SPILLERS Happy Hoof 20kg – Low Starch High Fibre Feed for Laminitics

SPILLERS Happy Hoof – 20kg

Happy Hoof is a chopped fibre blend, not a pellet: cereal straw and lucerne cut short and lightly coated in a cane molasses and soya oil blend, with rice bran, sunflower seed meal and garlic at 0.1%. Starch sits at 1.5% and sugar at 4%, which is what puts it in reach of horses that cannot have a conventional mix or cube.

The hoof part of the name is biotin at 5mg per kilo — 15mg in a 3kg daily feed, which is a working dose rather than a token one. Digestible energy is 8.8 MJ/kg, low enough that a good doer can be fed a proper-sized bucket without gaining.

Performance & Benefits

• Starch 1.5% and sugar 4% — a low glycaemic feed for horses that need one.
• Biotin at 5mg/kg, giving 15mg a day at a 3kg feeding rate, for hoof horn quality.
• Digestible energy 8.8 MJ/kg with 25% fibre, so bulk without calories.
• Chopped alfalfa and straw extend eating time, which matters for a stabled or restricted horse.
• Full vitamin and mineral profile: vitamin A 10,000 iu, vitamin D3 1,500 iu, vitamin E 200 iu, copper 20mg, zinc 100mg and selenium 0.15mg per kg.
• Can be fed on its own, alongside a balancer, or as a partial hay replacer.

Suitable For

• Horses and ponies prone to laminitis, on SPILLERS' own positioning.
• Good doers and natives that need a bucket feed without the calories.
• Horses needing hoof support alongside a low-starch diet.
• Partial hay replacement for horses with poor teeth or restricted forage.
• Not the version to choose if molasses is out — SPILLERS Happy Hoof Molasses Free drops sugar to 1.25% and is the blend that carries Laminitis Trust approval in SPILLERS' current guide.

Feeding

• 250kg pony: 1.5kg a day, split over at least two feeds, with a minimum of 4kg hay.
• 500kg horse: 3kg a day, split over at least two feeds, with a minimum of 7.5kg hay.
• 350kg pony unable to take long forage: 5.5–7kg a day across three or more small feeds.
• Roughly 0.5kg per Stubbs scoop.
• SPILLERS ask that severely insulin dysregulated horses are discussed with their Care-Line before feeding.

Composition & Analysis

• Composition: cereal straw (wheat and oat), lucerne, oatfeed, cane molasses and soya oil blend, sunflower seed meal, rice bran, calcium carbonate, rapeseed oil, magnesium oxide, salt and garlic 0.1%.
• Typical analysis: digestible energy 8.8 MJ/kg, protein 9.0%, oil 3.5%, fibre 25.0%, starch 1.5%, sugar 4.0%.
• Per kg: vitamin A 10,000 iu, vitamin D3 1,500 iu, vitamin E 200 iu, biotin 5.0mg, copper 20mg, zinc 100mg, selenium 0.15mg.
• 20kg bag. BETA NOPS approved.
• SPILLERS' current product guide and website show Happy Hoof as BETA NOPS approved and carry the Laminitis Trust mark on Happy Hoof Molasses Free, not on this blend. Laminitis Trust approval claims on retail listings, including our own earlier copy, are not supported by SPILLERS' current material.

Care & Caution

• Low starch is not the same as no sugar. This blend contains cane molasses and runs at 4% sugar; for a severely insulin dysregulated horse SPILLERS direct owners to their Care-Line before feeding it.
• Do not treat it as a full hay replacer at the standard rate — the hay minimums above are part of the feeding instruction, not a suggestion.
• Introduce any change of fibre over 7–14 days. A sudden switch upsets hindgut fermentation.