Feed advice

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mudmonkey17

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My horse is a 17yr old middleweight cob/hunter type who is currently just working on fitness after the winter. He is not overweight and is not lacking in energy he just not looking as good as usual if that makes sense?
He has lost a lot of topline and neck muscle which i know is because he has had 6 weeks off because of the weather. He also suffers from loose droppings on and off.

Currently he is fed:
quarter of a scoop of sugar beet (the round feed scoops)
third a scoop of pasture mix
third a scoop of alfa a
2-3 scoops of pink powder/ haylage balancer in pm feed
devils relief and supaflex in pm feed

He is fed 2 meals a day, is turned out in the day and in with ad lib haylage at night.

I was wondering whether to cut out the pink powder and the sugar beet and add in a balancer such as blue chip original instead? Used to be on the dynamic until changed to superflex.

Any thoughts appreciated xx
 
I agree that balancer is prob what you're missing, he's prob not getting enough vits and mins for his size from that amount of pasture mix. Stud balancer is good as it's cheaper but with all the goodies you need!! Half a cup twice daily should be enough.
 
Hi thanks for that advice. All feed is included in livery apart from
supplements and they dictate the amounts fed unfortunately. He was getting fed more last winter when I was at a different yard and buying my own feed.
Is there any other balancers similar to blue chip that would help? Or perhaps a veteran one?
 
Hi thanks for that advice. All feed is included in livery apart from
supplements and they dictate the amounts fed unfortunately. He was getting fed more last winter when I was at a different yard and buying my own feed.
Is there any other balancers similar to blue chip that would help? Or perhaps a veteran one?
Also forgot to say he will be doing all riding club activities over summer with some hunter trials, so will be competing most weekends. Ridden around 6 times a week hacking and schooling so want to give him energy and stamina. He quite chilled horse so don't mind something that will give him a bit of fizz.
 
Top Spec and Spillers both do Veteran Horse balancers.

Pink Powder is however a balancer in powder form so it would be down to preference whether you feed a powder or pellet.

If he has lost a little of his sparkle, I would keep the Pink Powder.

Has he had all the usual checks? worming, teeth etc?

Adding more fibre to the diet will help with loose droppings.

A drop of oil may also help with coat condition too.
 
Hi thanks for that yes he has recently had teeth done and been wormed. Would something like high fibre cubes be better then?
Am so confused :)
 
Whilst the livery yard may dictate how much to feed (this annoys me as it is not their horse at the end of the day) if you cannot get them to feed more - if it was my horse i would buy a bag of conditioning mix or something similar and when i was there to ride (assuming you ride on a daily basis) would give him an extra meal fed by myself after ridden exercise. Sounds like he needs a conditioner rather than something to make him fizzy fitness and wellness will make him naturally more forward going. Good luck
 
It doesn;t seemto be a vast amount of food. I like Blue Chip myself, and find that my horse is less hungry when he is fed blue chip, if that makes sense. Have never used Pink Powder though so don;t know what that is like. I think a balancer would help.
 
I would increase the sugarbeet, Alfa and add High Fibre cubes instead of the Pasture Mix. Should be more than enough for a Cob Type. If he needs more condition/energy then I would add oil. I would also add a good pre/probiotic (Pink Powder will do as it also contains this) when horse is boxed. It will help the gut cope with the change in his routine.

I would speak to the horse feed companies for exact quantities based on weight and work load. They are free to speak to and help lines can be found on their website. They can also email you the feeding plan they propose should you need this when discussing your horses requirements with your YO.
 
ditto what others have hinted at~~~~for his size doesnt seem to be getting very much considering he is working. if you fed him more last winter that probably accounts for change in topline this winter. a horse of his type shouldnt lose topline in just 6 weeks i wouldnt have thought. i would discuss with livery provider the actual weight allowance of hard feed included in your livery payment and then supplement it with suitable cube or coarse mix ration making sure he gets this as well as not instead of the livery ration. although we all have our preferred supplements it sounds a bit as if you are adding supplements simply to increase his rations~~~will be more beneficial to just make sure he gets enough in the first place. i would hate to be dictated to what to feed my horses.
 
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