Post YOUR grainfree diets!

[sublimequine]

I thought it would be neat to see how different people have designed their grainfree diets for their horses. :)

Any diet that has no (or next to no, let's say a handful or something) grain in it, share it here! And you can also say why you designed it that way, what made you pick certain things, avoid certain things, etc. :yes:

[Seal Harbor]

This one has no grain.

LMF Low Carb stage 1 - no grain no molasses. About 3 lbs a day (soy hulls, beet, alfalfa, rice bran)
Alfalfa cubes - 11 lbs per day.
Beet pulp - dry weight about 2 lbs - wet around 25lbs.
about a half a pound of rice bran pellets (fortified)
Select I Vitamins
Grand Flex and Grand Hoof (both grain free)
U-Gard (haven't started this yet, in next months Smart Pak)
A quarter cup cooked flax.

edited to add - 5 year old TB I've owned since he was 2. He is a show hunter.

[sublimequine]

This one has no grain.

LMF Low Carb stage 1 - no grain no molasses. About 3 lbs a day (soy hulls, beet, alfalfa, rice bran)
Alfalfa cubes - 11 lbs per day.
Beet pulp - dry weight about 2 lbs - wet around 25lbs.
about a half a pound of rice bran pellets (fortified)
Select I Vitamins
Grand Flex and Grand Hoof (both grain free)
U-Gard (haven't started this yet, in next months Smart Pak)
A quarter cup cooked flax.

Do you feed hay (minus the cubes) or grass at all? :)

[partlycloudy]

my herd gets different amounts of the following (depending on their condition and workload)
-soaked alfalfa cubes
-soaked beet pulp
-purina integrity
-vit/min supplement
-magnesium oxide
-handful of BOSS
all the hay they want (grassy with alittle alfalfa)
one gelding (3 yr old) gets one cup of whole oats per feeding
Every one is fat, shiny and CALM

[deltawave]

For my 9yo ISH mare (during show season: Training level eventing/1st-2nd level dressage)

Purina Enrich 32, 3/4 pound per day
Rice bran pellets, 1/8 pound per day
Little bit of flaxseed
Orchard hay
Pasture when possible

Pony gets an itty bitty handful of the Purina once a day, plus hay and/or pasture with a muzzle when the other one goes out.

Both get a "broad spectrum" vitamin mineral supplement once a day as well, plus feed-through fly control.

Why? Because it's simple, and it meets their needs. :)

[caballus]

Oh my goodness -- do I *dare* answer this?

I cut up as a base each day (once a day):

2 yams
2 apples
2 oranges
1 avocado
2 - 3 radishes
2 bananas
1/2 head of loose leaf lettuce
1/8 small head of cabbage

to this I will add whatever veggie we might have in the garden or fridge: maybe a couple of cupsful of one or two of the following ...
Cantelope
Watermelon
Zucchini or Yellow Squash
Beans
Peas
Acorn Squash
small pumpkin
pears
peaches
papaya
mango
etc.

I also may add in some chopped up Echinacea leaves and flowers, dandelions, parsley, comfrey and other leafy greens from edible trees or plants. Including Rosa Rugosa.

To this I add 1 cup Safflower oil that is infused with a large clove of garlic and a sprig of rosemary (fresh)
2 heaping tsps of Kelp
2 cups of ground, stabalized flax.
one egg

sometimes I'll add a cupful of trail mix or raw pumpkin seeds and a handful or cupful of BOSS.

The two older horses (25ish and 28) get 3 qts of the veggie mix mixed with 3 qts of forage extender/alfalfa cubes mixed; one of them also gets 3 cups of a special herbal blend plus an added egg.

The younger horses 5, 6 and 12 get a handful of this veggie mixture plus a quart of forage extender or alfalfa cubes each. (The 5 and 6 year old (PMU and Mustang mares) are going to have this amt. cut in half shortly as they are getting a bit rotund. Same with the ponies.)

Each of the ponies (UK Shetlands - 22" to 38") get a scant handful of for. ext. w/veggies.

The almost 50 year old donkey (mini) also gets a handful plus a cup or more of forage extender pellets.

The goats each (3 of them) get a qt of oats with some of the veggies mixed in, too.

No other supplements are given at this time.

All have free choice timothy/orchard grass hay. I feed out, in the summer, 3 - 50# bales between them all, including the goats. In the winter I'll be adding at least another 1/2 a bale or up to full bale as needed. Basically they just eat as much hay as they want. When I see they have eaten it all, I throw out more.

