 months ago and it’s been a bit of a challenge.
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| Riding is going really well lately since I made the decision to back out of ENs program. |
I had the dentist out for everyone and poor Lenny had his mouth destroyed by whoever did him before I got him. His teeth were floated down to the gum line and he really can’t chew a whole lot. Dentist said it will take about 2 years for him to erupt enough to be normal again. I’d love to find that dentist and throttle them.
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| If we don’t soak this to a mash he spills most of it out of his mouth. Poor guy. |
Currently he gets 2.5 quarts of Triple Crown Complete and 2.5 quarts of alfalfa pellets soaked to a mash twice daily. He gets a pump of GutX in the morning. He isn’t ulcery either and thank goodness he doesn’t crib, but I have it so why not? He just started getting 2 oz of Cool Calories in the evening as I’m just not happy with where his weight is at. I’ll slowly build that up to 4 oz then see how things are.
All horses always have hay available but none eat it much. They are out on pasture with lush grass 24/7. We have 3 pastures we rotate monthly so they stay pretty good year round though this year has been so stinking hot and dry it is starting to burn out a bit. They also have a mineral block in the pasture and an individual one in the stall and use that quite a bit.
I’m happy with 3/4 of the herd and I think given more time and with the new addition of Cool Calories, Lenny will be where I want him at before end of year too.
What about you all? What are you feeding these days? I love to hear about it and learn from others.
