Feeding

[celeste <celestem@badgermining.co.za>]

Hi All

I need some feed advice. Below is the mixture I feed to my horses, 
comprising stallions, broodmares, youngstock and some going and up and 
coming endurance horses. The mix is as follows: 77lbs hamony chop/ 110 lbs 
lucern meal/ 88 lbs sweatfeed (a molasses chaf mix)/ 220 lbs crushed corn 
and  110 lbs whole oats all mixed together. Keep in mind we do not get very 
good quality grass (no timothy etc.) here as an added roughage, I feed 
baled wild grasses (alfalfa is out of the average horse owners price range) 
and crushed corn and whole oats are EXTREMELY expensive, and considering I 
feed my endurance horse 6 lbs per day of this mix and the other horses more 
or less than this depending. Questions: (1) Is this a good mix? (all horses 
get a good quality vitamin/mineral mix and course salt) (2) Are my feeding 
quantities enough for my endurance horse? (3) If not, could I still add 
oil? or should I add oil anyway? (4) Can I add oil to the feed of two 
pensioners who no longer do any hard work to keep weight on?
We do not have endurance specific ready-mixes here in South Africa and the 
general mixes aimed at performance are high in protein (16-18%) and low in 
fat (+-2%) so I have no wish to feed those, also considering my varying 
horses I do not want to buy 10 different feeds!

Thanks in advance, I have learned so much already!!! (Especially don't pick 
on Tom or Dog lovers, hee hee)
Celeste (South Africa)
14 Horses (carrots!!!! give us carrots!!!) 15 dogs (speak for yourselves!) 
4 cats (more horsefeed, more mice!!!)


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