diet for older thoroughbred

LadyRascasse

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my older boy is 17 and he is alittle on the chunky side, (everytime i ride i get comments on his weight though i think this is because i'm on a mostly competition yard were all the horses are fully fit and ideal condition)

at the moment he is feed 1 1/2 round scoops of happy hoof, 2ccops of pink powder and garlic. split between 2 feeds aday. he is on reasonable grazing, refuses to wear a grazing muzzle. he is in little work as we are just bringing him back into work after 1yr 3months off.

should i be worried about his weight or feed? i would score him at 3.5 and he does need to gain alot of muscle. will try and get condition shot tomorrow.
 
i wouldnt worry to much at the moment. just moniter it. consider yourself lucky to have a chunky thoroughbred lol. its very rare! lol. the only thing you can do if you get worried is reduce his the amount of turnout he gets, maybe bringing him in for a few hours a day with a small net or put on grass thats been munched down, when you start working him more he will prob muscle most of it up.
 
i wouldnt worry. its good to have a bit of weight at there age. ours is 17 this year and is a lottle podgiy :P not ffat, but wintered well. i think its good to keep them larger than smaller especially before winter incase the winter badly.
like suggested above can you reduce the amount of turnout?
i wouldnt feed any less, unless you start riding him a lot less again.
i prefer a slightly fatter older TB then a thin one tbh!
 
Does he need 2 feeds at the mo if he is on good grass?

My 26yr old TB is on good grass and is having just one scoop of Happy Hoof for supper - no brekkie at all and he looks about right weight wise
smile.gif
 
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