# Pasture Mix!



## MontyAndMollyy (6 February 2011)

I'm thinking of feeding Dodson and Horrell pasture mix to my horse who is in medium work.
The website makes it sound very appealing but I was just wondering how people feeding it have found it? And is there a "better" pasture mix that anyone would advise? Thanks


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## horsey mad matt (6 February 2011)

i love it and so do they, i think its a great low cal mix. i feed it to my boy who is in light work and it's great!!! it's got sprearmint and carrots init as well.


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## Firewell (6 February 2011)

I've fed pasture mix in the past and have always found it to be good for my TB types in medium work. Current Tb has been fed pasture cubes, which are the same as mix but are oats and barley free and slightly cheaper then the mix! They are fab, I would always feed the cubes over the mix but both are a good feed. You also do not need to feed much to get the quota of vits and mins, just a scoop morning and night 
Horses have gone round Badders on pasture cubes and mix


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## TGM (7 February 2011)

I think much depends on what you want your horse's feed to 'do' for him, and what feed you are changing from.

Whilst lots of horses are fine on D&H Pasture Mix, it is cereal-based so if you have an excitable horse and are changing from a fibre-based low starch feed you might find it hypes him up to much.  On the other hand, if you have a laid-back type you might appreciate that sparkle!

It is also what I class as a 'medium calorie' feed at 10 MJDE/kg - so if your horse is a poor doer it is possible that you may want to choose one with a higher calorie content.  Likewise, if he tends to porkiness you may want to feed something lower calorie or go for a low calorie balancer instead.

So it all depends on your horse's individual needs really!  What suits one horse won't suit another!


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## Footlights (7 February 2011)

I feed my cob D&H pasture mix and he is very excitable, when I started feeding it I didn't notice him hot up anymore than usual! Although saying that he only has 1 scoop a day.

He loves the stuff and it has helped him keep weight on over the winter.


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## stroppy (7 February 2011)

it sends my 18yo connie cross off his nut, and almost unrideable!


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## horseyman (7 February 2011)

TGM said:



			I think much depends on what you want your horse's feed to 'do' for him, and what feed you are changing from.

Whilst lots of horses are fine on D&H Pasture Mix, it is cereal-based so if you have an excitable horse and are changing from a fibre-based low starch feed you might find it hypes him up to much.  On the other hand, if you have a laid-back type you might appreciate that sparkle!

It is also what I class as a 'medium calorie' feed at 10 MJDE/kg - so if your horse is a poor doer it is possible that you may want to choose one with a higher calorie content.  Likewise, if he tends to porkiness you may want to feed something lower calorie or go for a low calorie balancer instead.

So it all depends on your horse's individual needs really!  What suits one horse won't suit another!
		
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Pasture Mix, is in fact, a low starch, high fibre feed. The cereal inclusion is moderate; cereals are misunderstood, grass seed is classed as a cereal!
10MJ/KG is low, and the calories come from fibre, and in fact for a leisure feed it is quite high in oil, 4%, another good form of slow release energy.
10 MJ/KG is a fine calorie content for weight gain, it just depends on the amount that you feed!


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## SmartieBean09 (7 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			Pasture Mix, is in fact, a low starch, high fibre feed. The cereal inclusion is moderate; cereals are misunderstood, grass seed is classed as a cereal!
10MJ/KG is low, and the calories come from fibre, and in fact for a leisure feed it is quite high in oil, 4%, another good form of slow release energy.
10 MJ/KG is a fine calorie content for weight gain, it just depends on the amount that you feed!
		
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I contacted Dodson and Horrell back in June and they advised me that their Pasture Mix is 22% starch which I would class as quite high for a leisure feed.


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## horseyman (7 February 2011)

SmartieBean09 said:



			I contacted Dodson and Horrell back in June and they advised me that their Pasture Mix is 22% starch which I would class as quite high for a leisure feed.
		
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Not really. What is high starch then exactly? It used to be that it was believed anything below 25% starch was low. Now most companies are not allowed to claim simply 'low starch', it must be something like, 'lower in starch than your traditional leisure feed.' You normally find these claims behind the scenes, and then just 'low starch' labelled on the bag.
However, anything below 25% is generally classed as low.


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## SmartieBean09 (7 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			Not really. What is high starch then exactly? It used to be that it was believed anything below 25% starch was low. Now most companies are not allowed to claim simply 'low starch', it must be something like, 'lower in starch than your traditional leisure feed.' You normally find these claims behind the scenes, and then just 'low starch' labelled on the bag.
However, anything below 25% is generally classed as low.
		
