I am considering switching my EPSM pony mare to Re-Leve in an attempt to prevent her continued annual tying-up episodes. They occur in Spring as new grass is growing strongly, although I do put her temporarily in a small grazing patch. She is turned out 24/7 and exercised 6/7 days; hacking for 1/12-2 hours or 1 hourly schooling with 15 minute warm up and cool downs.She weighs about 960 lbs.

Her present feed per day is;
2lbs Dengie Hi-Fi-Lite ( a short chop alfalfa mix which can also be fed as a hay replacement )
a vit E and selenium supplement
a lo calorie feed balancer to provide other vits and minerals
azodine ( calcium/magnesium supplement recommended by the vet )
1 pint of oil

I would welcome some advice from anyone with experience of Re-Leve and knowledge of how to feed it before I go ahead. The feed company rep said I shouldn't need to feed additional oil as its a complete feed, but I am very
uncertain.

Diana and Rhiona

Hi Diana,
Re-Leve is 12.5% fat. For easy of calculation I'll use 10%. And so, every kg of Re-Leve feed (by weight - need to weigh it to be sure what you are feeding!) provides 1 x 0.10 = 0.10 kg of fat. If you use pounds, it is 1 x 0.10 = 0.10 pound of fat in every pound of feed. A pint of oil is a pound of fat. We are aiming to feed at least 1 pound of fat per 1000 lbs of horse per day (or 0.45 kg fat per 450 kg of horse per day). Very sensitive horses might need slightly more. So, unless you are feeding close to 10 lbs of Re-Leve per day you would still need to add some fat. I hope this helps!

Thank you very much; that's very helpful. It's rather unrealistic to feed that amount of Re-Leve per day!!
I'm just not sure what's the best to do to try to prevent the annual tying up episodes. It may be that Rhiona's current diet is as good as any I can devise or is there some way Re-Leve is balanced that may be better?
I just want to do the best for her because she is a lovely, willing little mare and it's very distressing for her when she has an episode.

Diana and Rhiona

You can certainly try a diet with Re-Leve, but I don't know anything in that feed that is better balanced for an EPSM horse than the one she is currently getting. Whatever you decide there, you could try increasing oil slightly come spring and also being aggressive about minimizing her intake of spring grass. Good luck with her!

Again; thank you. You have helped me in my decision! I guess I will stick with what I've got and try increasing the oil before spring really comes in. I already restrict the grass but perhaps if she also worked harder that would help.
I'm really glad I consulted you.

Diana and Rhiona