I recently purchased a 5 year old Clydesdale mare. She is 16.2HH/16.3HH, about 1400/1500lbs. I was wondering if you could tell me what brand and type of feed would be best for my horse. I intend to use her for lower level dressage and lots of trail riding. She is currently getting 3lbs of Purina Strategy, 2x/day with free choice excellent quality grass hay. I would like to switch her to a grain of better quality with more fat. I live on the island of Martha's Vineyard, so I am a bit limited as to feed availability. There are two grain stores out here, one sells Purina, the other Blue Seal and Triple Crown. I have already eliminated the Triple Crown as it has preservatives in it, and I have heard rumors that Purina uses pesticides as it's preservative. So I'd rather stay away from that product line too. Although, I was looking at a product they sell called Ultium. I guess that leaves Blue Seal, which has a product called Vintage Victory. The specs for this feed seemed appropriate, but there was not much grain diversity in the ingredients. Any advice you can give me about how much grain and what kind would be great.
Thanks,
Angela

It is better if you stay away from grain. I would get on here and read about the diets and what feed is the best choice.
I know Dr. Beth would suggest you use a high fat pelleted feed. Blue Seal is a good feed but choose the one highest in fat. and definitely add some extra oil. I get soy oil at Sam's in the 35 lb jug. It is the cheapest way to go. Personally I don't use anything but alfalfa pellets or tim/alalfa cubes with oil and supplements. I have a Belgian mare that does great on this.

Thanks for the response Becki. I will indeed put her on some oil and slowly start to change her over to a Blue Seal Product. I would like to keep her on her hay as she loves it, but would be willing to give her alfalfa cubes as well. Any idea about how much feed and alfalfa for her breed, age, and size?

Also on another note, my girl spiked a fever of 105.5 this morning. Got my vet out right away, she gave her injections of Banamine and Penicillin. Then I gave her 2g of Bute as her feet started to get a little warm. The fever has since gone down, but I know we have not gotten to root of the problem yet. Her blood test was positive for Lyme Disease and her red cell count is at 21. The Lyme thing is very odd as it is too cold up here (MA) for ticks right now and she was just shipped up from VA on the 13th and they really don't have Lyme problem down there. We do indeed have a very serious tick problem where we live, but she has not been symptomatic at all. My TB has chronic Lyme, so it is something that I am quite familiar with. She has shown no signs, great work attitude, no stiffness, great appetite, very happy girl until last night when she was a little logy.....but nothing too out of the ordinary until this AM. My vet is sending the test off to Cornell for more specific info and an ehrlichia check. Any input about this funky flu like thing would be great. The Lyme thing has me stumped. Also she has no cough or runny nose.
Thanks,
Angela

Who said they don't have a Lyme disease problem in VA? My friend got Lyme when she lived there a few years back. Most of that whole region has a problem with Lyme. I am from Tennessee and we have it here. so I would think She could have gotten it there before you bought her. But isn't it possible to test positive for Lyme and not actually have the symptoms?I think it is. But Dr. Beth will know that.
My yearling last year had a similar thing happen about this time of year. She spiked a temp of 105 and was very sick with warm feet and all too. I started her on red cell, vitamin c and Tucuprin. It took aweek or so for her to pull out of it. But she finally did. I hope your girl doesn't have that funky flu thing either.
And as far as the feed. Keep her on that good grass hay. and you can add the cubes with that too. Gradually add the oil about 1/4 C. for the first couple weeks and then work up to a 1 cup /1,000 lbs. If she starts getting chunky cut back a little on the feed. I would gradually start her on the new feed to get her use to it. Read the bag about basically how much to give her. I don't know if she tends to be an easy keeper like most Drafts or not, but you will just have to see how she does. I wouldn't do anything too drastic now while she is
sick. Get on the search part of the message board and look up all you can on Blue Seal, oil and whatever else you want to know. Lot's of great info- Good Luck.becki

Thanks to all for the great responses while I was out of town! Blue Seal makes a Hay Stretcher pellet that is hay based and very low in starch and sugar. It would be good to add oil to. This product does not have added fat, though, and so you'd want to aim for about 2 cups oil per 1000 lbs of horse per day. If she gains to much weight I agree that you could try less fat, although I'd try not to cut it down too much. Right now, though, you definitely want to get on top of whatever is causing the fever. Having just been shipped I am most suspicious of a "bug," either viral or bacterial, that she picked up along the way. As to Lyme Disease, a lot of horses will test positively but that doesn't mean they are infected, just that they've been exposed. Of course, if the horse also has signs that could be Lyme Disease it is worth treating, but always bearing in mind that it might be something else. I hope this helps, and do let us know how things go.