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This may be the case.  As I said, 22% is something that "I would class as quite high for a leisure feed"

In this case, the OP suggests that their horse is in medium work which this type of feed would probably suit well if their horse is not starch intolerant.  However, as a leisure feed (and most leisure horses do not need to be fed) I believe that 22% starch is high.


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## horseyman (7 February 2011)

SmartieBean09 said:



			This may be the case.  As I said, 22% is something that "I would class as quite high for a leisure feed"

In this case, the OP suggests that their horse is in medium work which this type of feed would probably suit well if their horse is not starch intolerant.  However, as a leisure feed (and most leisure horses do not need to be fed) I believe that 22% starch is high.
		
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"Most Leisure horses do not need to be fed" Indeed, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Even if 'leisure horses' do not need to be fed for weight, energy or protein. ALL horses need to be fed to replace the essential vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients and amino acids that are not available to the horse.
Unless being able to roam and graze the Asian steps, where they can pick and choose through the different soil types for the above, we as horse keepers have to replace these through meal feeding.


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## SmartieBean09 (7 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			"Most Leisure horses do not need to be fed" Indeed, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Even if 'leisure horses' do not need to be fed for weight, energy or protein. ALL horses need to be fed to replace the essential vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients and amino acids that are not available to the horse.
Unless being able to roam and graze the Asian steps, where they can pick and choose through the different soil types for the above, we as horse keepers have to replace these through meal feeding.
		
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Oh of course.  I am simply stating that most leisure horses do not need to be fed a course mix of 10 mj/kg and 22% starch but yes the diet should be supplemented to provide vits/mins missing from their diet.

Look, you are obviously very knowledgeable and I am not trying to get into a battle over equine nutrition.  I just wanted to state my opinion on the starch level of pasture mix.


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## Laafet (7 February 2011)

Most leisure horses are overfed and that is a fact, when I worked in racing the racehorses that were running were fed on Pasture Mix - so figure that one out! My own horse is unmanageable on it so he is on a balancer and Hifi and if he needs more energy gets Equijewel.


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## horseyman (7 February 2011)

SmartieBean09 said:



			Oh of course.  I am simply stating that most leisure horses do not need to be fed a course mix of 10 mj/kg and 22% starch but yes the diet should be supplemented to provide vits/mins missing from their diet.

Look, you are obviously very knowledgeable and I am not trying to get into a battle over equine nutrition.  I just wanted to state my opinion on the starch level of pasture mix. 

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Not trying to get into an argument! Sorry if came across a little know it all! In fact, I have only recently chose to further educate myself after reading and hearing so many different things!!!


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## SmartieBean09 (7 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			Not trying to get into an argument! Sorry if came across a little know it all! In fact, I have only recently chose to further educate myself after reading and hearing so many different things!!!
		
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Phew!   I do have an interest in the wonderful world of equine nutrition too but find it so contradictory (sp) and thus confusing!!!  Best thing is not to read and remember how simple it all was when we were younger!


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## Toffee44 (7 February 2011)

Toffee used to bounce off the walls and I equally ended up bouncing off the floor frequently when she had this. I also felt that it was coated in something, like an oil but this was 7 years ago now. x


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## SO1 (7 February 2011)

i feed my pony slim and healthy and that has 10% starch so I would say that is low starch, i think 22% is probably medium starch!

pasture mix sent my friends cob round the bend - she had been feeding D&H competition mix and had no problem but the pasture mix caused problems for some reason.



horseyman said:



			Not really. What is high starch then exactly? It used to be that it was believed anything below 25% starch was low. Now most companies are not allowed to claim simply 'low starch', it must be something like, 'lower in starch than your traditional leisure feed.' You normally find these claims behind the scenes, and then just 'low starch' labelled on the bag.
However, anything below 25% is generally classed as low.
		
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## SO1 (7 February 2011)

i don't think this is true, YO has two shetlands and they eat grass and hay and no extra vitamins or fancy stuff and they are thriving. also there are two cobs on our yard fed only grass and hay and they again have shiny coats and are in good health, never needed the vet or anything like that.



horseyman said:



			"Most Leisure horses do not need to be fed" Indeed, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Even if 'leisure horses' do not need to be fed for weight, energy or protein. ALL horses need to be fed to replace the essential vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients and amino acids that are not available to the horse.
Unless being able to roam and graze the Asian steps, where they can pick and choose through the different soil types for the above, we as horse keepers have to replace these through meal feeding.
		
