Feed for 25YO thoroughbred

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xxcharlottexx

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My TB has been fed, chop, linseed and topspec senior balancer for probably the last 7 years. As he's got older, he's gotten a bit harder to keep weight on. Mainly i think due to his current field being much wetter and him getting colder through his legs. I've recently swapped him from bosmerix to bute after he was looking off in the field at the end of summer. Vet agreed to start him on half a sachet a day and he seems much happier.

I've tried taking him off the topsepc several times over the years due to the rising cost but he's always looks poorer for coming off it. Now that he's on the bute, I don't think the senior balance is as necessary and other than the linseed nothing is particularly conditioning but I don't know where to start!

Any recommendations for a simple field, that's cheaper than the topspec that will help him keep on the weight. Do I stay on a balancer?

Any advise welcome :)
 
I would prioritise things that give as much as possible, in as little matter as possible - there's no use feeding 4 scoops of a fibre feed if he can't chew it in years to come.

I really like coolstance copra which bulks out lovely and is coconut meal so purely fats, which are usually the easiest source of nutrients for the body to 'use' so to speak - you can get a sample from the website and a bag lasts a long time, my 18.3hh warmblood only had a balancer cup of it a day in full work. Micronised Linseed is another good one, I go to that if they won't eat the copra. I would also add an oil, as that is again lots of calories for not a lot of chewing required.

For the bulk of the food I would do a conditioning mash - Equerry do a good one, or if you can't get hold of that then Alfalfa pellets soak to a nice mash and have good levels of protein and are cost friendly (more so than the conditioning mash probably).

Personally I would stop the balancer and see if you see any noticeable difference, I doubt you will but it's worth finding out. Would he tolerate turnout boots without getting mud fever? That could be a good option to keep his legs slightly out of the cold and may help. I'd also have his teeth looked at to make sure he is chewing okay
 
Why isnt the Senior balancer necessary now he’s on Bute? Or is a specific joint balancer? He will still need a balancer, so either change to Top Spec Comprehensive balancer or keep him on what he is doing well on.
For more condition up the Forage and add another feed in over winter. If he’s feeling the cold make sure he’s well rugged. Also are teeth and worming up to date.
 
Forgot to add he has speedibeet too.

Will look at the coolstance and conditioning mashes.

He is prone to mud fever as it is so think turnout boots would be a no go. Could be worth investigating though, thanks :)

In terms of the balancer he'll still be getting befit from it and his feet and coat look much better being on it but his joints and stiffness is now being covered by the bute.

Senior balancer is now £45 a bag, comprehensive is £38 so even switching that could make a saving.

Teeth and worming up to date.

They've been coming in during the day but the last bale we had wasn't that nice an no one was that interested. Just got a new one which is much nicer. Still not eating a great deal just yet though.

At the minute he is getting an extra feed when my friend is bringing him in and I just split the balancer between but he's on double linseed, chop and beet
 
xxcharlottexx said:
Forgot to add he has speedibeet too.

Will look at the coolstance and conditioning mashes.

He is prone to mud fever as it is so think turnout boots would be a no go. Could be worth investigating though, thanks :)

In terms of the balancer he'll still be getting befit from it and his feet and coat look much better being on it but his joints and stiffness is now being covered by the bute.

Senior balancer is now £45 a bag, comprehensive is £38 so even switching that could make a saving.

Teeth and worming up to date.

They've been coming in during the day but the last bale we had wasn't that nice an no one was that interested. Just got a new one which is much nicer. Still not eating a great deal just yet though.

At the minute he is getting an extra feed when my friend is bringing him in and I just split the balancer between but he's on double linseed, chop and beet
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Worth trying a senior conditiong mash, such as spillers? Also Dodson and Horrell do a cushcare condition feed, which soaks to a mash and has been great keeping the weight on my boy who is 3/4 TB
 
Mine gets Cushcare, along with Spillers Speedy Mash Fibre and is doing really well on it. I don't see much point in feeding chop if there's no reason to personally, so I'd up the beet and add linseed to that.
 
So you could try a conditioning/complete feed mash, such as Allen & Page care + gain, then you wouldn't need the balancer, as his vit/min requirements would be covered if you fed at the recommended amount. You could also upgrade his chaff to something like honeychop topline and shine, or dengie alfa a oil, to add some calories that way
 
My old, extremely fussy thoroughbred had grass nuts, ERS pellets and copra. He was a very poor doer, and we suspect his heart was failing near the end. He also had PPID. Current ex-racer, who is only five, but has a lightning fast metabolism, is looking good on copra and omega rice, with a half scoop of alfalfa chaff to stop her inhaling it like the absolute dustbin she is!
 
