A feed for condition! Please help!

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claribella

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I'm looking at changing my horses feed over due to the simple fact that its getting sooooo expensive. I have spent countless hours looking online and the more I look the hazier it becomes! Lol! I wondered if anyone could help! I do have a few rules though (sorry, there's always a catch!).
Cheap
No molasses
Low sugar/starch
High fibre
Fairly high in calories

She is barefoot hence all of the non sugar palava but she easily looses weight although (dare I say it) is at a good weight at the moment.

I've been looking at A&p fast fibre which is fairly cheap per bag but I am pretty sure that she will need something more to keep her weight up. I've heard good things about linseed and then I thought perhaps a bit of speedi-beet. Oh it's all too much! Lol!

Any help would be greatly appreciated here as I don't know what to do for the best but keeping her what she is on isn't an option as it's getting ridiculous. Thank you very much in advance:)
 
Fast Fibre is a good starting point, it is not going to put weight on but mine are maintaining very well on it. You can then add some oil or linseed, speedi beet and chaff to it to give the extra calories you need. I also add some brewers yeast to aid digestion.
I find most will eat it but have one that is only happy to have a small amount mixed with his original mix, he is very slowly accepting the change over, all the others in the yard eat it really well.
 
I've been feeding my tb on Rowan and Barbury Solution Mash for a month now and already had to reduce the amount I'm feeding so I'm very pleased with it. Sugar and starch combined is about 6 % and the energy all comes from fibre and oil so very barefoot friendly. It costs me £14 a bag but given I'm only needing to feed 2/3rds of the amount he needed of calm and condition it is working out quite cheap!
 
I am a complete convert to the Pure Feed Company's Pure Condition. It has truly transformed my skinny, can't ever put weight on tb - he is now a good weight and has never shone so much even though he is clipped and usually looks pretty grim at this time of the year.

The bags appear quite small (15kg iirc rather than 20kg) and you have to get your head round feeding what appears to be dried grass with odd bits of other stuff... However, I have found that you feed far fewer kgs of this and it has a balancer in already. Therefore it does work out cheaper. They did have a 50% off first order but that might have ended now - worth checking their website and facebook page.
 
Micronised Linseed from charnwood should do it. Don't bother with the lozenges as they are full of molasses.

ETA with fast fibre or speedibeet or unmolassed chaff or a combination of these.
 
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Thank you all so much for your input!

OPTIMIST-I did look into the pure feed company and I love the ethos and the food looks lush but I think it would work out too epensive since I'd be using a bag a week. I was using simple system but the inconvience of having it delivered was a pain. I found sending a cheque through the post was also a pain. Shame you can't order directly online.

I think I will go with the fast fibre and the linseed and see how we get on. I don't particularly need Bella to put on weight at the moment so maintaining would be fine.

BE POSITIVE- I just wondered how many bags of fast fibre you get through in a month.

Thanks again guys all the input is greatly appreciated!!!
 
You can order on line! I do. It's really easy and they deliver usually 48 hours later.

I genuinely have found it cheaper (and more effective) than much cheaper feeds.
 
I only use 1 bag a week but this feeds 5 - 1 big lad , 1 that only has small amount due to being fussy, 2 14.2s and a 13.2 , so it is very economical. They cost far more in haylage each week than feed.
 
Just be careful with the FF as I put my TB on it and he really dropped off. It only has 7% protein which is great for a pony with Lami but not really enough to build muscle on any sort of TB.
Also it does work out quite expensive.. I was getting through a bag a week which at nearly £10 near me (think it was £9.85) a bag was £35-£40 a month on that
alone.
I went back to D&H high fibre cubes. Just that bit higher in protein at 9.5% and DE at 9% compared to 7.5% with the FF. I mix a scoop of the high fibre cubes with half a mug of cheapy sunflower oil from the supermarket, some pink powder and a bit of non-molassed chaff to bulk it out and my TB is fat! Also it only comes to £26 a month! :D
 
Be positive- Thanks I'm pretty sure that a bag would last me quite a while then.

Firewell- Thanks for the warning. My girl sounds like your tb which is why I wanted to have something else in there just in case. The linseed is dead high in protein and oil so that will definately help.

Silverghost-I loved simple system but found that the ordering and payment process was a pain. I also had to be dead organised when buying new stock so it would arrive in time. Organised I am not:( Also My girl wasn't particularly bothered by the feed and I would end up chucking loads. She was also very clever in that, if I kept the feed from the morning and tried to give it to her night time then she wouldn't touch it at all!

deicimerlyn- Thats what I've been feeding but the no molasses version but last time I went into buy some, the price had gone from 12 quid to nearly seventeen!! I get through about two bags a month and then I pay nearly thirty quid for a balancer lasting six weeks so it does work out quite expensive. The cost is the main reason why I am changing. If she doesn't do well on this then as I have found out through searching the web, there are plenty of other options!! Lol!

Thanks again for everyone's input!
 
I feed following the low starch etc guidelines due to fizzy TB that's had ulcers, he's very limited in what he can eat & I struggle to do it cheaply. I want to try pure feeds but cannot store feed & don't want constant deliveries. I feed top spec cubes,micronised linseed,I've cut right down on chaff this year & have upped the speedibeet which works out cheaper. We do feed big bale haylage which works out mega cheap but have just had to face the fact that I have twice as many feed bins & spend twice as much as everyone else on feed!
 
Feeding these days has become quite high-tech and far too scientific for us oldies. It's easier for me (in Africa) as we have far less choice available! My old standby if a horse needs to put on condition is micronised barley added to the normal feed. It's worked every time for my TBs.
 
My barefoot tb, sensitive allergy prone soul who explodes at the sight of sugar.

As much hay/haylage as he wants.
It may be worth looking at adding timothy haylage before you give him lots of hard feed, can work out cheaper and I find huge amounts of good quality forage are the key.
Copra
Speedibeet
Linseed

I would also consider adding brewers yeast or similar so he is making the most of his feed.
 
After a long conversation with an Allen & Page consultant, Ive put my TB (that needs weight/condition) onto their Calm & Condition ... only been in it a month so cant really comment at the moment although does look well - they've told me to take away all other feed and feed this with Alfa A Oil - we're trying it for a couple of months so will let you know how we go.

Nutritional Analysis
Oil: 5.5%
Protein: 12.0%
Fibre: 14.0%
Estimated DE: 12.5MJ/kg
Starch: 13.0%
Total Sugar: 5.0%
Vitamin A: 10k iu/kg
Vitamin D: 1.5k iu/kg
Vitamin E: 120mg

Calm & Condition® is a soaked feed for horses who need to put on or maintain condition. Calm & Condition® is also used successfully for competition horses who are working hard. Formulated without barley, Calm & Condition® is suitable for horses with a true barley intolerance, is low in starch, high in fibre and contains good levels of linseed and soya oils. Boosted vitamin and mineral levels and premium grade herbs also combine to promote optimum condition. Used by Pippa and William Funnell.
 
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