So the barn situation has the potential to save you several dollars right? To your credit you might have scored an ugly little barn-on-wheels for yourself. And you survived...and the horse? If you are both having more fun then the decision is a good one - even in a competition setting. So let's make Dollars make Sense for the Horse's next real Need: FOOD!
We could go on for days about types of feed, amounts, supplements, body types, caloric intake, etc, etc, etc. Bottom line is how do I save money while keeping my horse's health and performance in mind?
Understand that the horse is a forage animal, not a grain animal. Good, quality hay and pasture is important. We supplement grains to increase energy or make up for the lack of quality in our hay - grain should never be the main composition of a horse's diet. So spend your money well on quality hay, and we bet the vet you can decrease the dollars you are spending on grain.Some of our readers have high performance horses who require more calories than hay can provide. Here's a way to find the middle ground. Feed the quality hay, and then look for an off-brand equivalent of your current name-brand feed. Here's an example: Visit your local Tractor Supply Store and compare the TSC brand "Dumor Equistages" with Nutrena's Original Safechoice. I can tell you from personal experience that the labels are as close to identical as they can get. Here's the best part: Dumor Equistages is almost $3.00 LESS than Safechoice and you can feed equal amounts of either feed. If you can save $6.00 a month, that's $72.00 a year you can put back into your budget. Not a bad start to meeting this year's goal.
So the next time you wander down the feed asile and grab the bag with the pretty horsey on the outside put it back. There is an alternative out there that will save you a few dollars, just do your homework. We're not suggesting your horse should eat cardboard, we're simply saying stop shopping for him at Trader Joe's and start shopping for him at Aldi's.
We could go on for days about types of feed, amounts, supplements, body types, caloric intake, etc, etc, etc. Bottom line is how do I save money while keeping my horse's health and performance in mind?
Understand that the horse is a forage animal, not a grain animal. Good, quality hay and pasture is important. We supplement grains to increase energy or make up for the lack of quality in our hay - grain should never be the main composition of a horse's diet. So spend your money well on quality hay, and we bet the vet you can decrease the dollars you are spending on grain.Some of our readers have high performance horses who require more calories than hay can provide. Here's a way to find the middle ground. Feed the quality hay, and then look for an off-brand equivalent of your current name-brand feed. Here's an example: Visit your local Tractor Supply Store and compare the TSC brand "Dumor Equistages" with Nutrena's Original Safechoice. I can tell you from personal experience that the labels are as close to identical as they can get. Here's the best part: Dumor Equistages is almost $3.00 LESS than Safechoice and you can feed equal amounts of either feed. If you can save $6.00 a month, that's $72.00 a year you can put back into your budget. Not a bad start to meeting this year's goal.
So the next time you wander down the feed asile and grab the bag with the pretty horsey on the outside put it back. There is an alternative out there that will save you a few dollars, just do your homework. We're not suggesting your horse should eat cardboard, we're simply saying stop shopping for him at Trader Joe's and start shopping for him at Aldi's.
