Feed Question

[vicm2509]

My horse is currently being fed Hi-Fi and high fibre cubes and is out 24/7 and gets hay when he comes in. When I bought him 4 months ago I was feeding conditioning mix as I was trying to build him up as his topline was very poor due to being out of work for a month. I achieved this but his poo was very loose and someone suggested fibre cubes so I swapped the conditioning mix for the high fibre cubes.

But I was wondering what type of mix to add to his winter feed as both hifi and high fibre cubes are for horses at rest or in light work. He is is medium work (getting ridden every day for about an hour) but I am still building up muscle. I am not wanting him to gain or loose any weight and just need something basic which will give him all the vitamins, minerals and anything else he needs.

From october he will be out in the day and in at night and will be fed hay (or maybe haylage) when hes in. I was thinking maybe just an economy mix. His old owners were only feeding him a scoop of Hifi twice a day throughout the winter and had the same turnout arrangement as I will have.

 

[ihatework]

I'd stay on the hi fibre cubes rather than giving economy mix.
If you need to up his feed give him more cubes.

 

[vicm2509]

So will the feed I give him contain all the vital vitamins, minerals etc?

I havent had a horse for a good few years, my last horse was TB and was fed so many different things to keep his weight on during the winter.

My horse now is a TBxID and TBH he does seem to hold his weight so far. I will probably add sugarebeet to his feed throughout the winter aswell.

 

[RachelB]

Sounds like light work to me. Mine does either 20mins lunging, 30mins schooling, or at least an hour and a half hack (lots of trotting) about six days a week and is still in light work!
How is he on the food you're giving him? If he has enough energy and condition, and the only thing you're worried about is the writing on the package that says 'for horses in light work', then I'd stick with it.
If you're worried about vits and mins maybe try a general purpose supplement?

 

[Maggie2]

Mixes are higher starch, that can easily cause digestive upsets, have a look at Spillers website for their Slow release Cube that is around 10 % starch, some mixes are 30.