Ridecamp: [RC] anything essential missing from grass? AKA, how to deal with barn manager?

Hi everybody.  

I am hoping that someone out there can at least ease my mind.  I have a yearling Kiger filly, who I think could subsist on air alone if she had to.  Unfortunately, the barn manager has always known Thoroughbreds, and insists on feeding my little mustang like a TB.  This means one "ration" (about 3.5 pounds) of generic sweet feed twice a day.  Needless to say, Sombre has blown up like a balloon since the grass turned green.  She is out 24 hrs a day in a HUGE pasture with 8 other horses, with unbeatable trail access, and close to my house, so I really can't move her to another barn.  The problem is that every time I ask the barn manager to reduce her grain, she gives me the "I don't like it, but she's your horse" speech and reduces the grain, but within a week she's back up to where she started.  

I have finally convinced her to not feed Sombre any grain at all.  I truly believe that she will get plenty of calories from the pasture, but I am concerned about essential nutrients or vitamins that the grass alone may not provide.  For example, I know the east coast is notorious for being low in selenium.  (We live in central Maryland).  

So my question is this.  Is anything essential to a growing yearling missing from a 100% grass diet?  If so, can somebody recommend a good supplement that will provide the missing essentials, without adding calories?  Also, since our barn-manager-problem is guaranteed to repeat itself when fall comes around and the grass isn't so rich, can anybody suggest a way to deal with the barn manager so that she will listen to me and my instructions on how much to feed?

I really appreciate any thoughts on these issues.  I'm so stressed about it that I'm actually dreaming about grass and sweet feed at night.

Thanks a ton,

Cristin


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