Alternative for horse that won't eat nuts or oil...!!

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Christmas Crumpet

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New horse has arrived and will only eat build-up mix at the moment with chaff. He is on the light side and I'd rather like to enlarge him a bit!!

He doesn't seem to like veg. oil in his food nor any kind of nut/cube - he just spits them out. Do I either increase the amount of build-up mix and feed him that all winter or do I try something else? I wouldn't normally start feeding sugarbeet until November when we start hunting proper but is it worth trying that?
 
I'd give that a go it wont hurt now surely, and atleast your getting in there before it gets colder (altho its already freezing in my eyes ahaha!)

fussy eaters! have you tried putting some peppermint supplement stuff in to make the feed taste nicer?
 
If I were you if possible allow him access to ad-lib hay/hay ledge. Depending on what sort of beet you will feed (I use speedi-beet), follow the instructions for using it for weight gain (I have been instructed to feed 10% concentrate allowance with dry weight beet). Also keep feeding build-up mix! I'm giving my boy speedi-beet now as he's a little thin and also needs enlarging before winter! Hope this helps xx
 
He won't eat the haylage at the moment!! So he's out full time with a rug on at night on good grass. He comes ambling over as soon as you appear with feed bucket and gobbles it down. Will try the sugar beet thing tomorrow once soaked then. Thanks everyone.
 
Sugarbeet is classed as a forage type rather than a hard feed I thought? I use it for slow energy release (good for hunting) and to dilute and stretch oat feeds as I didn't think it's nutritional value was that good for weight gain - I hope not considering the amount my two get!

Maybe soaking some of the cube/nuts and mixing them in with his feed? Perhaps it's the size of the granules he doesn't like?


ETA I use straight foward, unmolassed beet pulp though.
 
Dry sugar beet has the same amount of calories weight for weight as some conditioning mixes and cubes, but the calories come from fibre rather than starch (which is the case in cereals and cereal-based feeds). However, as sugar beet bulks out so much when soaked it may look like you are feeding a lot more than you really are! If you are feeding it for weight gain then it is a good idea to weigh it out dry before soak to ensure you are feeding enough to make a significant difference to the calorie intake.
 
definitely sugarbeet, and how about trying various mixes, some horses much prefer these to nuts. i'd try Alfa A too, i've found that most horses really enjoy this. maybe a few apples and carrots chopped up in there might increase his enthusiasm.
umm, if you get desperate, molasses, or peppermint oil, can help too.
 
Worth having his teeth checked first, then my fussy boy wolfs down winergy equilibrium condition and it certainly changed his shape pretty quickly, he's now on the senior one instead as he got a bit porky in the summer.
 
Try feeding Alfa Oil, it already has the oil in it, so cleverly disguised.

I would second trying Winergy. We feed Winergy Growth to a 10 yr old tbxhann. It's non heating and is actually fine to feed to older horses too. It's just high fibre and oil. He windsucks so we don't like feeding concentrates. (they advised putting him on it before the condition came out, we haven't bothered to reasses it now the condition is out as he does so well on it). Within a month on it he started to look like a different horse! Not only weight put the muscle developed so easily! When he was poor and in the winter we feed 1 heaped scoop and a scoop of Alfa Beet twice a day.
 
I'd start the sugar beet now but introduce it slowly. Make sure he is getting plenty of good quality hay or better still, haylage, too!
 
Rice Bran based feed balancers are really good for putting on weight - Equijoule and Omega Rice are brands that I know you feed about a mugful or two a day. I used it on my horse when he dropped weight over winter and he looked fab and it didn't seem to make him any sillier (than usual) either. My sister also uses it to keep weight on her hunters.
 
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