I have little grass to speak of at this point but they all have access to it.

They range from 3 years old to 28 years old; from 22" to 17 hands. My 12 year old is the only one that is being ridden at this time (weekend warrior for the most part right now.) Pleasure and a few "lessons".

[ChocoMare]

Free choice hay or pasture (no live/green pasture, tho, for my Percheron who's metabolic)

Once A Day for Both:
1 Pound (dry weight) Soaked plain (molasses free) beet pulp shreds
EquiPride (http://www.equilix.com/equipride.html)(2 cups)

Then the Percheron gets extra Vit E/Selenium & Cool Calories (yes, she has EPSM too :( )

The Clyde-X will get 1/3 pound of Alfalfa pellets

[jn4jenny]

caballus, no flames will come from me...but I'm dying to know how much that costs. That's more produce than my DH and I eat in a week!

[caballus]

caballus, no flames will come from me...but I'm dying to know how much that costs. That's more produce than my DH and I eat in a week!It's actually not too bad. If I buy from the grocers its about $75 a week. But remember, we have a large garden from which we pick right now. In the winter they won't be having all the extras. But I also just opened an account with a wholesale grocer supplier so, instead of paying $1.29 for a head of lettuce I'll pay about .75 cents. A whole BUNCH of bananas run me about a $1 each bunch; a case of yams weighing 50# is $20; Oh! I forgot about the carrots ... I chop up 6 - 8 carrots each day, too. A 50# bag of carrots is around $20. But, tonight I bought from Walmart and the veggies plus a few other things for hubby and me only came to $80 for the week-- the horse part was probably about $50. So for 5 horses, 4 ponies, 1 donkey, 3 goats (and the dogs sometimes get the cut up veggies, too, with their ground beef) ... that's not bad. I *was* spending close to $100 a week just in forage extender and pellets. So this is actually saving me money. Plus, I was also buying ABC Plus Fortified for additional $80 a month; Chaste Tree Berry and Cinnamon each month; Weight Gain (Missing Link that was about $70 a month) and I'm not getting those now. (There were a couple of other things, too, but I forget what they were.) Don't need 'em with the veggies. Hubby and I eat lots of vegetables, too, so it all goes together in the grocery bill. If you feed the base diet and then add seasonal vegetables, its not bad at all.

Figure it out for one std. horse: Base diet once a DAY:

1 apple (5# bag $4 - lasts a week)
1 orange (5# bad $4 - lasts a week)
1 or 2 yams (7 yams about $3 for one week)
1 banana (1 bunch about what, $2?)
handful of greens (Spring mix - $3.19 a bag so 2 - 3 bags a week)
add your oil
1 egg (we have chickens so I don't pay for eggs)
1 tsp of Kelp ($10 a pound lasts a month)
Whatever your Flax source is ... I get stabalized for $45 or so for 20# pail .. lasts a month so figure $10 a week.

So its not too bad. Depending on your area I'd say the avg. is about $75 a month per horse. Less if wholesale.

[sublimequine]

Keep it comin guys! :)

This is my mare's diet:

Grass 24/7 (Will be grass hay 24/7 in winter)
1 cup TC Senior
Mega-Cell
Raspberry Leaf
A few alfalfa cubes

She's not completely grainfree, as she does get that mouthful of Senior. But I figure in that amount it's nearly negligible. ;)

[Bogie]

My TB gelding gets:

- Free choice grass hay (turned out on pasture but there's not much to eat right now)

am/pm feed consists of:
- 1 quart alfalfa pellets
- 3/4 pounds of Enrich 32
- 4 oz flax seed
- 1 cup of oil (right now soybean)

Lunch:

1 quart (dry) shredded beet pulp
1 lb (dry) alfalfa/timothy cubes
Both of the above soaked.

[Foxtrot's]

I have a yearling and a 6 y.o. warmblood that needs to be on a bit of a permanent diet.
The yearling has had ulcers and a lot of a/b's as he has a bit of a history. He gets Equicare brand from the Otter Co-op which is a grain and molasses free pellet with a lot of enzymes, probios and Performance Horse Nutirition vitamin pack. They also get Triple Crown vit/min mix. He also gets ground flax and oil for Omega 3s and 6s. I've come to the conclusion that, except for the high performance horse, grain is usually fed in excess.

They are still on pasture, very little since my field is so small but they enjoy it and given hay at night, kept in/out, and will soon be kept in the dry paddock all winter when the rain and mud come.

