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My opinion is that feeding a 50/50 hay (half alfalfa, half bermuda);
plus barley and corn does give you a good diet---and in my opinion, no
need for additional suppements, except possibly for probiotics and
biotin. I don't feed supplements to my own horses (except for the two
above, and even that not religiously) and having analyzed their rations
to death, all of their nutritional needs are being well-met without
being excessive.
I happen to prefer barley over oats, and see no reason why you should
make a big effort or expenditure to go find oats just because the label
says so. Barley and oats are actually very similar in their nutritional
makeup---barley is a little higher in energy, without being higher in
protein, and barley's mineral balance is a little better than oats.
Corn is higher in energy and lower in protein, but deficient in several
minerals and quite high in phosphorus, so you're better off balancing it
with barley. Oats get recommended alot of the time because their fiber
content is higher, so the risk of grain colic is slightly less. It's a
minor point in horses that are well-exercised and intelligently managed.
Both Dynamite and ABC come from very reputable firms and the quality is
excellent, and if you feed the supplement, I would feel very confident
that in following the recommendations, your horse is getting excellent
nutrition. However, the manufacturers are also out to make a living and
sell their product. Last I checked, no one at the feed mill was losing
sleep over whether or not I was going to be able to afford gas to get to
a ride, they just want me to buy their Dynamite---and at least they're
reputable enough to give me decent value if I do---but that doesn't
change the fact that 99% of all the fancy-shmancy supplements out there
on the market are unnecessary, given good basic nutrition. While
feeding supplements is a sort of shotgun approach to making sure your
horse is Getting Everything, it is also very possible and not very hard
either, to feed a good, balanced nutrition ration without ever opening a
bucket of extras. Also a lot cheaper.
If you're going to feed supplements, do so for a specific reason, not
just because a label tells you to. To some extent, relying on a
supplment manufacturer to tell you what entails good nutrition is kinda
like asking a used car salesman "should I buy this car?"
>
> What would a diet of 50/50 hay, barley/corn, and rice bran give me?
Alot of phosphorus. Everyone has heard me yammer on before about rice
bran and if you haven't, it's in the archives. The only glimmer of
light I see on the horizon for rice bran is Equi-Jewel, which is now
being manufactured with a balanced calcium-phosphorus ratio. It's a
step in the right direction, but I think excessive calcium and
phosphorus is still far less than optimal, whether the ratio is correct
or not. In my opinion, if your horse still needs energy on a hay and
grain diet, you're much better off adding corn oil, not rice bran. And
again, much cheaper.
>
> Should I add a supplement (any good cheap ones out there that fit the
> bill?)
>
> I just hate to shell out bucks for supplements that I could be using for
> ride entries!
You just said it in a nutshell. Forget the supplements and feed a good
quality grass hay with a bit of decent-quality alfalfa with some barley
and corn and go ride your brains out. As I said above, unless you have
a SPECIFIC reason for feeding extra supplementation, most of the
expensive supplement is going to end up in an expensive pee-puddle. The
only supplments I ever recommend for most horses is probiotics and 15 mg
biotin per day.
Hope this helps.
Susan Evans Garlinghouse
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