Feeding straights

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toomanyhorses26

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I have a TB who is a bit of a conundrum :) He isnt that flighty or hot but is fairly typical in that he needs something to keep the weight on. I have tried various mixes over the years - comp mixes (tried baileys,dodson and horrell,saracens and spillers) give a good level of usuable energy eg nice and forward ,copes well with the exercise he is doing,plenty in the tank but he does run up light on them - not skinny as such but not exactly show condition (i show in ror classes). Condiiton mixes make him look awesome - shiny,no angles etc but he is like a slug on them. I settled after talking with a nutritionist on an endurance mix which really gave me a half way house - bit more condition than the comp mixes and a bit more energy than the condition mixes.

In the winter though I do find myself adding barley and other bits and pieces to get the result I want but at the expense of unbalancing the mix. Was talking to an 'older horseman ' shall we say :) today and got me thinking about whether I could get a combination that really suited him by feeing straights instead or whether I will just bankrupt myself?

TBH i have never fed a diet of straights always in addition to a mix or pencil of some sort. He isnt allergic to anything but doesnt cope well with large amounts of straight sugar beet. He is out from 6.30 am till 5pm ish on ok grazing and gets two large haynets a night (approx 14kg of hay ) of okish quality hay. Any advice would be much appreciated :)
 
TBH a mix is only balanced if you feed the full amount recommemed (which is usually loads!).

Plus you get a lot of "fillers" in mixes / nuts.

i'm now feeding soaked oats, alfalfa pellets, fibre beet, with some veteran vitality.
 
We have always fed straights. Have tried many various mixes including the weight gain ones and in my opinion nothing works as well for putting on condition if needed as barley or linseed! Between our horses we still feed oats, barley, linseed, sugar beet and bran (in mashes). We use mixes too but as above, some have to be fed in such large quantities you can soon be bankrupted and they do pad them out! We have a showjumper who can be a little too laid back, again tried all the comp mixes around but the thing that works best is just adding some oats to his normal ration. Half the price of the mixes and best result! We feed a general purpose supplement depending on ration to cover any nutrient shortfulls but still much cheaper than the mixes. We have two older TB mares that struggled to keep condition on through the winter and had been on weight gain mixes at their previous home. Last winter were looking great on a basic diet of haylage, barley, dash of oil and chaff only, great condition and shiny coats! Obviously depends on the horse too but I'm a firm believer they still have their place in feeding.
 
ime feeding straights is much more economical and the results are far far better as you can tailor to each horse. In my feedroom we have sugarbeet, flaked barley, boiled barley, soaked oats, bran, linseed, various oils, salt - the horses look fantastic and the feeds smell heavenly when they are mixed - unlike the horrible musty smell you get from most mixes.
 
Thanksfor yourreplies :) What sort of quantities would I be looking at for a 17hh tb (approx 525kg) needs to put on a bit of weight and keep up good energy levels - do you base your feed o one straight as such ?
 
When I first started keeping horses 45 odd years ago, most horses were fed a basic diet of good quality hay plus sugar beet, bran and salt. If they then needed extra energy for example, you added in oats, for weight-gain you might add barley or linseed or some oil etc. It seemed to work well enough, and nowadays there is loads of info about the nutritional content of straights online, so it should be relatively easy to work out a suitable ration for your horse. As others have said, commercial mixes contain a lot of fillers which have little nutritional value, so if you have the time to do a bit of research, feeding straights can be cost effective and just as good, if not better, than commercial mixes.
 
hi have you had a look at spillers HDF range of feeds? it gives condition and stamina, they are racehorse feeds but for a laid back tb that needs condition its what id use,check it out on the websitehttp://www.spillers-feeds.com/products/racing-feeds/hdf-power-mix/
 
We have an ROR on yard, he is fed Alfa oil, flaked maize(corn), power and performace, linseed meal and beetpulp. If he needs any extra for competitons he gets a heaped round scoop of oats split between two feeds.

He looks fit but covered and this gives him plenty of energy and power but doesnt cause him to blow up. Owner does school him 4 times a week one of these over jumps/raised poled to work as many muscle groups as possible.

Also does one long hack a week (covers about 6/7 miles) at the weekend when they have more time and he looks in great condition, not clipped this year yet but has a nice silky shiny coat, almost metaalic and I think its the linseed :D
 
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