Red Mills Define & Shine 18kg

Red Mills Define & Shine – 18kg

Define & Shine is a top-up pellet rather than a full feed: 18.0% oil and 15.5 MJ/kg, fed at 100–200g per 100kg bodyweight on top of an already balanced ration. Extruded soya and full-fat linseed lead the ingredient list, which is where both the oil and the 11.0% omega-3 come from.

At 19.0% crude protein with 1.07% lysine and added L-leucine, it is aimed at muscle definition and topline as much as at bare weight gain. RED MILLS call it low-starch, and it is low for its calorie density, but the declared figure is 15.5% — worth knowing before assuming it suits a metabolic horse.

Performance & Benefits

• 15.5 MJ/kg in a pellet fed by the handful, so calories go in without the bucket getting bigger.
• 18.0% crude oils and fats, including 11.0% omega-3, from full-fat linseed and soya oil.
• 19.0% crude protein with lysine at 1.07% and added L-leucine, for topline and muscle definition.
• 750 iu vitamin E per kg, supporting muscle and immune function on a high-oil diet.
• Oat-free, and low in starch relative to its energy density at a declared 15.5%.
• Low ash at 5% and low calcium at 0.30% — it is designed to sit on top of a balanced ration without unbalancing it.

Suitable For

• Horses needing extra calories in a small volume.
• Horses being built for topline and muscle definition.
• Horses whose coat and skin need work.
• Exercising horses, breeding stock, sales preparation and youngstock over four months of age.
• Not a feed for a laminitic or insulin-resistant horse. RED MILLS declare 15.5% starch here; Red Mills Horse Care ULTRA Cubes at 4.0% or Red Mills PerformaCare Balancer at 3.0% are the low-starch options in this range.

Feeding

• 100–200g per 100kg bodyweight daily.
• 400kg horse: 400–800g daily. 500kg horse: 500–1,000g daily. 600kg horse: 600–1,200g daily.
• Fed on top of an otherwise fully balanced ration — Define & Shine is a supplementary pellet, not a complete feed.
• Introduce slowly: high-oil feeds need two to three weeks for the gut to adapt.
• Feed alongside good forage with clean, fresh water always available.

Composition & Analysis

• Composition: soya bean extruded, full fat linseed, barley, wheatfeed, soya oil, cane molasses, beet pulp, soya hulls, wheat flour, maize, alfalfa meal, soya bean meal, L-leucine.
• Typical analysis: crude protein 19.0%, crude fibre 7.0%, crude oils and fats 18.0%, crude ash 5%. Starch 15.5%. Omega-3 oils 11.0%. Digestible energy 15.5 MJ/kg.
• Minerals and amino acids: calcium 0.30%, phosphorus 0.40%, lysine 1.07%.
• Vitamin E 750 iu per kg.
• Earlier copy on this page listed sodium, chloride, potassium and magnesium figures. RED MILLS do not publish those for Define & Shine, so they have been removed rather than repeated, and wheat flour has been added to the composition to match their declared list.

Care & Caution

• The declared starch figure is 15.5%. That is low for a feed of this energy density but it is not a low-starch feed in the sense a laminitic or EMS horse needs.
• High-oil feeds must be introduced gradually. Going in at the full rate risks loose droppings and colic.
• Because it is fed on top of a balanced ration, check the total diet before adding it to a horse already on a fortified compound feed and a broad-spectrum supplement.