Condition & feeding question

[K9Wendy]

This is our 6yr old mare, 15.2hh TB/X came back into work in September after she was turned away for nearly 5 months after soft tissue injury in foot. She is ridden most days, does some pony club, hunting or jumping at the weekends. She will loose some condition over winter but this year we have managed to keep more on (she came in fat from break). She goes off her hay for about 5 days after hunting (only eats half she normally eats). She has only hunted twice this season but hoping now to get out most weeks until end of season and I'm expecting some weight lose at this rate.

She is feed two feeds as follows

Large haynet of good quality haylage
Scoop of pure alfalfa
Scoop of cool mix
Scoop of sugar beet
1/2 scoop of plain oats
3 carrots

Any advice on her condition & feeding regime would be grately appreciated, confirmation wise we know she is awful but she does the job we want, ticks all the boxes so to speak..

 

[bethc93]

she looking lovely

 

[Hettie]

She looks in really good condition at the moment!

Could possibly be an idea to swap the cool mix w a condition cube/mix to keep some more weight on? Also may I ask why you are feeding oats together with cool mix? Mixes are supposed to be "fully balanced" so any addition of straights to this could make it unbalanced and maybe you could think of feeding a more "heating" mix instead if it's that you are looking for?

Lovely horse

 

[cellie]

Alfa with oil has really helped keep condition on my skinny tb this year plus you wont have to mess around with her hard feed .She looks in great condition.

 

[K9Wendy]

When she came back into work we started off on cool mix and really just finishing it off. Add the oats for extra energy, but know what you mean about balance..

 

[Shooby]

i would replace the cool mix with either a conditioning mix or you could try spillers response slow release competition mix, it is based on fibre and oil so will not cause any spooky behaviour, it is like the gi diet, it will give slow release energy so your horse doesnt get a massive sugar rush and as it has a higher energy content will promote weight gain, my mare is doing really well on it, she has a brilliant coat and is less spooky on the spillers than a pasture mix and her weight is excellent

 

[Lotty]

I looked after an eventer for a year and when he came to me he was underweight, also he was a worrier so used to drop weight quite quickly. I introduced Alfa with oil to his diet and he started to look loads better.

 

[Judziah]

I agree with Hettie, why are you feeding a Cool mix and oats?? Feeding Cool mix suggests she 'hots up'...so why then feed a high starch grain?? I'd stop the oats and feed oil. If she doesn't hot up and she needs more energy from her diet, I'd change the cool mix for one that provides more energy.

 

[not_with_it]

She looks in fantastic condition. If you are worried about her dropping weight I would try Alfa oil and spillers conditioning cubes.
My mares coat goes really dull in winter so I put her on Alfa oil and she looks so much better. If shes a fussy eater though she may not like it. My YO's horse wont eat it and Gin doesnt like it as much as Alfa A.
My YOs horse loses condition quickly in winter and the spillers cubes really work on him without making him hot.