Saracen Veteran Mix 20kg – For Older Horses & Ponies

Saracen Veteran Mix – 20kg

Veteran Mix is Saracen's fibre-led feed for older horses and ponies, built on super-fibres and micronised cereals rather than straight grain. The idea is to carry condition on slow-release energy, so a veteran holds weight through the winter without the fizz that a high-cereal mix brings with it. Saracen fortify it fully, with antioxidants, chelated minerals and a live yeast to help an ageing gut get more out of its forage.

It is a mix, not a mash, so it needs a horse that can still chew. Where teeth have gone past that point the ration has to be soaked, and Veteran Mash is the format for that. At 14% protein, 7% oil and 12.6 MJ/kg it sits in the middle of the veteran range — more support than a balancer alone, less energy than a conditioning mix.

Performance & Benefits

• Super-fibres and 7% oil supply slow-release energy, so condition is built without a starchy peak.
• Micronised cereals are cooked to improve small intestine digestibility in an older gut.
• Live yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) supports fibre fermentation in the hindgut.
• Vitamin E at 540 iu/kg, with vitamin C and selenium, for antioxidant support in older horses.
• Full B-vitamin range including biotin, plus chelated trace minerals for absorption.
• Molassed and flavoured for palatability, which matters where appetite has dropped off.

Suitable For

• Horses and ponies of about 16 years and over that still chew well.
• Veterans at rest, in light work, or still competing.
• Older horses losing topline or struggling to hold weight on forage alone.
• Fussy older feeders whose intake has tailed off.
• Not a low-starch feed — at 16% starch and 6% sugar it is wrong for a horse with PPID, EMS or a laminitis history, and wrong for one that can no longer chew dry feed. Saracen Veteran Balancer suits the first, Saracen Veteran Mash the second.

Feeding

• Introduce gradually, replacing the previous feed over 7–10 days.
• Feed by weight rather than by scoop. Saracen give one level scoop as approximately 1.3kg.
• Split the daily ration into 2–3 meals and feed little and often.
• Dampen the feed and mix with a chaff. Good quality forage remains the basis of the diet.
• Saracen publish daily quantities as a bodyweight chart on the bag and product sheet rather than as text, so none is reproduced here — their nutrition line will size a ration to an individual horse.
• Always allow free access to clean, fresh water.

Composition & Analysis

• Composition: lucerne pellets, barley flakes, soya hulls (GM), oatfeed, soya flakes (GM), cane molasses, pea flakes, maize flakes, soya oil (GM), calcium carbonate, full fat linseed meal, dried sugar beet pulp, monocalcium phosphate, sodium chloride, soya bean meal feed (GM), mixture of flavouring compounds. 20kg.
• Crude protein 14.0%. Crude oil 7.0%. Crude fibre 15.5%. Crude ash 7.9%. Starch 16.0%. Sugar 6.0%. Digestible energy 12.6 MJ/kg.
• Minerals per kg: calcium 1.14%, phosphorus 0.4%, magnesium 0.16%, sodium 0.23%, potassium 1.03%, copper 37.5mg, zinc 110mg, manganese 62mg, iron 133mg, iodine 0.5mg, selenium 0.5mg.
• Vitamins per kg: A 15,000iu, D 2,300iu, E 540iu, B1 2.80mg, B2 3.40mg, B6 8.70mg, B12 0.04mg, pantothenic acid 15.30mg, niacin 17.20mg, folic acid 14.50mg, biotin 0.25mg.
• Additive: Saccharomyces cerevisiae live yeast.

Care & Caution

• Starch at 16% and sugar at 6% make this unsuitable for horses with PPID, EMS, insulin dysregulation or a history of laminitis.
• Contains genetically modified soya, declared by Saracen on the ingredient list.
• A dry mix needs functional teeth. Have an older horse's mouth checked before starting it, and soak the ration or move to a mash if quidding appears.