Feed advice for a 4 year old?? British Sports Horse X Welsh D

[jess_ruby]

Hi guys,

So i'm looking for feed recommendations for my 4 year old she will be 5 in May.

British sports horse X Welsh D (More on the fine side everyone is surprised shes welsh d cross).

Backed and ridden away end of this summer now turned away for winter.

Has daily hay (2 haynets) access to stable, but will be stabling her at night from next week.

Her condition isn't the best will take a picture and upload tomorrow as don't seem to have a recent one.
Still bum high so was looking what to feed her that's going to promote her condition and growth and add a little more weight (But not too much as don't want to over do it) any recommendations? I've heard good things about calm and condition? Or possibly just a high fibre or conditioning mix? I know they lack vitamins etc in the winter so any help would be great! I don't want to be feed about 7 different things though so nothing too complex, be nice to hear what you feed your youngsters! Thanks in advance

 

[be positive]

You say she has 2 nets but not whether she eats it all or not, if she eats it all the first thing is to increase it until she has genuinely ad lib, I would also ensure she is warm enough so not dropping weight using energy to keep warm although if she is roughed off be careful she does not get too hot either .
Feed I would keep simple, either an unmolassed grass chop or soaked grassnuts with a supplement or balancer for vits/ mins, adding micronised linseed for a bit of extra condition, that should suit almost any horse and can be fed in moderate quantities and increased as and when required, far better than a mix which is full of sugar and starch.

 

[TGM]

Agree with the above - adlib hay or haylage, then a balancer/supplement with some unmollassed beet or grass chaff/nuts. You can vary the amount of beet/grass according to condition, and as said above add micronised linseed if more weight is needed. This is exactly what my 4yo had at that stage (Spillers balancer and mollassed beet). No need for conditioning mixes or the like.

 

[jess_ruby]

She eats them all, she's very much if I was to put a round bale of hay in the field she would stand all day and gorge herself on it. This then results in her being bloated so thought stick to the 2 haynets possibly increase to 3 and see what feed would be best to keep it all in moderation and still giving her all the goodness?
Any recommendations on balancers? So maybe a speedibeet or A&P fast fibre i've heard can be good or no beet just a balancer and maybe dengie chaff? Last year she was just on spillers conditioning fibre but she is not looking as well this winter so thought it might be due for a change.
Thanks for your help

 

[Goldenstar]

I would let a four year old eat as much hay as it wanted and I would give a pelleted balancer like gain opti care and bit of grass chop and 200 Grammes of linseed and some salt daily.
Four year olds are often quite light it’s good for them to carry little fat when they are growing .

 

[TGM]

She eats them all, she's very much if I was to put a round bale of hay in the field she would stand all day and gorge herself on it. This then results in her being bloated so thought stick to the 2 haynets possibly increase to 3 and see what feed would be best to keep it all in moderation and still giving her all the goodness?
Any recommendations on balancers? So maybe a speedibeet or A&P fast fibre i've heard can be good or no beet just a balancer and maybe dengie chaff? Last year she was just on spillers conditioning fibre but she is not looking as well this winter so thought it might be due for a change.
Thanks for your help

If she is eating all her hay, and is not in the best condition at the moment, you should increase the hay. Feed ad lib unless she is actually getting too fat. Cheaper for your pocket than increasing the hard feed, better for her stomach (less chance of ulcers), and will keep her warm from the inside. Speedibeet is much more calorific than Fast Fibre, which you might want to take into account if she is not holding enough condition.

 

[splashgirl45]

i would not restrict her hay and increase her feed. that is not the way to go, she needs as much hay as she will eat and a balancer so she gets all her vits and mins. it is far better to increase hay IMO especially at this time of year when she wont be getting much goodness from the grass.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I would feed ad lib hay before adding any hard feed when my horse was young this is all I did and he put weight on, if you wanted to add something to help with condition I would use micronised linseed.

 

[Cortez]

If she's light it is because she is A. growing, and B. not getting enough hay. I wouldn't feed any hard feed until I had increased the hay ration and see what that does. I suspect by "bloating" you mean a full belly, which is what you should be aiming for, unless you want ulcers.

