Feeding Help - Not used to these sports horses!

[chickeninabun]

I'm not used to these proper horse-like beasts that might actually need feeding! Cobs that live on fresh air are much easier!

Anyway, please could I have some advice, or let me know what you are feeding yours.
It's a 9 year old ISH. Could do with more muscle but looking an ideal weight at the moment. Ridden approx. 4 times a week (approx. 1hr, schooling and jumping up to 1m, odd hack out) and competed at a weekend, usually 1-3 rounds of SJ 80/90cm.

 

[ihatework]

What is temperament and energy levels like?
Are you wanting to use commercial compound feeds or more towards straights?

 

[SEL]

My two are drafts - one survives on fresh air and the other really needs to go into winter the size of a rhino to avoid looking like he's a charity case by mid Feb. Sadly our grass didn't come through this summer so I'm already pumping him full of food.

He gets kwik beet, grass pellets and linseed in varying quantities. They're pretty cheap and easy to buy and I can increase / decrease as I need over the winter. He's already getting quite a lot of hay and a small haylage net and I suspect the haylage will have to increase too.

 

[chickeninabun]

Her temperament is fine, so happy to try and keep that the same. Energy levels appear fine, but we are having a lot of poles down in the second round of jumping. Not sure if this is stamina related or training, for which we've got a few training ideas to work on. So an increase in energy/stamina wouldn't go amiss.

 

[chickeninabun]

Sorry forgot to say, happy to feed compounds, balancers etc. I don't feel terribly confident with straights tbh

 

[TGM]

In that case I'd start with a balancer together with some unmollassed beet pulp or soaked grassnuts. If you find his weight starts to drop you can increase the amount of beet/grassnuts and add some micronised linseed. Obviously this is alongside ad lib hay or haylage.

 

[Northern Hare]

When my horse's diet needed a revamp (due to Cushings), I phoned a number of the Feed companies Horse Feed Helplines - the ones I tried (A&P, Topspec, D&H, Spillers etc) were all very helpful. They asked a load of questions about the horse - weight / build / work etc so that they could come up with their recommendations.

I appreciate that at the end of the day they are there to sell their feed products, but I would not have tried the suggested feed combination if I hadn't phoned for the advice, and it has worked really well for him. It was also a whole lot more cost effective than the feedstuffs I had been trying.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

My daughter’s 9 year old ISH has a mix of grass pellets, beet and linseed with as much hay as he wants during the day (out in the field from 8-6 at the moment apart from when he’s being ridden) plus a haynet in his stable at night. He’s full of beans, is very fit (doesn’t seem to get tired at the end of a session) and is generally chilled and happy so it seems to be suiting him at the moment. He puts on weight quite easily so quantities will vary depending on how much he’s doing that week to keep him nice and trim

 

[ihatework]

Okay, for ‘normal’ horses that are the right weight, easy temperament, no known feeding issues then the compound feed I have observed used the most and work across a wide spectrum of horses 4yo-international would be spillers response slow release cubes. If you want the vit/min but less calories then their HDF lay off cubes. If you want a bit more pep then the HDF power cubes.

If left to my own devices I quite prefer to fiddle about with straights, but I think that is more psychological for me.

But honestly, the biggest impact is the quality of the hay and the riding

 

[Quadro]

3 rounds is quite a lot for a horse that is only in light work. Maybe more time in the school working on fitness/suppleness etc will help

 

[blitznbobs]

I’d go with more hay - unless they won’t eat it and a balancer

 

[Annagain]

Mine are a similar type - one ISH and one TBxShirexSecD. One can drop a bit of weight if he's not on good grass (it goes straight back on in the spring though) and the other just never changes - never fat in summer or thin in winter, always just right (I'm so jealous!) . One has a sugar allergy so they both have a sugar free diet as it's easier to feed them the same. They do really well on Fast Fibre and Saracen Re-Leve and the one that loses weight gets linseed added in from the start of Feb until the middle of March. If the one didn't need sugar free I'd probably go for grass pellets instead of Fast Fibre as it provides a bit more energy. They both have ad lib haylage overnight and are out on fairly decent (at the moment) grass for 12 hours a day.

 

[Cortez]

Gosh, I've never heard of a feed that stops horses knocking poles! If he's at a good weight then I'd say it's the fitness levels that need to be improved. That may or may not necessitate an increase in hard feed, only time will tell you that.

 

[chickeninabun]

Gosh, I've never heard of a feed that stops horses knocking poles! If he's at a good weight then I'd say it's the fitness levels that need to be improved. That may or may not necessitate an increase in hard feed, only time will tell you that.

I wasn't asking for a feed to stop knocking poles, but thanks for the really useful reply.

Time has told me that I need to feed something. You can't up fitness levels on a empty tank.