[Ambrey]

My horse (perch X, ~1500 lbs)

3 1/2 flakes (20-25 lbs) timothy hay
2 lbs dry weight soaked beet pulp
3 scoops Mega Mag
1 scoop MSM

The little guy (1/2 welsh, about 900 lbs)
2 1/2 flakes timothy hay (maybe 18 lbs)
3 lbs dry weight soaked beet pulp (molasses free, shreds)
2 scoops Mega Mag
1 scoop Remission
1 scoop MSM

Both are finally settling on a good weight, but dang they are easy keepers! Both in moderate work.

[CoolMeadows]

Everyone here gets 1 to 2 pounds of alfalfa/timothy cubes, presoak weight and 1 to 2 ounces of Mega Cell per day. Two of them won't eat cube mush so get 2 cups/day of Legends Performance instead. Two get Nutraflax, two get MSM and three also get Equitum. They're out 24/7 on good pasture with really nice hay in their sheds for variety. There's a mixture of retirees, babies just starting and working 3 or 4 days a week and some working pretty hard 5 to 6 days a week. They all glow!

[kellidahorsegirl]

my 16.2 and 16 hand (8 and 9 yrs old) TB jumpers get free choice grass hay and supplemented with a bit of alfalfa twice a day. Both are 3'6" jumpers.

My 15.2 4 yr old and 15.2 20 year old get free choice grass and supplemented alfalfa twice a day too, but about double the alfalfa that the others get.

Always having GOOD hay has pretty well gotten rid of the need for me to ever feed grain...such a pain when they all live together anyway.

[Hampton Bay]

My little horses (yearling filly, 3-yo, friend's 10-yo) get about 1lb alfalfa cubes and SmartVite Grass, plus either 24/7 pasture or almost free-choice hay. They get a bit more alfalfa in cold weather because I can use it to get water into them.

The big mare gets 4 to 12lb alfalfa cube depending on the time of year, and pasture or hay. She tends to stop grazing around 6pm and not resume until I kick her out of her shed or until the sun comes up, so that can be a pain since she isn't an easy keeper. She also gets a pound or two of rice bran depending on her workload and its availability. And SmartVite Alfalfa, MSM, epsom salts, and lite salt in the summer. She's the expensive one since she hates bugs, heat, cold, and rain. Anything other than mild weather sends her running for her shed, thus reducing the amount of grass she actually eats.

[mbv]

My horse gets free choice grass hay and/or free choice pasture (only good for about 4 months of the year). Hay is tested and fertilized appropriately to be nutritionally balanced. She is ridden 4-5 times a week and has been under saddle for a year.

The unusual part of her diet is that she gets lentil and garbanzo bean screenings as a protein source. I live in a huge wheat growing area and the crops are rotated with legumes to fix the nitrogen, and the screenings are sold as livestock food. Lentils are fed to horses in some other parts of the world as well, but it is definitely unusual. They are a pretty good protein source and all of the horses at my barn really like them and the professors at my (vet) school definitely endorse their feeding. There is some literature about nutritional content, but not much....The left over screenings are more commonly fed to cows as a cheap protein source.
I just consider my horse to be a participant in the "local food" movement!

Last winter she also got some soaked alfalfa cubes but she is a fatty this year so probably won't need alfalfa. No grain at all.

[Seal Harbor]

Do you feed hay (minus the cubes) or grass at all? :)
No hay except the cubes. He is allergic to grass hay. Only gets alfalfa and had gotten some that caused him issues, since then only cubes because of the quality, it is much more consistent than that which was being used where he was at the time.

[manyspots]

My guy is on the following....

AM:
1.5 lbs. (presoaked) plain pelleted beet pulp
1 lb. Rice bran
Smartvite Maintenance Grass
Smartdigest

PM:
1.5 lbs. (presoaked) plain pelleted beet pulp
1 lb. Rice Bran
Source

Free choice grass hay and turnout 24/7. He went barefoot for the first time last year and his feet look the best and are the hardest they have ever been right now. He is also the quietest he has ever been too!! :lol:

[starkissed]

my 6yr WB gelding gets

AM
1lb soaked alfalfa cubes
wormer supplement

PM
1.5lb soaked alfalfa cubes

Free choice tim/grass hay when he is in, or pasture.
Might have to add some fat and fiber pellet this winter, we will see.

[SmartAlex]

My ASB gelding is on free choice grass hay, daily turnout on good grass at least an hour a day, beet pulp, 1 cup BOSS, Quitt and joint supplement. He is ridden lightly (half an hour to 45 min) 4 days a week and stays fat and sassy.