 

[jess_ruby]

May I just state that I am looking for advice not any comments that are unecessary, I am going to add in topspec comp balancer some micronised linseed and a chaff of some kind, up the hay and see how she goes (obviously introduce feed over time) she's looking lighter than first though so I'm on the case now thank you to everyone for your advice!

 

[splashgirl45]

May I just state that I am looking for advice not any comments that are unecessary, I am going to add in topspec comp balancer some micronised linseed and a chaff of some kind, up the hay and see how she goes (obviously introduce feed over time) she's looking lighter than first though so I'm on the case now thank you to everyone for your advice!

can i please ask which comment were unnecessary? i have read them all and i think everyone has answered your questions , if you have found offence in these posts , wait till you get some real criticism....

 

[Goldenstar]

can i please ask which comment were unnecessary? i have read them all and i think everyone has answered your questions , if you have found offence in these posts , wait till you get some real criticism....

Quite ,
I thought we all played very nicely on this thread .

 

[Pearlsasinger]

She eats them all, she's very much if I was to put a round bale of hay in the field she would stand all day and gorge herself on it. This then results in her being bloated so thought stick to the 2 haynets possibly increase to 3 and see what feed would be best to keep it all in moderation and still giving her all the goodness?
Any recommendations on balancers? So maybe a speedibeet or A&P fast fibre i've heard can be good or no beet just a balancer and maybe dengie chaff? Last year she was just on spillers conditioning fibre but she is not looking as well this winter so thought it might be due for a change.
Thanks for your help

Unless you have actually put a whole bale out and let her eat it, you don't know that she would stand all day and gorge on it. You seem to have underestimated the amount of hay that she needs, so because she is hungry, she will stand and eat until it has all gone. When horses get used to having enough forge available they don't gorge but it can take a while for them to get used to having enough available.

 

[jess_ruby]

can i please ask which comment were unnecessary? i have read them all and i think everyone has answered your questions , if you have found offence in these posts , wait till you get some real criticism....

I was simply adding that in not pointing fingers to prevent any stereotypical I think I know best behaviour please don't take offence

 

[jess_ruby]

Thanks everyone your advice was appreciated as already stated and i'm now on the above feed/hay regime! Big help!

 

[splashgirl45]

I was simply adding that in not pointing fingers to prevent any stereotypical I think I know best behaviour please don't take offence

i really dont understand what you are saying, who is please dont take offence meant for?

 

[jess_ruby]

I was saying it wasn't aimed at anyone, it was to prevent, as I had forgot to put it in first post. The please don't take offence was for you or anyone. As for you to make a comment it has obviously got to you. Now if you are not referring to the title please move along and find something better to do 😊

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Jess_Ruby I don't think the above comments were mean't personally.. the above just giving advice as a hole. You are taking their advice a little to heart I don't think they meant it that way.

Anyway, I have a pure D who does very well on what hes fed and constantly getting comments on his shiny coat/muscle. I fed Topspec last year and never saw any change, for that reason I'd put him on equilibria balancer and a handful of micronised linseed a day if he were mine with a small handful of chaff. I'd definitely give him some balancer, since having mine on a good one I've definitely seen a change and when worked they need something to help build the muscle etc. See how you go on top spec comp but its so expensive compared to equilibria balancer and I red a comparision that equilibria was a better.

No horse would gorge themselves on hay, I bet she'd stop eating once she had enough. They only gorge when they're hungry and not been given ad-lib so think its going to go. My D use to eat his haylage as fast as he could as old owner limited him as a baby, I kept giving it ad-lib and now he eats much slower and doesn't panic eat and always has a lot left over. Ad-lib hay is more important than any hard feed.

 

[splashgirl45]

I was saying it wasn't aimed at anyone, it was to prevent, as I had forgot to put it in first post. The please don't take offence was for you or anyone. As for you to make a comment it has obviously got to you. Now if you are not referring to the title please move along and find something better to do 😊

i obviously dont speak the same language as you, as you are new to the forum i assume you dont understand how it works..

 

[jess_ruby]

Thanks Aimeetess that's a big help 😊

 

[Goldenstar]

Some horses will gain wieght on just hay to the extent it damages their health Fatty would , he’s just too much of a good doer .
However this won’t ever happen to a young horse they must have all the forage they want if they are growing and working ,it would be a very very unusual youngster where ad-lib hay was an issue when it was working .