Feed Routine for Imperial Coffee: Aiming for a heathier happier tummy

Feed Routine for Imperial Coffee

2014 - 2015: So many routines and feeds changed and tired though the last year: Making a change and think your doing the best but a slight improvement soon turns sour again and behavioural issues continued. Clean slate starting from scratch plus the Sea Salt update to follow ​

August 2015: So we are onto the next feed trial with Red Rufus /Agrobs Pre Alpin horse feeds/UK

Facebook Feed review We have moved over to Pre Alpin Wiesencobs (Meadow Cobs), Pre Alpin Aspero and Alpengrun Musli (Alpine Forage Muesli)... We have sampled these feeds and the horses loved all the samples posted out to us, thanks to the generosity of Red Rufus.

Pre Alpin Wiesencobs Hay cube blend of more than 60 meadow grasses and herbs from the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. 100% natural high fibre cube - no additives, preservatives, binders or fillers! Perfect basic feed for all horses - the careful production method preserves the integrity of the grasses and herbs thus retaining 86% of the nutrient value and therefore providing your horse with a totally naturual product that is highly nutritious and low in sugar and starch

Protein 9.9% Oil 2.4% Fibre 27% Digestible Energy 7.87mj/kg Sugar 7.2% Starch 1%. 

Pre Alpin Aspero A heavenly blend of 60 grasses and herbs from the foothills of the Bavarian Alps lightly sprayed with cold pressed linseed (2% added) a free flow chop/chaff.  100% pure and natural - Agrobs never use preservatives, additives , binders or fillers in their feed

Protein 8.3% Oil 3% Digestible energy 8.38 mj/kg Sugar 6.3% Starch <0.01%

Alpengrun Musli Highly nutritious - packed with vitamins. minerals and anti-oxidants for your horses health and vitality. The base is Agrobs 60 grasses and herbs from the foothills of the Bavarian Alps with the addition of the following ingredients: Parsnip, carrot and beetroot which deliver highly digestible fibre, organically bonded minerals and vitamins as well as secondary plant nutrients. Sunflower seeds, linseed and black cumin pellets aid digestion and provides essential fatty acids. Vitamin rich apple pulp with its pectin content supports your horses intestinal flora. Marigold and cornflower blossoms, rose hips, raspberry and blackberry leaves for added vitamins and nutrients. All these 100% pure and natural ingredients make up a very unique and complete feed!

Protein 9.78% Oil 5.9% Digestible Energy 9.8mj/kg Sugar 7.9% Starch 1.8%

Our standard round scoop weighs 520gms​

July 2015 

We moved on to Emerald Green Feeds Grass Pellets a natural high value feed.  By cutting the grass during its optimum stage of growth & flash drying at a high temperature we are able to lock in all the vitamins & minerals essential to your horses health & well being

Protein % 16 Fibre % 25 Oil % 4 Digestible Energy mj/kg 11 Sugar % 10.4 

All seemed to be going well but still very very itchy so the Chaff was taken out of the routine and the lesser protein combination seems to have resulted in a less itchy behaviour by the end of July​

June / July 2015 

We tried Thunderbrook Equestrian Base Mix and Healthy Herb Chaff 

Whilst continuing to supplement with Equine Science Stomach Function and Calmer Supplement 

Adding A Desert Spoon of Sea Salt Am and Pm

The Healthy Herby Chaff is a very palatable late cut meadow grass, dried and chopped, with added herbs and a light coating of quality linseed oil. Naturally high fibre and low sugar, yet still smells and tastes great No molasses! No preservatives No Soya No chemical processing with caustic soda to soften the chaff. No added waste byproduct fibre. Dehydrated grass, linseed oil, chamomile flowers and leaves dried, lemon balm dried, mint leaves dried.

Protein 13%

The Base Mix is a concentrated balanced base feed. Ideal for all horses of all disciplines. Contains the essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, nucleic acids, natural vitamins, minerals, over 100 anti-oxidants, metabolic cofactors and other micro-nutrients in a form both bioavailable and clean. Contains no wheat, wheatfeed, oatfeed, soya, legumes, sugar beet, molasses, alfalfa, soya oil, corn oil, mixed vegetable oil or waste by-products from human oat or wheat food milling and production. Superior Ratio of beneficial omega-3 polyunsaturates Added prebiotics, probiotics, fruits, herbs and botanicals

Oil (24%), Protein (22%), Starch (10%), Sugar (2.8%), Fibre (5.75%), DE=15.5MJ/kg

We struggled with feeding the Base Mix. Its great you only need to feed a small amount. It is fully packed with lots of goodness and nothing else is needed but it's a very fine powder like feed so if dry one snorting breath and the feed is lost on the floor. Too much water and the textures is like old dough and not very appealing. It was difficult to feed supplements as there was so little to mix with. Unfortunately I saw a weight gain not a weight loss on the lower limit of 250g fed. There was improvement with footiness and it seemed to be helping with the tummy issues.

So we had to go back onto a small amount of Fast Fibre to allow the supplements to mix

The Herby Chaff was a big hit but if It was too wet mixed with the Base Mix Imperial Coffee left some of his dinner. With the supplements mixed into such a small feed I couldn't afford for any to be left