feed advice- condition onto 5yr old

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thehorsediva

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Feed Help needed!!! I need a to find a feed to improve my 5 yr olds condition. However I need to keep him on a low sugar/ starch diet as he can get fizzy and sharp but equally he needs to put on a little more weight to turn into muscle! I have only had him a few months and previous owner advised not to give him any hard feed! At the moment he is just on hay, daily grazing for 8 hours plus a bowl of high fi light with magnesium supplement and some mint twice a day. He is generally lunged twice a week and ridden- hacked or schooled twice a week, mostly walk/ trot work at the moment so nothing too intense. However when the weather is bad he has to stay in stable 24/7 (of course I try to exercise him on these days though not always possible!) so feed must be non heating. Any advice on how to improve his condition but not let it go to his head would be most appreciated. I find feeding a total mindfield so thank you in advance xx
 
Micronised linseed is not heating and would add that little extra you are looking for with the benefit of being good for his coat and hoof condition as well. Otherwise just adding oil would help, again non heating.
 
Add speedi beet or fibre beet and some oil to his hi fi and also a balancer for his vit/minerals and you should see an improvement in his condition after a few weeks.
 
My 5 year old is on Fast fibre, micronised linseed (mug of), D&H ERS Pellets and Oats (both for energy.)

I echo the others and would be inclined to add a mug of micronised linseed to his feed. I would also be inclined to swap to hi-fi mollasses free instead of lite as it has a higher oil content.

That said, WORK will improve condition. He is only in very light work, being worked in W&T 4 times a week... start increasing this and I'm sure his condition will improve..
 
Thanks. I will take all this on board and work out a plan of action. Think I will go for the fast fibre as had good results with this before with previous horse, a balancer plus oil. In answer to your question- ad lib hay at night plus 2 sections in field daily unless he is in and then its ab lib hay all the way!
 
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