Conditioning feed/supplement suggestions?

[spotty_pony2]

As title. My boy is rising 26 and I just feel he is running up a little light for my liking at the moment - I know this will change anyway when the spring grass comes through but we do have quite a lot of grass still atm and that could easily be another month or longer.

He has had his teeth done a few weeks ago and although he has a few small gaps now there was nothing to be concerned about.

He is currently out for 6-7 hours per day on good grass, has ad lib hay (home grown good quality) in the stable which he doesn’t seem to eat a lot of but I think it’s because he’s not overly hungry.

He is on two feeds per day. (1 scoop of Honeychop Super Senior chaff and approx 1/2 scoop of Equi-glo sugarbeet per feed and Tip Top feed balancer in his morning one) so I don’t want to add a massive amount of extra feed and don’t even think I will need a whole sack necessarily so was wondering if there is anything so can add in a small amount as a bit extra? no cereals either - I only feed cubes or high oil based feeds for condition.

He is hacking 2-3 times per week for up to 2 hours per ride and puts his everything into it so a little extra might just be what he needs. I’ve fed Baileys Outshine in the past and wonder if this might be worth a try?

 

[Cragrat]

Micronised linseed - you can build up to quite a bit, but adding Vit E would be a good idea. Mine are on 4 large mugs a day (16.3, working 5 or 6 days a week)

ETA I'd be curoius as to why he's not eating much hay? Is this new-ish behaviour? Is it worth a 2nd opinion on his teeth?

Also, my old guy has gappy teeth, and my vet dentist said to avoid chaff based feeds because they can stick in the gaps.

 

[spotty_pony2]

Micronised linseed - you can build up to quite a bit, but adding Vit E would be a good idea. Mine are on 4 large mugs a day (16.3, working 5 or 6 days a week)

ETA I'd be curoius as to why he's not eating much hay? Is this new-ish behaviour? Is it worth a 2nd opinion on his teeth?

Also, my old guy has gappy teeth, and my vet dentist said to avoid chaff based feeds because they can stick in the gaps.

I check his teeth everyday - mostly more than once. He isn’t getting chaff stuff at the moment thank goodness. I watch him on the stable camera and he does eat his hay but he’s always made a mess and tried to mix it in his bed so not that new behaviour no. I’d say he eats 2/3 small slices per night so I am not that concerned about that as on the odd day he doesn’t go in the field because of the weather he eats more so I think it’s literally just he isn’t hungry.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

mine tends to run light over the winter, I like adding equi-jewel (rice bran/oil based) as doesn’t add a massive amount of volume, is more palatable than linseed (which he will not touch) but adds a reasonable amount of calories. He’s done really well on that and re-leve this year

 

[little_critter]

I’d go for linseed too.

 

[Bobthecob15]

Micronised linseed or Omega Rice is very good, it’s a feed topper so you just add it to their feed. It’s linseed and rice bran and fully balanced with vitamin E etc. I really like it x

 

[blitznbobs]

micronised linseed is fab as is slobber mash (but this is difficult to source at the mo) otherwise adding veg oil to feed works quite well too.

 

[KatieDM]

Could you add something like Graze-on to his feeds? And yes, maybe micronised linseed. It’s pretty cheap to buy, too.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I’ve been giving a little Omega Rice this winter too.

 

[m1stify]

My older lady lost weight this year & adding coolstance copra to her feed made a huge difference. She loves it but just to note not all horses do so maybe try and get a sample.

 

[HopOnTrot]

Linseed oil is what vet suggested to me

 

[spotty_pony2]

My older lady lost weight this year & adding coolstance copra to her feed made a huge difference. She loves it but just to note not all horses do so maybe try and get a sample.

He doesn’t like this the yard I was at aat the time fed it to all of the liveries and tried him on it about 15 years ago when it was new but he won’t eat his feed with it in.

 

[marmalade76]

Linseed. I feed my oldie A&P Muscle & Focus which works well for her (with a bit of micronised linseed on top).

 

[Squeak]

Another vote for micronised linseed.

 

[SpotsandBays]

Grass nuts and Linseed for my oldies has always done them well

 

[xxcharlottexx]

I have recently swapped my 26yr old TB after asking advise on here to baileys ease and excel and Allen and page care and gain and he is looking well. He also has micronised linseed too

 

[Zoeypxo]

Allen and page care and gain is very good

 

[paddi22]

I found turmash brilliant for keeping weight on, and the older horses looks less stiff on it

 

[lynz88]

EquiJewel was fab at putting weight on mine but expensive. I switched to micronized linseed and has been doing just as good of a job. This winter he really lost a lot of weight so added sugar free beet pulp as the yard supplies this. If I had my way I would have him on Allen & Page care and gain or their veteran.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Micronised linseed and / or Equijewel. Equijewel is expensive but you only feed a cupful or two a day so it lasts quite well. My old boy looked fab on it. At 27yrs

 

[Barklands]

Micronised linseed and readymash extra if you up the oil content however, make sure you look into whether you need to supplement with vit e. Have you thought about swapping to haylage for a bit? I know its gutting when you have your own hay but I find if they're not fussed on their hay they shove down yummy haylage at a rate of knots so can be worth the investment

 

[Northern Hare]

Another vote for micronised linseed.

A further suggestion is can you divide the hard feed between 3 feeds instead of 2? This made a big difference to my elderly horse who was difficult to keep weight on.

 

[Allthererriers]

Another vote for micronised linseed!