Feeding ex race horses

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Charliechalk

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Ive just started to bring my ex racer into work after having the winter off. I want to school him 2 - 3 times a week and he will be hacked out. He isn't terribly thin at the moment but needs to build up topline, he will only be schooled for 20min sessions initially then hope to build this up (although he has a very short attention span!) Has anyone got any advice on what to feed him, don't want anything thats going to fizz him up as he is prone to bucking anyway!
Thanks
 
Allen & Page Calm & Condition suits TBs very well in my experience. make sure you soak in accordance with the instructions on the bag though!!!
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Mine is in full work and he gets fed an endurance mix which has worked really well for him as the nergy source comes from oils and fibres,alfa a and top spec flakes whihc have put a good amount of condition on him without sending him loopy. He gets as much fibre as I can get into him but I have to feed from different sources as he gets bored with just a haynet so I feed hay,haylege,good doer and a brick to give him variety. If you base your diet around lots of fibre and oil you won't go far wrong
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sounds exactly like mine - he loves his haylege but the stuff we can get is a bit ike rocket fuel for hime so he only gets a small amount of it but the bricks are fab he throughly enjoys throwing it around his box!!!
 
http://www.horsefair.co.uk/product.asp?cookiecheck=yes&P_ID=496 you can feed them as a complete feed but a 16.2hh would need to eat four a day hich is a little expensive !!! so mine just has one .It takes him about 45 mins to demolish one and they didn't heat him up at all . They are good for when I put mine out24/7 as I can hide him in the corner with one and all the other horses think he is grazing so he doesn't get hassled at all. They are good for oldies as well.
 
my exracer is on Simple systems, which is a totally fibre based feed, I also give him ad lib haylage and he is fantastic on it, totally calm and chilled. The key with ex racers is fibre fibre fibre and linseed oil. They frequently have ulcers as the short feed diet they have in racing causes acid build up. Don't feed garlic as that will irritate any ulcers that are in there and destroy the gut flora which is vital. Mine is worked 5 times a week one of which is either XC schooling, a gallop or a Hunter trial. He will happily compete at a 5 min XC course and his breathing is back to normal within 2 mins so extremely fit. He will be evented off simple systems.
 
My 2 get unmollassed beet, dengie alfalfa pellets and micronised linseed, if you need extra calories try Copra. If you suspect ulcers or any kind of stomach damage i'd highly recommend Global herbs Acid-X, its fabby stuff and its made a massive difference to my boy.
I've definitely found that fibre is the way to go, Allen & page fast fibre is pretty good too.
They do tend to stay on the skinny side for a while, I do wonder whether their metabolism needs to re-adjust?
 
I feed mine Hickstead Conditioning Cubes & Cond. Mix with chaff, a good glug of vegetable oil and some black sunflower seeds. He is blooming on it. He also spends 12 hours out a day on good grass.

Funnily enough my father in law who found my horse for me is staying with us at the moment. We went out to see the horse yesterday and he couldn't believe it was the same horse. He has gone from being a very thin unmuscled racehorse to a middleweight hunter in 9 months.

I wouldn't dare give mine competition mix even in the middle of the hunting season because it would blow his mind. The conditioning feeds seem to work very well giving condition but not heating at all.
 
My girl has Allen and Page Calm and Condition, Hi-Fi, large net of haylage at night and around 10-11 hours out in the field on very good grazing, she is currently out of work, but due to come back in in the next week or so, so will start with 20 mins walking and then build up, she is a rather lean TB. Also would recommend A&P Fast Fibre... as said below make sure you follow the instructions on the bag....
 
Thanks for all the advice, have phoned Allen and Page today and they nave advised Calm and Condition so will give it a go. Have any of you with ex racers ever heard of a horse bucking because of stomach ulcers. My horse started to buck in the winter and i had all the checks done etc, the vet seems to think pain from ulcers could cause this to happen, he hasn't done it for a while and the vet said it may of been from acid build up in the stomach as he wasn't grazing continually in the field. He would stand at the gate after the first horse came in and i couldn't get up for another couple of hours. Has anyone had similar problems?
 
One of my exracers has ulcers/intollerances and used to misbehave because of it. I feed him unmollassed chaff - Badminton Ultra Grass or Readi Grass - Allen and Page Fast Fibre and either the A&P Power and Performance if he needs some 'oomph' or Ride And Relax if he doesnt. The Calm and Condition worked a treat though I have found that now I have his feeding problems sorted that he keeps weight on easily.

I used C&C on my new boy when he arrived, also exracer, and he PILED weight on but was a little fizzy on it and is now just on Fast Fibre instead.

If he does have a dodgy stomach then stick with low cereal, low sugar feeds if you can - I also feed all 3 of my exracers Pink Powder to help them digest their feeds properly and too make sure they are getting all their vits and minerals and would recommend you giving that a go too.

Good luck!
 
mine is thriving on the new winergy equilibrium feed which is mainly 4 different fibres, I have him on either the condition or senior depending on what time of year and the condition he's in. their helpline is very informative. mine had ulcer problems and I find this system works really well.
 
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mine is thriving on the new winergy equilibrium feed which is mainly 4 different fibres, I have him on either the condition or senior depending on what time of year and the condition he's in. their helpline is very informative. mine had ulcer problems and I find this system works really well.

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I found the Winergy feed to be fantastic for my sensitive boy, he looked and felt fab - but it was difficult to get hold of and very expensive so I had to change, especially with 3 too feed!
 
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Thanks for all the advice, have phoned Allen and Page today and they nave advised Calm and Condition so will give it a go. Have any of you with ex racers ever heard of a horse bucking because of stomach ulcers. My horse started to buck in the winter and i had all the checks done etc, the vet seems to think pain from ulcers could cause this to happen, he hasn't done it for a while and the vet said it may of been from acid build up in the stomach as he wasn't grazing continually in the field. He would stand at the gate after the first horse came in and i couldn't get up for another couple of hours. Has anyone had similar problems?

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i had similar problems with my last ex racer,he was a windsucker which i dont think helped his tummy discomfort. i saw a big improvement in his temperament, behaviour and condition by doing putting him on a low sugar high fibre diet, making sure he always had hay to eat so there was always something in his belly, i also used to feed him a handful of his chaff before riding. this stops any acid swooshing about in the tummy during exercise.

the feed i found worked best for my ex racer was
spillers conditioning fibre - i cant recomend this chaff enough,ive had fantastic results from it
barley rings
top spec cool condition cubes
grass nuts

i tried so many diferent conditining cubes on my boy but once on the combination above he put on weight quickly and maintained it well

HTH good luck! ex racers are so rewarding once it all coems together!
 
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