Feeding and Rugging -- Thoroughbreds in winter

HumidClimate

HumidClimate

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 September 2010
Messages
55
Location
Basingstoke, Hampshire
Visit site
Can anyone tell me what their routine is with their thoroughbreds in winter. As I will now be looking after my own horses this winter I wanted to make sure they are happy and healthy when the weather is at it's worst.

They will have a huge 4 acre paddock with lots of grass (at the moment), natural shelter and two stables (in the paddock) which I can leave open 24/7

What would be a good winter feed for them?

I will also be supplementing them with haylage ....
 
I don't have tb's but anything with lots of fibre is good. It's digested slowly and so helps keep them warm. I kept my wb's on fibre mix, speedibeet and alfa a chaff last winter and the young ones who were out did fab on it. x
 
i have a tb x and a connemara ..
i feed them the same feeds and they seems to be doing good on it in winter
they have lots of grass still ..( only this year as i have moved them )
i will be feeding a meadow mix and a alpha a original and beet
with haylage . twice a day ..
when i was at the old field the grass was very poor . so i had to feed hard feed all year round .. but wamer months i cut it down to one feed a day with out the beet .. but just more haylage .. they seemed to do well on that ..
now ive moved . it will be hard feeds in the winter twice a day and haylage ...
 
My TB has a scoop twice a day of conditioning cubes, and two slices of horsehage per day (about 7kg), whatever the time of year, with yeast supplement to help her digestion. She doesn't go out on grass but does get turnout, so the above is her total diet. I used to really struggle with her in the winter, but since I discovered the joys of 13.5 tog double duvets, haven't had any trouble, and she now doesn't eat any more in the winter than in the summer. It really is a case of keeping them warm enough, and TBs get very cold, very quickly, and when they get cold, they drop weight overnight! Rugging is def cheaper than feeding tho!
 
I have a TB broodmare, her TB/Zang foal and will be feeding haylage and making mineral lick available. Last year I fed conditioning mix but it worked out terribly expensive as I have 6 of them. My instructor (who is massively qualified says she just does ad lib hay for hers) I do have 30 acres of very good grass though - mind you if the winter is like last one then they wont see it for ages. I think its important to keep a close eye as if they lose weight it is a total nightmare putting it back on them.
 
During winter my TB girl is rugged in full neck heavy weights and in at night. She gets half a bale of hay per day, scoop of Saracen veteran mix, half scoop Speedy beat, scoop Alfa A Chaff, scoop of nuts, vitamin suppliment, oil twice per day, cortaflex. We are also lucky to have masses of grazing. She's 21 and needs TLC!
 
A lot depends on the level of work they will be doing. My own Tb who is only hacked out at weekends through the winter, has daily turnout and is in at night from Nov-Mar. He has ad lib hay (haylage sent him loopy, too sugary!) and 3 feeds a day, all the same, made up of half a round scoop each of Fast Fibre, HIfi light and pony nuts + supplements. It has taken me a couple of winters to get the balance right, keeping enough condition on without him getting silly but I would recommend fibre all the way.
 
A lot depends on whether they are good doers or poor doers. I would aim to make sure that there is haylage available in the field at all times once the grass starts to go (don't put it in the stables if the stables are left open as it might start a fight in a confined space). If they are good doers the ad lib haylage may be enough to maintain their condition, although you might like to add a balancer or vit/min supplement for your peace of mind.

If they are not good doers you will have to give some sort of bucket feed - you could either opt for a commercial cube/mix (perhaps a conditioning one if they have real trouble holding their weight) or you could use straight fibre and oil based feeds (alfalfa, beet, dried grass, micronised linseed) with a vit/min supplement or balancer added.
 
Are they living out 24/7? Really depends on the horse. My ex racer kept weight quite well compared to some. His routine was stabled with a fleece, 350g stable rug and sheet ontop to keep clean so he was defo warm. Got about 13kg of haylage and 2 scoops conditioning cubes and 2 scoops alfa a oil per day and 3 tablespoons of soya oil, he was worked 5-6days a week for an hour. He only got turned out about 3 times a week for 5hrs each time and was rugged with a sheet and 400g rug on top to keep him warm. He was also fully clipped. Dont no how helpful that is sorry
 
Berkeley said:
During winter my TB girl is rugged in full neck heavy weights and in at night. She gets half a bale of hay per day, scoop of Saracen veteran mix, half scoop Speedy beat, scoop Alfa A Chaff, scoop of nuts, vitamin suppliment, oil twice per day, cortaflex. We are also lucky to have masses of grazing. She's 21 and needs TLC!
Click to expand...

That sounds about the same as my routine, mine's 12 and I have poor grazing, so she gets three quarters of a bale and some "graze on" too.
 
I've kept TB's out 24/7 and as long as you keep them well rugged and give them plenty of hay they are usually healthy and happy. Hard feed depends on how well they are doing and what they are doing. In the winter I mainly just hack out and school a little so I've found that cool mix, sugar beet with oil and a broad spectrum vitamin supplement suffices.
As long as they are kept warm they won't really lose much weight.
 
I am planning for Charlie to live out this winter. In preparation for this iam feeding twice a day with 1.5 scoops of baileys 17 and 1 scoop of mollichaff and rugging at night. He is still on good grazing at the moment. When we change down on to the winter field he will still be feed twice a day with speedibeet added to his diet. The winter field is 10 acres with lots of shelter and grazing. He will also have ad lib hay in the field. They will probably move to this field at the end of october. He will be worked 6 days and probably spend some time in during the day in his stable. He will be rugged during the winter in heavyweight turnouts with necks and he wont be clipped.
 
mine is unclipped (although may have a trace this year). In at night, out with lots of natural shelter during day. Well rugged up.

Feed: I survived all last year on chaff and basic pony nuts, even with all the snow and he kept his weight on well even though he is most certainly not a good doer. Anything else hypes him up- even basic fibre beet etc. I make sure he's a good weight before winter and make sure he's always got plenty of hay and then he's calm and sensible.
 
We try to leave ours out as long as possible leaving them piles of haylage to eat out in the field. When they do eventually come in for the winter nights she gets 2 big haylage nets to munch on through the night.

We tend to ramp up the feed and rugs as the weather gets colder, we do a lot of layering too. Her yard is up in the hills, it is always a bit colder there than say where my house is.

Right now ours is on about a scoop of Bailey's No 2 and Hi Fi with a biotin supplement and apples/carrots, eventually we'll increase the quantities and also go to 2 feeds a day and add fibre beet and pink powder.

The diet is fibre heavy (with oil coming from the Bailey's No 2) because she wind sucks and I had read that a high fibre diet can help reduce this behaviour, it has actually helped in her case. Also fibre is good for hooves (hers are poor) and is good for avoiding fizziness but getting a steady release of energy and helping her keep warm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top