All you cob owners - feeding them

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kal40

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I have recently become the proud owner of a gorgeous new piebald cob.
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I am starting to think about what to feed him over the coming winter and wondered what you all feed your cobs these days.

Our pasture isn't fab in the winter and he will be in light work.

I have had WBs and TBs in the past hence the question.

Thanks
 
Mine just has 1 scoop of Happy Hoof am & pm and soaked hay overnight. She is turned out during the day on poor grazing......anymore than this and she gets too big, even through the winter.

Oh, she also has afew treats after exercise
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Unless he is particularly thin or particularly fat, then I would start with ad lib good quality hay and just give him a vit/min supplement in a handful of chaff, or a balancer, if you want to ensure he gets all his vit/mins. Monitor his weight and if he starts to lose condition then you can consider adding some more bucket feed - probably something fibre-based like an alfafa, beet or dried grass product.
 
Thanks for the replies folks. Looks like I was thinking along the right lines.

Fingers crossed for a short, good winter.
 
I have gypsy cobs and clydesdales. The first cob mare I had was a really good doer and just had a little plain chaff (1 stubbs scoop and a handful of nuts and a good vit and min supplement with hay given in a double net so she had hay nearly all the time but could not eat it too fast. In winter she would get a tiny bit of speedibeet added and fed twice a day.

My new cob is still growing as only just 5 and he needs a lot more food. He gets fed twice a day all year (our grazing is very sparce) with Simple Systems Just Grass, Green Gold, speedibeet, linseed and if he drops off I give him conditioning cubes for a few weeks. He has ad lib hay though I do get hay that is not rich so they can have as much as they want.

Our clydie mare gets the same at the moment. In terms of volume they get 1 scoop of each type of chaff, half of nuts and 1/4 of speedibeet (though double in winter of the beet) plus a scoop of nuts in their ball. Our old gelding had the same, but had lucie stalks and ruff stuff which are not so high in cals but as he got older, was changed to the green gold and just grass.

Most cobs are very good doers, but there are some that are not - I find my heavys thrive on no mix or sugars - hence feeding Simple Systems chaffs.
 
Agree with the others. Stick to a fibre based diet and avoid sugars especially molasses - the only time my cob had a mix it was as if she had been given cocaine or speed
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!! Mine does loose a bit of weight over the winter so I just up her hay. Otherwise she has Happy Hoof (has all the vits and mins) with some speedibeet and Formula 4 Feet (due to previous laminitis)
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Congrats and welcome to the club
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I feed my cob Baileys lo-cal and chaff, along with a joint supplement (rec. by farrier), oil and salt.

When he's in harder work (competing and regular lessons) he also gets a small amount of h+p cubes.
 
Mine has a handful of Happy Hoof and Equibites as he wont eat a powdered supplement or if he needs more condition Baileys Lo-cal and a scoop of Happy Hoof wet with a little Speedibeet.
When he is in for longer than usual he also has a small scoop of Spillers Hi-Fibre cubes in a horse ball to keep him amused.
 
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