feed advice please!!

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horsey mad matt

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i feed my 15.2 hh 6 yr old irish x gelding on the following once a day:

2/3 round stubbs scoop of pasture mix
2/3 round stubbs scoop of livery pencils or horse and pony cubes
1 round stubbs scoop of mollichaff
small scp spedi-beet

do you think this is the right feed for he is good at keeping weight on for the winter and is fed also 2 scps redi- grass and 1/3 bale of hay a day forage.

please give advice thanks!! :)
 
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Is there any reason you feed pasture mix AND horse or pony cubes? They basically do the same job, although the mix is probably higher in cereals (and therefore starch).

When you say he is good at keeping weight on in the winter, do you mean he is overweight now or just at the right weight? If he is overweight then I would definitely reduce the hard feed.

What sort of work does he do and how do you find his energy levels and temperament? Is he fizzy, just right or lazy? Does he have a history of any health problems - colic, laminitis, azoturia etc?

Is he stabled, part-stabled, living out? What sort of grazing does he have access to?
 
i give him the mix and cubes so they he doesn't have quite as much starch as the mix alone would give.
he is just about the right weight maybe a little poggy but i like him to be like that at this time of year incase he does loose a little condition over the winter.
he does hacking once a week at the moment because of the early evening but in the summer is ridden out or in the field most days, he is forward going but not very fizzy. he lives out all year but has a shelter that he rarely goes in.
 
For the small amount of work he's doing I'd dump all the hard feed and feed sufficient forage for maintenance with perhaps a small amount of speedibeet to mix a vit/min supplement in or give him a balancer pellet. Upping the forage will keep him occupied for longer, keep his gut active and help him keep himself warm.
 
hacking once a week = plenty of long stem fibre, and a TOKEN feed of chaff and sugar beet or similar . will make you feel better. depends on how well rugged whether in at night etc and if he is a good or poor doer.
 
Agree with the others that for a good doer in such light work, it would be best to cut the hard feed out. Perhaps give a vit/min supplement in a handful of chaff, and if he starts to lose a little condition then give him more hay (which will work out cheaper than giving bucket feed). Only start giving hard feed if he can't eat enough hay to maintain condition.
 
Ali2 said:
For the small amount of work he's doing I'd dump all the hard feed and feed sufficient forage for maintenance with perhaps a small amount of speedibeet to mix a vit/min supplement in or give him a balancer pellet. Upping the forage will keep him occupied for longer, keep his gut active and help him keep himself warm.
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^^^ I do similar to this^^^

mine are in little to no work at the moment, am waiting for the farrier for my girl ATM he didn't do much work with the weather so is a bit backlogged :(

But I feed my mare (TBx) Fast Fibre from A&P although couldn't get any today so had to buy something else :( And my youngster gets the same with a bit of chaff added because he doesn't like the FF soaked and on its own. In addition to this they have a vitamin and mineral supplement and all the haylage they can eat, with good grazing (when its not covered in snow)

Both are well covered but not fat, and little man is definately thriving on it :)
 
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