Of course, now that the pears are ripe, he will be getting about half a dozen windfall pears a day.

[Auventera Two]

I have 4 horses, and they all have different diets. I feed a lot of soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes and/or pellets. Also I feed BOSS and Flax. Recently I've quit buying any kind of "name brand prepared feed" and the grain they do get has been whole oats.

I also have been throwing apples to them since we have 3 producing trees.

[sublimequine]

I have 4 horses, and they all have different diets. I feed a lot of soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes and/or pellets. Also I feed BOSS and Flax. Recently I've quit buying any kind of "name brand prepared feed" and the grain they do get has been whole oats.

I also have been throwing apples to them since we have 3 producing trees.

Probably stupid question, but do you worry about feeding apples to your ulcery mare, since they have kind of a high sugar content? My mare doesn't have ulcers but does have a sensitive stomach, and I worry a bit about feeding her too many apples.

[caballus]

Probably stupid question, but do you worry about feeding apples to your ulcery mare, since they have kind of a high sugar content? My mare doesn't have ulcers but does have a sensitive stomach, and I worry a bit about feeding her too many apples.On the contrary - pectin has been shown to be effective in curing ulcers. The green types of apples (aka Granny Smith) are the best, or so I've learned.

[SmartAlex]

I don't know about ulcers, but I know that apple pectin has a soothing effect on the digestive system. My grandmother was a dietician, and she always recommended fresh shredded apple to recover from diarrhea/food poisoning etc.

[Vindicated]

Working toward a "grain free" diet

9 year old TB mare-Hard Keeper. Light work

1.5 lbs Moormans Grow Stong High Fiber 2x daily
1 lb (dry weight) Beet Pulp pellet 2x daily
1 lb Fortified Rice Bran Pellets AM
1/2 pound BOSS AM

All the Grass hay she can eat and 5 lbs tim/alf hay

She needs to gain a bit more weight

11 year old WB gelding-Light work at moment as he thinks he is lame again.

.75 lb Moormans (as above)
Everything else is same as above


Does anyone have experience with the Max E Glo Complete?
I have kind of been thinking about using it


His weight looks good at the moment

[Auventera Two]

Probably stupid question, but do you worry about feeding apples to your ulcery mare, since they have kind of a high sugar content? My mare doesn't have ulcers but does have a sensitive stomach, and I worry a bit about feeding her too many apples.

No, not at all! Pectin is great for an upset stomach! I learned this from my stepdad, he was stationed on a naval ship and the seamen ate green apples to help with nausea and vomitting from months on rough seas.

I won't say that it slows acid production or neutralizes it in any way, but every time I've had a nauseated or sour stomach, eating a granny smith apple brings huge relief.

I have one green apple tree, and two red, so they do get a mix of the two.

[sublimequine]

Interesting stuff on the apples! I never even thought of the pectin, a lot of the natural digestive supps out there have pectin in the ingredient list.

Now I can feed my mare apples without worrying, yay. :lol:

[DinkDunk]

am/pm:
1 lb of AP
Reitsport
1 cup rice bran

I will probably up both the AP and Rice Bran as we get into the winter months and the grass dies off...

[purplnurpl]

grass
hay

beet pulp
Horsetech's Glanzen and Uckele's Tri Amino fed once a day.
Rice Bran and Flax if weight is needed.

easy. very cheep. did I mention easy?

[foggybok]

After finally getting enough of the right hay, my horses are all grain free. I found this hay last year, but the farmer did not have enough for me to feed all year...This year I got my order in early!

Last year I needed to feed extra to 3 of the 6 horses, and they required quite a bit of supplemental feed. This includes the hard keeper OTTB, the hard keeper old mare and one horse that nobody has been able to keep weight on (the worrier..). I was feeding alfalfa (1 feeding per day) and orchard (as much as they would eat) and still needing to supplement with Ultium (I tried a few other grains as well, this worked the best), beet pulp and hay pellets.

Now, I'm feeding only hay and everyone is maintaining nicely. I'm hoping they will hold through the winter and I think they will....

The unfortunate sequelae to this is that my easy keepers are now too fat, so I'm going to have to seek out some bad hay since I like them to have it all the time......

So they get an orchard grass mix (has small amounts of clover, alfalfa and what I think are dandelions). This stuff will put weight on anyone and they look fabulous!

I might add a mineral supplement that is formulated for NW feeds, but that's it....

oh, and since it's apple season, a few apples each per day......

keep it simple.......