Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
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Dr. Getty
My name is Brandi and I live in Bartlesville, OK. I have 2 MFT’s – Chief - 4 year old and his half brother Scout just turned a year on the 25th of this month.
I board both horses, my barn owner feeds once a day. In the winter time the horses have a round bale in front of them 24/7 + pasture but when it snowed and iced my horses were kept in separate paddocks and were no longer on pasture. Now that winter is over and spring is here both of my horses are on pasture 24/7 and they get grained.
I had both horses on Safe Choice by Nutrena. In the winter time I think my barn owner was feeding them a full coffee can – I know there are many different sizes of coffee cans. And I did write down the size of the coffee can and I do have a scale. A full can of Safe Choice which I poured into a plastic bag weighted around 3 lbs…. ¾ of a can of Safe Choice which is what I told my barn owner to feed to Chief when I realized he was overweight was about 2lbs and some ounces…. (I wrote all of this down)
Here’s my issue that I’m having:
Scout was gelded on the 10th of April, and I noticed that he was skinny spine showing and on top of his ribs he was very thin. My barn owner said that he was growing and in the ugly, gangly stage – which come out to be true. Thinking that Safe Choice wasn’t doing a thing for him, and talking to my barn owner I started them on Omolene 200 by Purina. And yes I did worm both of them and I did get a weight tape and the weight tape said that Scout was about 656 and that Chief was about 906. Scout is looking better since I’m starting to feed him twice a day.
I’m concerned with Chief since he’s such an easy keeper that maybe I should put him on something less fattening – like Life Design Prime or LiteBalance by Nutrena.
Like I said they’re both on pasture – no hay at the moment they prefer the pasture.
Chief is getting fed once a day and Scout the younger one is getting fed twice a day. Oh and Chief the over weight one is being exercised every other day and the days that I don’t do LSD training with him we’re just working on ground work.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Brandi
Oklahoma
Where are you from? Bartlesville, OK
How did you locate this forum? googled equine nutrition forums
Greetings Brandi,
Thank you for writing about your youngsters. I would not recommend Omelene since it is very high in starch, which has been implicated in producing osteopathic disorders (diseases of the bones and joints) in growing horses. Go with a low starch feed that contains at least 6% fat.
Since you're already feeding a fortified commercial feed (check the %NSC on the Nutrena products you mentioned -- no more than 20%), and they are on fresh pasture, they do not likely require the full dose of vitamin/mineral supplement. But since it doesn't appear as though you're feeding according to directions,they could benefit from a 1/2 dose of Glanzen 3 to provide necessary minerals for growth, B vitamins for digestion and hooves and skin, and omega 3s from flax to keep their digestive immune systems healthy (as well as make them shine).
Thank you for writing.
All the best,
Dr. Getty 
Author of Feed Your Horse Like A Horse
I board both horses, my barn owner feeds once a day. In the winter time the horses have a round bale in front of them 24/7 + pasture but when it snowed and iced my horses were kept in separate paddocks and were no longer on pasture. Now that winter is over and spring is here both of my horses are on pasture 24/7 and they get grained.
I had both horses on Safe Choice by Nutrena. In the winter time I think my barn owner was feeding them a full coffee can – I know there are many different sizes of coffee cans. And I did write down the size of the coffee can and I do have a scale. A full can of Safe Choice which I poured into a plastic bag weighted around 3 lbs…. ¾ of a can of Safe Choice which is what I told my barn owner to feed to Chief when I realized he was overweight was about 2lbs and some ounces…. (I wrote all of this down)
Here’s my issue that I’m having:
Scout was gelded on the 10th of April, and I noticed that he was skinny spine showing and on top of his ribs he was very thin. My barn owner said that he was growing and in the ugly, gangly stage – which come out to be true. Thinking that Safe Choice wasn’t doing a thing for him, and talking to my barn owner I started them on Omolene 200 by Purina. And yes I did worm both of them and I did get a weight tape and the weight tape said that Scout was about 656 and that Chief was about 906. Scout is looking better since I’m starting to feed him twice a day.
I’m concerned with Chief since he’s such an easy keeper that maybe I should put him on something less fattening – like Life Design Prime or LiteBalance by Nutrena.
Like I said they’re both on pasture – no hay at the moment they prefer the pasture.
Chief is getting fed once a day and Scout the younger one is getting fed twice a day. Oh and Chief the over weight one is being exercised every other day and the days that I don’t do LSD training with him we’re just working on ground work.
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Brandi
Oklahoma
Where are you from? Bayfield, CO