Turnout boots help to prevent mud fever. My friend's horse is prone to it but turnout boots stop him getting it. Without them, he'd struggle to get out most of the winter.

My old boy did pretty well on Ease and Excel cubes (better for his teeth than the mix which has chaff in it) Veteran Vitality and Micronised Linseed.
 
Annagain said:
Turnout boots help to prevent mud fever. My friend's horse is prone to it but turnout boots stop him getting it. Without them, he'd struggle to get out most of the winter.

My old boy did pretty well on Ease and Excel cubes (better for his teeth than the mix which has chaff in it) Veteran Vitality and Micronised Linseed.
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I think in some cases they do, but it depends what type of mud as the wetter stuff can get up inside the boot and then the boot holds it against the skin all day ime
 
He's out 24/7 and ive put hay out but they're not interested in it at the moment. Unfortunately as the grass dissapears hes at the bottom of the pecking order (bar the mini shetland) so does get moved off nore than id like but not much i can do. When he comes in it's adlib. He's not particularly greedy though and is a bit of a day dreamer lol.
 
xxcharlottexx said:
He's out 24/7 and ive put hay out but they're not interested in it at the moment. Unfortunately as the grass dissapears hes at the bottom of the pecking order (bar the mini shetland) so does get moved off nore than id like but not much i can do. When he comes in it's adlib. He's not particularly greedy though and is a bit of a day dreamer lol.
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If you have multiple horses in the field do ensure that you put more hay stations out (spread well apart) than horses. That way no one gets bullied off and gets their fair share.
 
Amymay Again said:
If you have multiple horses in the field do ensure that you put more hay stations out (spread well apart) than horses. That way no one gets bullied off and gets their fair share.
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Oh yes I always put 6 nets out for the 3 horses much to my friends dismay as they don't really need it haha. He's just a much slower eater than the others
 
I put my 30 year old (now 31) gelding onto Allen & Paige Care and Gain in spring, on recommendation from my friend (who has two elderly horses both in their mid-20s) after she was one of their guineapigs for when they first trialled this new fibre feed. It's done wonders for keeping condition on both her oldies and I have been super-pleased with how it's kept condition on my old gelding too. It's about £15 a bag and lasts a fair while.

He has one meal a day of 2 mugs of care and gain (you just soak it for 3 minutes) with chaff and 1 mug of micronised linseed added, and he lives out on good grass and has hay too.

His teeth are worn and he sees dentist who does a good job keeping them going. He is often rugged at night and is not clipped or ridden any more.

He lives out with two younger geldings who have to be shut away at feeding time as they would both love to help him eat his care and gain. Once he's finished, he always quids the food and then spends a while licking it up off the floor around the bucket, then I let them out and they come and do the 'washing up'.

In mid-winter if weather is vile, or if I notice he's losing weight, I'll give him two feeds a day. I also weigh tape him regularly so I know if he's losing or gaining weight.
 
I've just switched my 33 year old horse to AP Care and Gain. He is doing really well on it.
I am feeding less than I did with the Spillers Senior Super Mash (which is also good).
I have Speedibeet and Baileys Meadow Cobs on standby for when the weather gets colder.
 
my 27 year old who is still in work has a large stubbs scoop twice a day of spillers high fibre nuts. he has a handful of chaff and lots of carrots and looks amazing. he loves them. he has very little water on them so that he has to produce saliva. his stomach is working much better and his conditions looks a1. he does have a treat ball with baileys fibre plus cubes as well and adlib hay. he is a 17.2 competition horse by the way and has always been a very fussy eater. he currently gets through one large bale of first cut meadow hay in a month (not very much i know)
 
xxcharlottexx said:
For those feeding the care and gain what made you pick that over the soothe and gain. Is Lower in starch and sugar but also lower calories. Feeding is such a minefield!
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I've fed both to different horses. Soothe and Gain was well over the recommended sugar and starch for my PPID mare, but perfect for my big horse with no issues apart from a poor doer in Winter. I found Cushcare better than Care & Gain, so switched to that for my other pony.
 
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xxcharlottexx said:
For those feeding the care and gain what made you pick that over the soothe and gain. Is Lower in starch and sugar but also lower calories. Feeding is such a minefield!
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Personal recommendation from my friend who had trialled the product (when it was in trial) on her two elderly geldings. She lives close to the A&P factory so is a good tester for them!
 
Pidgeon said:
Worth trying a senior conditiong mash, such as spillers? Also Dodson and Horrell do a cushcare condition feed, which soaks to a mash and has been great keeping the weight on my boy who is 3/4 TB
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My 26 year old has put weight on with the Spilkers senior mash. I would recommend. Looks like you are feeding a lot but mostly water as it swells up a lot.
 
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