Any advice re new boy and getting more weight on?

[sjdress]

I’ve had my new horse for approx 4 months. He lost weight with the move, as was quite unsettled for a good month or 2, however he has chilled out a lot recently but is still a bit skinnier than I would want. He’s currently ridden 5 days a week ,mixture of schooling/hacking/jumping and the odd bit of cubbing here and there.
He is Currently having 1 scoop molasses free hifi and 1/2 scoop fibre nuts twice a day, along with approx 6 slices of hay per day and 12 hours turnout (grazing ok but not great at present).
He had bad teeth when he came, which are currently being treated, but this didn’t cause him to be skinny before he came.
He has a very shiny coat, lots of energy and a good appetite but he still looks slightly light.
He’s been wormed. Any ideas what I can add to feed to help him? Linseed sent him crazy so will avoid that!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I can't see the point of feeding HI-Fi to a horse that you want to put weight on, better to give Alfa-A oil imo. So long as your horse doesn't react badly to alfalfa! Will he eat more hay if it is available?

 

[Cortez]

A picture would be helpful, and a bit of info re his type and more about work, but it sounds as if he could do with a bit of hard feed. Since the "norm" is now fat horses, I'd also venture that he may just look like a horse in medium-to-hard work: you should be able to just see a rib or two...

 

[sjdress]

A picture would be helpful, and a bit of info re his type and more about work, but it sounds as if he could do with a bit of hard feed. Since the "norm" is now fat horses, I'd also venture that he may just look like a horse in medium-to-hard work: you should be able to just see a rib or two...

He’s a 6 yo warmblood gelding. He’s a bit of a worrier and I rhinknloat weight with the stress of the move as he had been in the same home all his life.
He is doing approx 30 mins schooling twice a week. Usually 2 hacks a week (approx 1 hour to 2 hours out, not fast work), and a show/cubbing or jumping once a week.
My last horse was a fatty so she was fed a low calorie diet and it’s been a long time since I’ve fed ‘hard feed’ and I prefer a fibre based diet so I’m at a loss as to what to feed him.
He reacted to linseed but I’m not sure what he will he like with anything else. He’s a forward going jolly chap doesn’t lack energy, but at the same time isn’t mad!
I can see his ribs but his weight does seem to fluctuate as some days they are not prominent but other days I think he looks awful!

 

[be positive]

I assume he is leaving some hay overnight so giving more is not an option, the last one I had here that was similar, he was not as constant in his weight as he should have been, did really well on soaked grassnuts or alfalfa pellets, depending on workload/ time of year, he did get linseed but you may find any veg oil will help, don't forget salt daily and ensure he is not too warm/ cold as that can make a huge difference especially if they get a bit tired after a busy day.

 

[Shay]

I had a worrier for a few years. He was very difficult to keep weight on. He was sharp and reactive (excellent competition pony)sensitive to sugar content and prone to over react when fed a high performance diet. Thankfully not sensitive to Alfalfa so we were able to keep him on Alfa-A and A&P's Cool & collected. Never lacked energy, would go all day and twice on Sundays, just looked thin. At exciting stay away shows he would get progressively thinner until I feared he looked like a welfare case! In the years we had him I just learned to put up with him looking a bit skinny No-one ever complained about his condition and he was super fit. But he wasn't a show pony - he was (and still is) a show jumper.

Tyr Alfa based chaff it he will tolerate it. I would also look into Allen & Page for a fibre based allergen free hard feed.

 

[ponymum]

Echo what the others have said about Alfa-A Oil, but maybe some speedibeet too? It's molasses free so shouldn't hot him up and most horses love it. Have fun with your new boy

 

[Pinkvboots]

Be careful with alpha a it sends my 2 off there rocker they are Arabs so a lot of conditioning feed has the same effect, although both of them now are good doers I struggled with one when he was young, he was ok on linseed so he got a lot of that and I also had him on Copra which didn't hot him up either, I found most conditioning cubes made him silly as most have molasses added.

So if I were you I would try Copra grass nuts or even rice bran, and if you wanted to change chaff maybe try just chopped grass which is what they get now with a small amount of linseed.