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Have you tried giving warm mash sugar beet? We give it in the winter and constant hay or haulage. Also smaller feeds but more regular. Like three feeds a day instead of two. A good conditioner mix could also be beneficial. If you can get your vet to do a blood test that could confirm or rule out if there is any other issues.
 
Black oil sunflower seeds (aka BOSS) was kind of a BIG DEAL around 20 years ago or so. Everybody was feeding them. They do give the coat an excellent gloss, and the hulls are not a problem at all. But, nutrient profile wise, BOSS has some issues, and isn't always the best approach to achieve a good vita:min balance.

I would caution against feeding haylage. **SOME** haylage, such as the bagged alfalfa haylage Chaffehaye, is good for horses, but your typical plastic wrapped (different than net wrapped!) high-moisture round bales that are widely available in the OP's area as a form of cattle feed, ARE NOT safe for horses.

You might talk to the vet about dosing with a wormer with Praziquantel in it, now that a hard freeze has hit. Praziquantel will take care of tapeworms. Praziquantel is usually in a tube with an ivermectin product: Equimax, Zimectrin Gold, etc. You can also find it with Quest (moxidectin) but you really need to talk to your vet before using Quest. It is a different class of wormer and not always the safest choice for every horse.
 
Haylage is safe for horses. Silage is what is fed to cattle. Haylage is better for older horses and contains more nutrients and protein than hay and is more easily digestable. Alfalfa compliments it. The only real problem that could come from feeding haylage is horses with ulcers or gut sensitivities.
 
GldnValleyHens said:
The sunflower seeds sound interesting. I’d be worried about the hulls though.....
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I've never fed it, but am curious, so looking for info. This is what I found so far:
https://www.triplecrownfeed.com/horse-health/qa-from-a-consultant/

Question: What are your thoughts on feeding black oil sunflower seeds?

Answer:
Feeding these seeds is very popular in Australia and has since spread to other parts of the world. Black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) provide a combination of protein and energy (from their high fat content). So horses receiving BOSS usually have a nice shiny hair coat and maintain weight well. High performance horses, however would be better served by alternative fat sources since BOSS are very high in omega-6 fatty acids, but almost void of omega 3 fatty acids. The calories per pound is about 2.6 Mcals.
 
CCUK said:
Haylage is safe for horses. Silage is what is fed to cattle. Haylage is better for older horses and contains more nutrients and protein than hay and is more easily digestable. Alfalfa compliments it. The only real problem that could come from feeding haylage is horses with ulcers or gut sensitivities.
Click to expand...

Haylage in the UK is likely different than haylage in the US. Sileage is typically a sorghum-based product, while haylage is high-moisture hay stored in an attempted anaerobic environment (hence the plastic bags). The fermentation of haylage (and sileage) can both contain bacteria and/or mold that can be deadly to horses. (We put up both haylage and sileage on our 1200 acre farm to feed 100 head of Polled Herefords).

Haylage is not the same as "chopped bagged forage". That is a low-moisture cured hay product that has literally been chopped into small pieces and is typically bagged and sold in 30-50lb quantities. Chopped bagged forage is basically hay cubes before they are compressed into cubes.
 
res said:
Yup, it looks like your "Readigrass" is just chopped forage. We have different manufacturers here in the US/Can that offer something similar: Triple Crown has a good selection, as does Standlee.
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I thought so :) I’m a big fan of readigrass, it looks and smells so delicious! Unfortunately the price has shot up here due to the not so average British summer that we just had. In fact everything has gone up feed and forage wise.
 
CCUK said:
Have you tried giving warm mash sugar beet? We give it in the winter and constant hay or haulage. Also smaller feeds but more regular. Like three feeds a day instead of two. A good conditioner mix could also be beneficial. If you can get your vet to do a blood test that could confirm or rule out if there is any other issues.
Click to expand...
Haven’t tried the beet pulp, when I gave it to my other guys a year ago, they didn’t really like it, but maybe I’ll buy a bag and test it out
 

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