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## Kallibear (7 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			"Most Leisure horses do not need to be fed" Indeed, in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Even if 'leisure horses' do not need to be fed for weight, energy or protein. ALL horses need to be fed to replace the essential vitamins, minerals, micro-nutrients and amino acids that are not available to the horse.
Unless being able to roam and graze the Asian steps, where they can pick and choose through the different soil types for the above, we as horse keepers have to replace these through meal feeding.
		
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My horses would love to come and live with you!

Most good doers would explode, or die from lami, if you fed the manufacturers reccomended amounts of a hard feed, to ensure all their vits and minerals. Even the low calorie feeds have a far too high reccomeneded amount for most horses and ponies.

Whilst the need to supplement is arguable, you certainly do not have to feed them 'meal (guessing your from the US?) to acheive it: there are plenty of powered supplements avalible.

As for the OP's question: it sent one of mine mad and I know a couple of others who can't eat it either.


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## AngieandBen (8 February 2011)

Never feed my 12.33hh pony anything other than grass, sometimes gets hay if he comes in, he's 18, enver had a vet out, never been lame, and has the energy of the Duracell Bunny, he was a gymkhana pony before my daughter outgrew him. 

Depends on what you want from your horse, my other pony who is 20 gets a balancer, without it he doesn't have much energy, he's 14.1hh and at the right weight.


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## TGM (8 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			Pasture Mix, is in fact, a low starch, high fibre feed. The cereal inclusion is moderate; cereals are misunderstood, grass seed is classed as a cereal!
10MJ/KG is low, and the calories come from fibre, and in fact for a leisure feed it is quite high in oil, 4%, another good form of slow release energy.
10 MJ/KG is a fine calorie content for weight gain, it just depends on the amount that you feed!
		
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The point is that you CAN get lower starch and lower calorie feeds IF that is what suits this particular horse.  (An example would be Spiller's High Fibre Cubes at 10% starch, 8.4 MJDE/kg).  On the other hand, you can get higher calorie feeds if necessary - most conditioning cubes/mixes being in the region of 12-13 MJDE/kg.  Yes, you could just feed more of the pasture mix, but some animals are put off by big feeds, and not everyone can feed three times a day, so calorie-rich feeds are a good option for a poor doer.

I'm not saying that the pasture mix is not right for this horse - just giving the owners some ideas of the options she has available to her!


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## TGM (8 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			Not really. What is high starch then exactly? It used to be that it was believed anything below 25% starch was low. Now most companies are not allowed to claim simply 'low starch', it must be something like, 'lower in starch than your traditional leisure feed.' You normally find these claims behind the scenes, and then just 'low starch' labelled on the bag.
However, anything below 25% is generally classed as low.
		
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This is exactly why I think it would be better for manufacturers to just state the starch percentage rather than labelling feeds 'low starch'!


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## horseyman (8 February 2011)

TGM said:



			This is exactly why I think it would be better for manufacturers to just state the starch percentage rather than labelling feeds 'low starch'!
		
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Yes but then if they did that the whole marketing ploy would be thrown out of the window. The sad thing is that in order for some feed companies to get a foot in the feed market they have to employ certain tactics. Special marketing and scare tactics like: "Starch is bad" "Molasses/Sugar is bad" "cereals are bad" Next they will be telling us that Dr. Green is bad!


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## TGM (8 February 2011)

horseyman said:



			Yes but then if they did that the whole marketing ploy would be thrown out of the window. The sad thing is that in order for some feed companies to get a foot in the feed market they have to employ certain tactics. Special marketing and scare tactics like: "Starch is bad" "Molasses/Sugar is bad" "cereals are bad" Next they will be telling us that Dr. Green is bad!
		
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Agree with you totally about feed marketing!

As for your last sentence, I think the barefoot brigade are already telling us that Dr. Green is bad!


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## Blaise (8 February 2011)

Don't wish to get into a debate over feeds and nutrition as i dont know enough about this minefield of a subject. All i can add is i was feeding my 4 year old 3/4 TB on pasture mix and it sent her through the roof. Had previously been on leisure mix but felt she needed a bit more energy as her workload was increasing. It didnt seem to give her any more workable energy as such, just started being silly which is highly unlike her! Took her off and switched onto high fibre nuts and she's back to her usual sensible self again now. Have lessened her workload over the past few weeks so the fibre nuts are enough for now but when she is back in full work again she won't be going onto pasture mix.


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