Feeding my underweight tb???

[GraceMS15]

I need a bit of help with what to feed my new Tb. Hes underweight and has a terrible topline, have only had him a few days and hes on Allen & page soothe and gain with abit of speedi beet and chaff. He was on this before coming to me so have kept it the same until I know if I need to change it. He has pretty much 24/7 access to good quality grass but in a couple weeks he will be stabled at night. He dont have good quality hay at our current yard but it only a temporary place for him.
What are people experiences with the soothe and gain? Is there a better diet I could be giving him?

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[meleeka]

I really rate Soothe and Gain. Are you feeding enough of it according to the instructions on the bag? I’d probably cut out the Speedi beet if the volume is too much as I’ve found it much more conditioning. I also added A cup of Micronised linseed which is a great conditioner.

 

[GraceMS15]

I am taking up the scales tonight to make sure I'm feeding him enough. As he is so underweight do I still need to stick to the amount it says for his workload? And what is your opinion on weight tapes? Hes a 16.3hh tb so what sort of weight should he be?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would add linseed and drop the sugar beet you could feed grass nuts in a bit trug once he is in overnight.

 

[meleeka]

My 16hh Freisian mare is now a hippo so I wouldn’t like to say what a tb should be! Last winter when I was Struggling to maintain her weight I fed 2kg (dry weight) of S&G and a mug of linseed, along with ad-lib hay. I believe you can feed quite a bit more than that if you need to but that worked well for stead weight gain for me.

 

[GraceMS15]

I weighed out what he was having and he was having about 4kg per day and that is lowered from what he was on with his previous owner.
I having lowered it to 3kg and am introducing linseed. Have also cut out the speedi beet

 

[TGM]

I am taking up the scales tonight to make sure I'm feeding him enough. As he is so underweight do I still need to stick to the amount it says for his workload? And what is your opinion on weight tapes? Hes a 16.3hh tb so what sort of weight should he be?

Weight tapes are not much good for assessing condition - conformation varies so widely that two healthy condition 16.3hh TBs could be totally different weights on a tape, depending on things like depth of chest, etc.

Much better to use a body condition scale to assess him, and perhaps take photos every week as well as a visual aid. I think both the Blue Cross and World Horse Welfare have condition scoring guides on their websites.

It does sound like he was on quite a bit of feed with previous owners so presumably you have investigated other causes for the lack of condition - teeth, worms, ulcers etc?