Feed Help Please

[Emshad]

Hi,

I am new here and was just wondering if anyone had any good feeding advice they may like to share with me! My new gelding isnt underweight and is in good condition (bright eyes, fab coat etc etc) but in my personal opinion i would like him to put more weight on.

At the moment he is on Hi fi, Dodson and Horrell pasture mix
(2 feeds daily), ad lib hay and goes out everyday so gets a good amount of grass to. I was just wondering if anyone had tried or had any reccomendations of any suppliments etc that would help him gain a bit more weight (mostly around the rib and hind areas)

Thanks

 

[spaniel]

Can you post a photo of your horse? One persons underweight is another persons superfit plus it may be that what your horse is lacking is muscle which would be completely different.

You will get loads of great advice here so dont be shy!

 

[kerilli]

i swear by Baileys Stud Balancer. it's an all-round balancer (like Blue Chip, Top Spec, etc) but a lot cheaper. i've fed it to all of mine for years, just a cup or two a day with their feeds.
as long as you've had worm counts done and he's fine in that respect, (so you aren't feeding the worms, you're feeding him!) i'd say a balancer on top of what you're already feeding might be enough. you don't say how much work he's doing... if it's a moderate amount, i would feed Alfa A with the balancer, instead of the pasture mix, for slow-release energy without silly fizz. maybe add some soaked sugar beet too, as it is very palatable.

 

[Emshad]

Kerilli- worm counts have been done etc, so no chance of him having worms, I was going to put him on sugarbeet over the winter if he started dropping weight but wanted to see if there were any wonderful balancers/suppliments that i could try beforehand just to top the weight up/ keep it on, someone else reccomended Baileys Stud balancer so might give them a call I tried bluechip on my old horse and that seemed to improve his condition more than his weight- as I have only had my new boy less than a month i dont know what he will or wont fizz up on.

Spaniel- I am at work at the mo so will post a piccy of him when i get home I think part of it may be lacking muscle but around the tummy area i think it is definitly weight gain although i may be wrong but when i post the piccy you can see- Thanks Guys x

 

[galaxy]

If he needs a bit of weight swop the Hi - Fi (which is basically chopped straw and doing nothing nutritional for him) for Alfa A, preferably the oil if you really want weight gain.

If I really need to put weight on a horse I use Alfa Oil and D&H build up (the cubes if the horse can be hot). But if you don't need too much weight you could stick with pasture mix.

I would also consider swopping the hay for haylage, again much more goodness in it. If I was you I'd swop the Hi Fi and hay for starters and then see how you get on.

 

[Bertie1]

I would agree with the above, Hi Fi doesn't have much value in it, Alpha A would be better. Oil is also good, but you do have to feed it in large quantities to make any difference to weight, otherwise you'll just get a shiny coat, which is also nice!

IMO, sugar beet is brilliant for extra weight, extra fibre, succulents, everything! I feed it all year round as I think it helps rehydrate them in the summer. And it's cheap too, a scoop of dried beet soaked in water lasts my two big horses at least a couple of days (fed at half a scoop a feed).

In the past, I've used Allen and Page Calm and Condition for weight gain, and it does work well, but is expensive.

Now, I feed D&H Country Cubes, Speedibeet, alpha A (or Readigrass, also very good) and ad lib haylage. If I feel they need more weight, I just up the quantities a bit.

Personally, I'm sceptical about balancers.

Why don't you try just increasing the amount of pasture mix a bit and/or adding some speedibeet? And changing to a more nutritional chaff?

And for my last comment - check the quality of your hay, and also make sure he's warm enough!

 

[gina2201]

I've just put my TB on Alfa-A Oil an Fibremix Extra, he's only been on it a few days so can't really tell on how good it is yet!