Update on Henny Penny. First let me say that I didn't know how fast you could fall in love with a draft horse. This mare is amazing. She came from VA and was out in a huge herd on acres and acres and although green broke was not accustomed to being handled much. Well, not only did she take to stall life at night, but in the last four days she has taken a thermometer up the bum about every three hours (day and night). Her fever finally broke, but she was dosed with banamine every 4-6 hours, 2G Bute every 8-12 hours, oral and powdered probiotics, Tribissen (oral) as she had diarrhea, now Doxy pills as the diarrhea has cleared up, also 2oz Red Cell, 2x day syringed orally (her RBC was only 21). All this, no halter and still comes to me in the paddock, and she has (had) tons of get up and go. So light and airy, sort of moves like a Friesian w/o all the knee action.
Now though, she seems more down in the dumps than ever. She had more of an appetite when her fever was high. She has almost no interest in hay, and I offered 4 different types (less rich) since I saw her eating my picky TB's old musty dirty hay leftover in the corner of the paddock. She is eating her grain some, albeit very slowly and not finishing it. Drinking a tiny bit, usually only after she eats a few strands of hay. I know I should not do dietary changes now of all times, but her strength is diminishing. I just added a sprinkle of Platinum Performance and Adaptogenesis in the handful of Triple Crown Complete she gets her pills in (only thing she'll eat in it's entirety) Does not really want her Strategy even though I've cut her back to 1/2 - 3/4 lb per meal. I feel like she must need some fat to regain her stamina. Tonight on a whim I gave her 1/2C alfalfa pellets and 1/4 C corn oil @ 8:30 PM after I went to the barn and saw a droopy horse with no poop or pee in her stall. She downed the mix, then immediately drank several long gulps of water. She already had goods gut sounds (all four) and no heat in the feet, temp @ 100.9. Right now she is on 60 pills Doxy/2x day, Fast Track live probiotic 4 mL in the AM,
E Biotic 2x/day in her feed, 2oz red Cell 2x/day (syringed orally). Any ideas? Should I keep up the oil, was that completely unwise? Oh, and we think it's ehrlichia (test results mon or tues), and we didn't think VA had a tick problem because the vet that did her coggins said that they don't really tests for those things down there. Hmmmmm. Sounds funny.

Wow - quite the ordeal for both of you! You definitely need to keep working with your veterinarian here. Being on antibiotics can be tough, so you are right to be careful about diet. The alfalfa pellets should be good for her - she definitely needs plenty of fiber in her diet to keep her intestinal "bugs" happy. A half a cup of oil per day shouldn't be a problem either, and might help give her energy. I'd stick to 1/2 cup for now, though, until she's eating more hay. Good luck, and definitely keep us updated.

Well the word is finally in. Ehrlichia and Lyme. Her Lyme titer is 371. My vet thinks she's had it for awhile (RBC @ 21), then got the Ehrlichia here in MA and couldn't fight it off due to the Lyme wreaking havoc on her immune system. After asking around at some other barns in our area I heard there have been a few cases of Ehrlichia from Dec onward (usually it's a spring illness). The Doxy bought her fever down fast, but now we are fighting bad diarrhea (she tested negative for parasites). The current plan is to take her off the Doxy for a few days to try and firm up her bowels and get her eating again. Then we would try the Doxy once a day until her GI tract settles down to where she could handle it 2x again. These damn ticks just keep getting stronger. She is licking her salt block like crazy and drinking tons of water, her appetite has improved some, as we took her off the Doxy last night. She is getting probiotics still, although they must just pass right through her. Currently she is getting 1/2 lb strategy, 1/2C Triple Crown Complete, and 3/4C alfalfa pellets, 1/4C corn oil and her Platinum and Adapto per meal. I suggested adding beet pulp, which my vet said to try, but only 1/4C heavily soaked. I think I'm gonna back off the oil for now as it doesn't seem like there is much absorption going on. Any ideas about how to get a sick horse to eat more fiber that won't upset her tummy?

I absolutely agree with the idea to back off the oil and the Doxycycline. Go for only 1/4 cup oil per day or even less until her diarrhea is under control. In most cases of equine diarrhea it is a large intestinal issue, and fortunately oil is digested and absorbed in the small intestine. Better to be on the safe side, though. The beet pulp will be a good source of fiber that shouldn't upset her digestive tract. Again, good luck with this!

Yikes Angela... what a time you have had. So sorry for you and your girl. I sure hope things start looking up. Aren't the Drafts the best?? becki

Well Henny seems to be ever so slowly improving. We just had to put her on Flagyl to help with the diarrhea. She was not really pulling it together quickly enough on her own, even after she went off the Doxycycline. The probiotics didn't really seem to help much, but I am also working with another vet (along with my local vet) who just suggested Platinum Performance Biosponge. This vet sort of combines eastern and western medicine, so she's coming to do some acupuncture on her Saturday. My local vet said that she thought that might really help Henny out. I am just so worried about all of those toxins she has been building up. I feel like Laminitis is always lurking just around the bend.
We just pulled some more blood from her yesterday to check her protein and CBCs. She looks much better and has a great appetite ever since going off the Doxy. I've heard about another drug called oxten or maybe oxtent (sp?). There seems to be some conflicting reports as to if can cause GI upset or actually be the antibiotic of choice as it does not upset the GI tract. Anyone ever had any experience with it?
So all in all though she does appear to be on the mend. She is just the kindest horse I have ever met...and yes indeed Becki, Drafts are the best (with a little thoroughbred on the side of course to keep things interesting). Thanks for the advice and support.

Of course! My Thoroughbred cross dazzles me with the best of 2 worlds...