Feed experts - am I right with this or needing to change it up?

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mizzbiz

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Both horses were on this regime and looking fine condition wise:-
(Scoop measures are a standard stubbs big scoop)

ONE feed per day (after evening work), both living out with (admittedly poor) grazing and access to hay for an hour or so per day
1/4 scoop soaked A&P fast fibre / 1/3 scoop for the boy
1/4 scoop Dengie hifi molasses free / 1.2 scoop for the boy
The boy was also having 1/3 scoop Spillers conditioning cubes
Horse First Keep me sound supplement (50g per day) (contains glucosamine, biotin, lysine and methionine vitamin e, vitamin b12 b1 b2 b6, yea-sacc and liquorice)

The boy has suddenly dropped weight (granted increase in exercise) and looks tucked up and ribby so over the past week i've changed him to the following:-

TWO feeds per day (after morning and evening work)
1/2 scoop soaked A&P fast fibre (small increase from before)
1/2 scoop Dengie hifi original (instead of molasses free as before)
1/3 scoop Spillers conditioning cubes (same as before)
Horse First Keep me sound supplement (50g per day) (contains glucosamine, biotin, lysine and methionine vitamin e, vitamin b12 b1 b2 b6, yea-sacc and liquorice)
Micronised linseed at about 250g per day (new addition - how much to give? some people say up to a mugfull?!)

I'm also making arrangements for him to come in for a few hours per day to get hay into him. Does this sound like a reasonable weight gain plan or should i be adding barley rings or ready mash extra or oil? Changing him onto haylage? Accelerate bringing him in at night to have ad lib hay? I don't want to fizz him up (he's good energy wise for the work he does) but i need to get him better covered.

Any advice or opinions welcome - not interested in super expensive feeding regimes though and can't feed more than twice per day.
 
What he really needs is more grass or hay to fill him up, if he could be in all day with ad lib it may delay bringing him in at night otherwise if for some reason you cannot give hay in the field I would get him in before the weight loss becomes a real issue, also unless there is a good reason to be increasing the work at the same time as he is losing weight I would back off that a bit until he levels out.

The feed sounds ok as in my view it is the fibre/ constant access to forage that he is lacking and giving him too much hard feed will have little influence on him other than too make him more fizzy and will probably burn it off by needing more exercise.
 
Thanks for your response!
Unfortunately where I am more grass isn't an option nor is giving hay in the field, but I will definitely ensure he has a few hours per day in his stable to munch as I agree it must be the forage he's lacking - People at my yard keep making suggestions about different hard feeds and supplements but i don't really want to make crazy changes as generally i'm happy with him just conscious he's looking tucked up now! Thanks again for your input xx
 
Ad lib hay is what he really needs. However, I appreciate you can't give him hay in the field where you are. Bringing him in for a few hours during the day so he can get some hay down him is a good start though. Have you considered adding micronised linseed to his feed?
 
Within the past two weeks our horses have all become hungry and listless. I've been feeding hay in the field twice a day and also bringing in for a few hours for a net and feed. So would second feeding hay.
 
Agree with all the others, you need to get plenty of hay into him - almost certainly insufficient forage is the reason he is looking tucked up. By all means, try bringing him during the day to get more hay into him, but if that doesn't work then you will have to bite the bullet and bring him in overnight, if you are not allowed to feed hay in the field.
 
To gain weight he needs to be getting 2% of his bodyweight in dry matter daily, which is very hard to do without either good grass lots of water, not a huge proportion of dry matter) or decent forage. Work out how much you need in a bucket to achieve that and you will see that all the comments above are true.
 
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