Re: Missy the Pony


janieclougher@...
 

Hi, Lisa -  For any IR or PPID equine, the safest diet is soaked hay,, plus flax for the omega 3's, vitamin E, and salt.  Beet pulp is a good carrier for the minerals, flax, E and salt. A good mineral supplement when you can't test your hay is California Trace Plus, or Arizona Copper Complete. This won't be perfect, but if you can't test, you can't test.

Another option is Ontario Dehy Timothy Balance cubes, distributed by Triple Crown.  If you can get Triple Crown products at your feed store, you should be able to order in the ODTB cubes.  They are a complete feed with regard to minerals, so you only need to add flax, vitamin E and salt. They can be moistened or soaked for those with tooth issues. Because you are feeding a mini and a pony, these can be an economical feed, very little fuss or muss, and very safe.  Then just give soaked hay for play time.

Nuzu Stabul 1 is a pelleted feed that is also a complete feed, but the starch is a tad higher than the hay cubes -  4.5%.  This may be too much for sensitive horses, but certainly can be used as a taste tempter.  Triple Crown Lite can also be used as a taste tempter in small amounts.

So - the only safe bagged foods for IR and PPID horses is a short, short list: ODTB cubes; Nuzu Stabul 1 pellets; Triple Crown Safe Starch Forage (NOT TC Safe Starch pelleted).  And that's it.  You can also use rinsed/soaked/rinsed beet pulp, and soy hull pellets.  There is no point in buying any kind of other bagged feeds, no matter what the label says, if there isn't a guarantee of ESC and starch levels.

Wait!  I told a lie (but not on purpose).  I just looked at the LMF website, and if you want to use the Low NSC Complete, that is also a safe feed, and actually looks pretty good:  http://lmffeeds.com/products/low-nsc-complete/
 
It is also a complete food, and so like the hay cubes and Stabul 1 you would only need to add vitamin E, salt and flax.  You can then feed the soaked hay as something for chew time, especially if you have it in a small mesh hay net.

Just a reminder for the blood work: non-fasting; spun, separated and frozen asap.  More info here:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Blood%20Testing%20for%20IR%20%26%20Cushings%20Disease/

And if you ever need to look up feed values, there are some in the files here:


https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EquineCushings/files/Analyses%20of%20Various%20Feeds/

Tough to give a short answer to your original question about whether to give more hay or more Low NSC Complete without more information.  Age, tooth condition, weight etc.  Do you have a case history on the Missies?




 





Is it better for her to have more of the soaked/rinsed hay, and less of the LMF Low Carb Complete?  Or more of the Low Carb Complete and less of the soaked hay?  

Thanks for any help,

Lisa and Missy the Pony

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