Equi Jewel

[Horsemad]

I am just wondering wether or not to feed my horse equi jewel or not. He is 6 yo and I have had for about 3 months he is slowly putting on muscle and is slowly gaining weight. Not sure wether to feed him this or just let it happen naturally.Please tell me about your experiences with this product. Thanks Horsemad:)

[rhi]

What are you feeding at the moment?

[Stardust]

Horsemad, highly recommend Equijewel. Any underweight horses that come here go onto Equijewel as a matter of course. A dipper of good lucerne chaff, a dipper of oaten chaff, a cup of black sunflower seeds, the directed amount of Equijewel, and Equilibrium (twice a day) plus shedded or grassy lucerne hay as required. Within two to three months the Equijewel will have to reduced or removed altogether as they tend to get quite tubby :) Our two picky/difficult to keep horses stay on Equijewel as maintenance.

[Kristyn Casey]

Hi Horsemad,

I have used EquiJewel quite successfully, but only use about 500g of it as it is a 'cool' energy based oil feed. It provides the fat content to add weight but also energy content. If you are worried about your horse becoming excitable then I suggest keeping him off lucerne hay and only on a grassy, barley or rhodes grass hay as they are high in fibre and low in carbohydrate sugars (which can cause laminitis). I suggest getting professional help from a feed company, they have websites with diet forms that you can send to get an idea on what you should be feeding.

I actually recomment Pryde's Easifeeds as they are more economical and Ron Major the Qld Rep is fantastic. He normally recommends EasiResponse for underweight horses as it puts on weight quickly without an excess of energy, plus it is in a cube shape therefore forcing the horse to chew more which in turn increases digestibility.

Also remember to keep your work load ahead of your feed levels otherwise you will have energy you won't know what to do with. If your horse is in light work he should be getting 1.75 - 2% of his body weight in feed each day. If he is 500kg that is 10kg per day. If you weigh your feed and hay then you will get an idea of what your horse should be getting. Keep it simple and you won't have problems. My horse is on barley hay (he doesn't eat the grassy) and 2 kg of EasiSport, 60ml of the Pryde's Oil and is in light work. He is in perfect condition and is 21 years old and has energy to perform.

You don't need more ingredients in your feed than you have in your pantry. Keep it simple and get some Professional advice from people who actually are paid to give this type of advice. I contacted Pryde's and have never been happier with my horse and his diet. Good luck!

[Horsemad]

he is getting 1 1/2 lucerne chaff 1 1/2 oaten chaff 1/4 copra 1/4 barastoc calm performer. 2 tblespns dolomite 1 tblespns garlic.:)

[Kristyn Casey]

Hi Horsemad,

I would watch the dolomite as research has shown that it can bing in the gut and cause colic and be careful of the garlic in high performance horses as again some research has shown that it increases the size of the red blood cells therefore reducing the amount of oxygen the horse receives in it's circulation. I will see if I can find these articles for you and the one on copra too. I know a lot of people swear by copra but there has been some research that it is not all that it is cracked up to be.

Regards,

[Stardust]

I have had serious health issues with a horse that was fed copra heavily before he came to us, so personally I would never feed it. Re dolomite, if you feed Equilibrium the calcium is in balance within the formula so there would be no need to feed extra unless you are on oxalate pasture, where you then feed double Equilibrium.

We did feed an all natural diet for a number of years but for various reasons are now back to commercial feeds, with 9 very healthy happy horses, 6 of them are 17 to 20 years old. One 19yr old being fed Equijewel is competing Prix St Georges and is in the best weight and fitness ever and mentally the most stable and happy he has ever been.

[Peachy]

Hi,
I totally recommend Equijewel as a product which will put weight on a horse. It's never failed for me & doesn't affect most horses negatively. That said, it certainly has a heating effect on the occasional horse including my current horse, Wendall. The thing with Equijewel is that yes it is expensive but you only need to feed a small amount per day.
Cheers
Peachy

[Marisa]

I found the Equijewel made my TB quite hot as did any other processed rice bran product eg Coprice etc. He's perfectly fine on plain rice bran though. I found the plain rice bran to be more effective and cost efficient than Equijewel if you can still get some.

Personally if I was you I would increase the amount of Calm Performer you are feeding. You don't say how big your horse is or what kind of work he's in but I bet the directions on the bag of CP say to feed your horse more than 1/4 dipper of it per day. If you're only feeding that small amount and not supplementing with a vitamin/mineral mix his diet will be lacking in these things. I would slowly increase the CP to the amount recommended on the bag for your horses size and work load and see how he goes. If after a month or so he still needs lots more conditioning then look at adding something like rice bran or Equijewel. Also ensure the normal things like teeth, worming etc are covered too.

[Horsemad]

he is about 15.3 hh and does works mostly everyday he does dressgae,jumping,pony club.