A&P Calm & Condition (NUTRITION)

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*Spider*

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My boy is 4 and he needs to put on SO much muscle, especially on his topline.
He's extremely weedy and needs to put fat on to get the muscle he needs. He's training well and working correctly and has built up some muscle, but there is nothing to turn into muscle now so now I've changed him over to a conditioning feed.
(He's a 16.1hh Irish Draught X TB)
Is a soaking feed as it contains unmolassed sugar beet. (A&P Calm & Condition)
I chose this particular brand as it does not contain the barley, molasses, oats, sugar etc. etc.
Yesterday I went to feed it to him, read the packaging very carefully etc. and went to feed him 2 scoops of it..... and it recommended some Alfalfa Chaff with it, and then add water. This literally spilled out of his feed bowl. No way am I feeding him that much!!! He's not going to absorb it all and it may as well give him colic!!
I took a picture and took it back to my housemates who are in their final years on my course (Equine Science) and they read the packaging and yes I have read it right, but they think that is far too much to give any horse. I was thinking about halving it and feeding him twice a day so he could absorb more.
What do you guys know about it?
 
I feed C&C. It has had an amazing result with one of my ponies but has less dramatic result with another.
The recommended rates are for the full day, so if you are feeding it at one feed it will be too much. Also you are supposed to add chaff after the water has soaked in to the C&C.


Have you tried Top Spec conditioning flakes? I use these too and was delighted with the result.
 
I feed A@P Calm and Condition. I give one scoop plus Alfa A 3 x a day. She was a skinny TB when I got her in July and is now looking very well. You must remember that any dried food you give will swell in the guts, C@C had done its swelling in the bucket.
 
pastie2 said:
I feed A@P Calm and Condition. I give one scoop plus Alfa A 3 x a day. She was a skinny TB when I got her in July and is now looking very well. You must remember that any dried food you give will swell in the guts, C@C had done its swelling in the bucket.
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Thank you so much for your replies!
Have you read the recommendations on the back of the pack? So do you give one scoop per feed?
 
1 scoop size could be totally different to another persons scoop size remember...

We had a horse on it a few months ago, and hed literally only get a cup (obv soaked with 2 cups of water) twice a day, mixed with a big handful of chaff.. before we got him he was being fed about twice as much of a diff feed, but he put on a lot more condition within the first two weeks of us having him than he ever had before according to his owner. Its a really good feed, and you dont need to feed much of it. A bag lasted us about two and a half months. Worked out very cheap!!
 
*Spider* said:
Thank you so much for your replies!
Have you read the recommendations on the back of the pack? So do you give one scoop per feed?
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Depends on the horse. I dont think that you can go far wrong with one scoop plus 2 scoops of water plus chaff 3 times a day. I am doing that with a 16 hh TB, in work. Tried other feeds and they seem to fizz her up. Hope it works for you. Let me know!!
 
bigboyrocky said:
1 scoop size could be totally different to another persons scoop size remember...

We had a horse on it a few months ago, and hed literally only get a cup (obv soaked with 2 cups of water) twice a day, mixed with a big handful of chaff.. before we got him he was being fed about twice as much of a diff feed, but he put on a lot more condition within the first two weeks of us having him than he ever had before according to his owner. Its a really good feed, and you dont need to feed much of it. A bag lasted us about two and a half months. Worked out very cheap!!
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On the back of the bag it states that the average of one scoop (round stubbs scoop) is 1.5 kg and it says that Obie needs 4kg a day, so I gave him 2 scoops as I thought any more would just be insane!
If this is the case it's not going to last me very long!
 
You really should be feeding by weight, rather than by 'scoopfuls'. As you say, that is far too much to feed in one meal. I have fed C&C in the past and if I remember correctly, you are advised to feed equal parts c7c, chaff,water. The chaff does not have to be alfalfa, you could use dried grass equally well.
Incidentally, you cannot turn fat into muscle in a horse any more than you can in a human but as you say you do need to feed the horse so that he has the energy to develop the muscle.

ETA I have found that soaked grassnuts and dried grass give equally good, if not better results and cost far less.
 
*Spider* said:
On the back of the bag it states that the average of one scoop (round stubbs scoop) is 1.5 kg and it says that Obie needs 4kg a day, so I gave him 2 scoops as I thought any more would just be insane!
If this is the case it's not going to last me very long!
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If it is any help, a bag lasts me just over 2 weeks. So that is for a TB in quite a lot of work. That is under £4.00 per week, put into contex that is not bad!!!
 
Thankyou for all your fantastic replies!
I think I may give Mr. O 1/2 a scoop (0.75kg) one scoop of Alfalfa chaff and split it between 2 feeds. Then I can up it if I think he needs it!
 
*Spider* said:
Thankyou for all your fantastic replies!
I think I may give Mr. O 1/2 a scoop (0.75kg) one scoop of Alfalfa chaff and split it between 2 feeds. Then I can up it if I think he needs it!
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Glad to have been helpful! I think you are doing the right thing. Dont worry about it looking too much, just look at it dry, It then doesnt look like a huge plate full.! Just think what Nuts would look like soaked. Huge amount.
 
Thought I'd give a little update.
Obie has been off work due to bad teeth (he was becoming hard mouthed and was getting worse etc. etc.) so he's been off for a while until dentist comes (next week) but I thought I'd keep him on the feed.
My God! He's neck is getting HENCH! I haven't worked him AT ALL, he's been lounging in the feed all day and tucked up in bed at night. This is really having a result, even though I haven't touched him!
Just looking forward to getting him in his Pessoa :)
 
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