[Lizzy Koltai]

The horses have had the free choice minerals for about a month now. I ended up buying the Helfter Feeds A-Mix (which has Vitamins A and E), and that is by far their favorite. They will eat it by the quart! After that they go for the calcium mix and kelp, a little selenium each day, and dabble in the others. About 2 weeks in Annie had some diarrhea. I got pretty nervous, but when I called the company they said that was a normal response to detoxing, and it cleared up on its own after about 5 days.

Annie is still skinny, and terribly itchy (maybe sweet itch). We’re still working on it, and I’m still hoping to get some fat on her before winter. Tomorrow I’m going to build a mineral feeder I can move around the pasture, as I need to graze them away from the shed where I’ve had the minerals for a few weeks.

Lizzy

[Lizzy Koltai]

Thanks! This is very helpful.

About the Cu-Mix and the S-Mix from Lancaster Ag (or ABCplus.biz, they sell the same ones): I noticed that it is a mix with a lot of ingredients, including alfalfa meal and a whole host of herbs. All of these various ingredients must add a lot of flavor– how does that work with the free choice concept?

For starters, I am planning on buying:
Monocalcium Phosphate
Dicalcium Phosphate
Cu-Mix
S-Mix
Kelp Meal
Redmond Salt
White Salt
SE Top Choice Mix (to be given as limited daily ration to the horse not getting the ration balancer)

Compared to Erika’s program, I think I’m still missing the biotin. Also, there is some Vitamin E in the SE Top Choice Mix, but it is not included in the guaranteed analysis. So I still need to figure out if and how to fill these gaps.

I added the redmond salt because it will provide another source of trace minerals in addition to the Kelp. This isn’t scientific, but it’s only $12 for 50# and I’ve heard conflicting arguments about relying on Kelp for trace minerals because of the excess iodine that I figured it wouldn’t hurt. It’s helpful that I happen to need a pallet of field amendments from Lancaster Ag anyway, so shipping costs will be minimal if I can get this all in one order.

Any feedback would be welcome!
Thanks for all the help,
Lizzy

[Lizzy Koltai]

Thanks for the advice, Erika. It’s helpful to hear. We’re fortunate to have a good dentist to work with– he just did her teeth in late winter. I was encouraged when he came because he thought her body condition looked good– which is partly why I was caught off guard when she started dropping weight in early spring. She does have water in the barn.

What is your setup for minerals like? Do you have a fancy mineral feeder, or just a collection of small troughs screwed onto the wall? We’ve been interested in feeding out free choice minerals, but we’ve gotten really intimidated by the upfront cost of some of the mineral feeder setups we found online and in catalogues. Where do you buy the minerals– does your local feed store carry them or do you have to order them online?

As for Billy, he is doing great. He is very close in size to Annie, and very flashy, as Erika said. Its been fun having such a different personality added to the mix– unlike Annie, he is a lover boy. He’s a little anxious, but also seems to be able to settle down well. He’s been really good in harness. So far he’s just done a lot of disk harrowing, both with Annie and single. And one day, when the black flies were driving Annie so insane one day that she was actually agitated, he really stepped up to the plate. It was awesome to see him take on being the steady horse even though it was probably only the third or fourth time I hitched him. I don’t think he’s ever been on an implement without a pole or shafts, so I’m eager (and a bit anxious) to introduce that. I have an area that really needs to be plowed again, so hopefully I’ll put the team on the walking plow pretty soon. I’m trying to decide if I should let him drag a tire first (because it seems difficult to get hurt with, but also a little too light and bouncy for settling a horse down), or go straight to the plow because it is substantial enough to be difficult to back up over. He’s a lot happier working alongside Annie, and really takes cues from her, so teaming them up on the plow seems like it might be a good way to go. Any suggestions?

Lizzy

[Lizzy Koltai]

Thanks everyone! This is great advice, and has helped us think through a lot of things. We are officially looking, so please let me know if you hear of any leads.

Lizzy

[Lizzy Koltai]

What oil do you fill your oil can with? 75W-90? 80W-90? Anything labeled “gear oil”?

Lizzy

[Lizzy Koltai]

Hi,

If you haven’t already gotten your harnesses from Bill or Carl, I also have a team set of haflinger harnesses for sale including collars, bridles (with removable blinders), hames, croupers, check reins etc. I bought the set new, but only worked that team for a year before I ended up with a Belgian. They are nylon with biothane on all parts that contact the horse. I’m asking $1,100 for the set.

I’m in Central Maine.

Best,
Lizzy

[Lizzy Koltai]

Thanks!

[Lizzy Koltai]

Thanks for all the advice!

[Lizzy Koltai]

Oops. I meant 20″ collars.

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