Feed for keeping weight on - ideas please

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cyberhorse

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I am looking for feed to help keep weight on my horse. He was on cooked barley but that we think? could be partly responsible problems with his feet so we need something that is good for weight maintenance and energy without being high in sugar. This is the second week after cutting down the sugar in his bucket and replace with oils and he is starting to show early signs of a poverty line on his bottom coming back. He is on ad lib haylage, and 2 buckets daily with beet, chop, bran, oil and a small amount of molly (the only way he'll eat the chop by mixing them up). He has yesacc in his feeds to try and maximise absorption. He is in moderate to hard work. We have no problems in spring/summer with his weight when the grass is good.

Any suggestions please?
 
Mine is on A&P Calm & Condition. When he drops some weight I just increase the amount for a couple of weeks, that seems to do the trick. He does really well on grass in summer too.
He used to be on Barley but that didn't help with weight or his crappy feet :rolleyes:
 
Thanks guys I have completed the Bailey's nutrition advice form to see what they would suggest to try.I have a friend on the yard who is using calm and condition so could try a little of that without committing to a big bag straight off.
 
Rowen and Barbary have a reasonably new feed out called Solutions Mash. It is lower in starch and sugar than Fast Fibre, but is designed to put condition on. My TB mare is on it at the moment. The jury's still out on whether it's palatable or not, but then she's fussy over most things!
 
Micronised linseed has worked v well for my ned who's v v sensitive to starch/ sugars/ etc. It's v economical too. Charnwood mills deliver.
 
Another one for micronised linseed. I feed all my TB's it and they all look splendid. Linseed is also good for joint's and skin. It's also very cheap.
 
How much of the linseed do you feed and is it palatable? basically if it's not tasty he'll pick it out and dump it on the floor. Obviously I would then take out his linseed oil, would you keep in the soya and cod liver oil or would this then be unnecessary? He gets a tablespoon of each in his meals and although it is not much it does stop his knees clicking.

Holly hocks - how fussy is your mare? my lad is one of those that goes through his bucket feed and do you know if they do one with flavorings? I know some feeds come in mint flavour.

As a general question does anyone use apple cider vinegar/apple juice to encourage them to eat something that is good for them but they are not so keen on? I have never tried it as I was unsure/uncomfortable about the acidity and if it could cause problems (many horses are said to suffer from undiagnosed ulcers)? I do feed it to my chickens and it really does them good and it is labelled up for horses with appetite problems...
 
You don't need to feed much micronised linseed (I feed a large cupful twice a day) and it has a sawdust consistency so just mixes into his other hard feed no prob so no bits to pick out! I just feed hifi
 
Whoops pressed reply to early! I just feed hifi, speedi beet, mic. Linseed, magnesium and lysine and adlib hay to a ned who is not a good doer in winter but a fatty in summer. He's only been on linseed for a couple of months but seems to be doing the trick and is meant to be good for coat/ hooves and sweet itch sufferers (mine isn't)
 
cyberhorse said:
Holly hocks - how fussy is your mare? my lad is one of those that goes through his bucket feed and do you know if they do one with flavorings? I know some feeds come in mint flavour.
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She is incredibly fussy - the only thing she likes is Spillers high fibre cubes - everything else gets picked at - tonight I gave her her feed at 4.30pm, but at least when I went back at 8.30pm she had eaten it.
The Solutions Mash has added yea sacc in as well so you wouldn't need to add that. It does have quite a strong smell of garlic about it though!
 
I swear by Blue Chip, it contains yea sacc, linseed, stuff for the feet and all vitamins and minerals and I'm actually struggling to keep the weight of my ex racer.
Gives them a really shiney coat too.
It seems expensive but you really can cut out all hard feed, I just give a bit of alfa a with it and sugar beet in the winter so it's no more expensive than all the bags of hardfeed you would be using otherwise... and a hell of a lot easier on your back and timesaving when mixing feeds... :D

Out of curiosity, what do you class as medium to hard work?
 
sugarpuff said:
You don't need to feed much micronised linseed (I feed a large cupful twice a day) and it has a sawdust consistency so just mixes into his other hard feed no prob so no bits to pick out! I just feed hifi
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Ah ha so that could easily be hidden in his beet portion - I am liking the sound of this! Do you find it also gives them noticeably more energy in addition to keeping the weight on when fed at this feed ration? He was a bit quiet and lacked his usual spark when I rode him last night, so we are perhaps starting to miss the grain effect already...
 
Delta99 said:
I swear by Blue Chip, it contains yea sacc, linseed, stuff for the feet and all vitamins and minerals and I'm actually struggling to keep the weight of my ex racer.
Gives them a really shiney coat too.
It seems expensive but you really can cut out all hard feed, I just give a bit of alfa a with it and sugar beet in the winter so it's no more expensive than all the bags of hardfeed you would be using otherwise... and a hell of a lot easier on your back and timesaving when mixing feeds... :D

Out of curiosity, what do you class as medium to hard work?
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I'll have a look at the contents to cross check them with the "additionals" he gets and work out how it compares.

Out of curiosity, what do you class as medium to hard work?[/QUOTE]

He competes most weeks in showjumping (not at his top end scope). At home he has very varied work tailored to how he is going and his fitness levels so a mixture of long and low schooling, pessoa, loose jumping (occasionally), and basic ground work including dressage movements for flexibilty, and more relaxed days of hacking/horsewalker. In his work it is quality not quantity so times also vary with how he is going. He gets a guaranteed minimum of one day off a week.

Got some very good ideas thanks everyone! I am sure I'll find something he'll eat from these suggestions or at least something I can easily hide. I did look into kompeet, but as it has not been around for long I'd rather others blazed a trail on this one as most of the reviews seem to be from the company, we don't know what is does in the long term and it's £120 for a tub! However as I have actually now sat down and worked out how much I have spent in supplements "correcting" the grain element of his diet it is ridiculous, so not going back even if some of these feeds are considered pricey - just total false economy. There'll be something that works for us, fingers crossed!
 
You could always try adding some black oil sunflower seeds to his feed. they are high in fat and low in sugar. Ideally youshould feed no more than about 2 pounds a day. You can buy them in about 15 kg sacks from placs which supply feed for wild birds. They are a good source of vits and minerals too.
 
Just wondering what work your horse is doing- maybe up the hay ration- total dry feed weight should be 2- 2.5 % of the horses ideal bodyweight daily.

If my horse was not in fast work I could up his weight by increasing the hay / haylage ration. Just an idea.



The grass is starting to come through so that should help! We will all be bleating about how to get weight off in a couple of months!
 
Heard back from Baileys today. They are recommending feeding outshine and performance balancer and keeping him on his chaff and beet with it. So can look into this and see if he'll eat it.

Haylage wise he is on ad lib and I empty half a net into the youngsters pen daily so he won't fill up on that.

Totally agree with you Buisness as soon as we hit spring I start muttering and swearing when doing up his girth!
 
Delta99 said:
I swear by Blue Chip, it contains yea sacc, linseed, stuff for the feet and all vitamins and minerals and I'm actually struggling to keep the weight of my ex racer.
Gives them a really shiney coat too.
It seems expensive but you really can cut out all hard feed, I just give a bit of alfa a with it and sugar beet in the winter so it's no more expensive than all the bags of hardfeed you would be using otherwise... and a hell of a lot easier on your back and timesaving when mixing feeds... :D
Click to expand...

I have sent an enquiry to them to see how they think he would do on their Blue Chip Pro which seems to be aimed at performance horses and if I could just feed with his beet and chop. It would be nice if one feed could do it all so thanks for the suggestion!
 
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