[Twisters]

Hey Everybody!

I have a 7 year old mare, she is QH/Arab and i was wondering what kind of grain to give her.

I go on lots of trail rides and I jump her. I want to give her somthing thats not too fatening and will giver her vitamins and energy. Thank You!

P.S. she is prone to have high potassium, so not alot of molasses!

[JBandRio]

With that potassium comment, are you saying she is positive for HYPP?

If you're looking for something that is not too fattening, is that to say that she's an easy keeper? If so, stay away from grain, period. She doesn't need it. And, if she's an easy keeper, you cannot safely give her enough grain to get her vites and mins from that - would be way too much grain.

Ration balancers are good for a little substance (1-2lb a day) and the vites/mins you are looking for. But whether you can give her any of those depends on her HYPP status.

[Twisters]

We thought she had HYPP for a lond time, we tested her a couple times and she always came back negitive. So, she is just prone to get high potassium and get sick.

She gets skinny easily, thats why when i work her alot i want to grain her. I have to give her phyllium every day along with 1 cup of red wheat bran - vet's orders. She get sand collic alot. Her potassium has been very stable for about 2 months now

[Little Red Dun]

She sounds like she has a pretty delicate digestion system. You might want to see if you can get your vet to come out and determine a proper feeding program for her. The vet knows her a lot better than we can and would know which grains would do well and which might endanger her health, as well as which ones would keep her the healthiest and in good flesh.

[JBandRio]

Careful with listing toooooo closely to the feeding advice of a vet who recommends wheat bran to ward off colic Not only does it not do anything for sand ingestion, it doesn't help with colic.

I believe thyroid issues can cause low blood potassium, and would also explain it being a little difficult to keep weight on her, particularly when combined with the potassium issue.

Black oil sunflower seeds contain potassium and are a healthy addition to most diets.

Without knowing really what her issues are (other than the symptom of the low potassium) it's hard to know what to recommend.

What hay do you feed her?

[Shotgun93]

Careful with listing toooooo closely to the feeding advice of a vet who recommends wheat bran to ward off colic Not only does it not do anything for sand ingestion, it doesn't help with colic.

I was going to point that out too. Bran doesn't have the same effect on horses as it does on people. The bran isn't doing anything to ward of colic.

[Twisters]

I have had 3 vets tell me to use phyllium and bran. to feed it to her dry

[Shotgun93]

The phyllium I can see, but I don't get the bran, unless it's just to keep weight on her.

As JB said, what type and how much hay is she getting?

[JBandRio]

The psyllium is fine, though even that is showing to not have as much effect on getting sand out as was once thought.

The wheat bran though is an item that has long been thought to be beneficial in keeping things moving and warding off colic. It's just not true though, and lots of recent research proves it. MANY vets still think it's a good thing to feed though. However, the 1c you're feeding isn't any harm, especially since you're feeding it daily, but by the same token, it's not doing any good either.

Forage (grass and hay) is what keeps things moving in horses. Wheat bran (or rice bran for that matter) is much too short of a fiber to have any effect in that department.

[Twisters]

She is getting grass/alfalfa mix. 2 flakes a day