Feeding the competition horse

MillbrookSong

MillbrookSong

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Ok i didn't know where to put this but thought it may be best in here??

After Sunday and song being ever so lazy in the sj (not like him at all if you know him) i got him blood tested when the vet came yesterday and got the results today almost hoping there may be something a miss but no all clear so the next thing is give him more food, so was really wondering what all you novice and upwards eventers feed your horses on and do you give them 2 or 3 feeds and how much hay or haylage??

So this is what song was getting (2 feeds)

AM
- 1 scoop D+H competition mix (1.3kg)
- 1 scoop D+H staypower cubes (1.4kg)

Then out all day and PM

- 1 scoop D+H competition mix (1.3kg)
- 1 scoop D+H staypower cubes (1.4kg)
- 1 scoop D+H readygrass (0.2kg)
- 2 mugs Bluechip (0.6kg)
- 1 60ml scoop Redcell
- 1 50ml scoop Garlic

and 2 small bale wedges of haylage - he will barley eat that some nights

And then from today/tomorrow he will be on

AM
- 1 scoop D+H competition mix (1.3kg)
- 1 scoop D+H staypower cubes (1.4kg)

Miday - in from field with 1 wedge haylage
- scoop D+H competition mix (1.3kg)

PM
- 2 scoop D+H competition mix (2.6kg)
- 1 scoop D+H staypower cubes (1.4kg)
- 1 scoop D+H readygrass (0.2kg)
- 2 mugs Bluechip (0.6kg)
- 1 60ml scoop Redcell
- 1 50ml scoop Garlic

So what do you think? Am going on what they say for 2/3 day eventing - Comp mix says you can feed from 4-6 kg a day and Staypower you can feed up to 2.25kg but can feed up to double that if needed??

So answers on a postcard please - what would you do feed another feed later on PM (normal feed is 6/7) say about 11 with another scoop of comp mix?? He wont eat any more haylage/hay. The other thing trainer said today would be bring him in and keep him in after lunch as maybe turn outs making him more lethargic??


Many thanks in advance

xx
 
I really think your PM feed especially is too big, you are feeding 8kg of hard feed which really is quite a lot, I'd want that split over 4 feeds personally.
 
Poss speak to a nutritionist from one of the feed companies. I have found Baileys to be very good. it does seem a lot of feed... esp if only given in 2 feeds.
 
well hes novice eventing fit and about to do a 3day. He will work 6/7 days one being a comp or gallop have a jump lesson and dressage lesson (1 hour each) then 30in hack the other days with wlak trot and a long canter maybe followed by schooling for 20mins

So B&J how would you break the feed down in to 4 feeds?

He is now on 3 feed at 8, 12.30 and at 7
 
I'd break it down into 4 equal feeds of 2kg each, but would still be concerned at the volume of hard feed. Is he tricky to keep weight on?

I would really suggest you talk to a nutritonist,

I'd be inclined to think about less, more-concentrated rations (racehorse cubes etc) combined with a high oil and increased fibre base (? alfa-a / fibrebeet)

horsehage now do an alfalfa haylage, might be worth considering?
 
Moon lives out and is on 1 scoop of show mix, 1/2 competition mix/day.

Tbh that sounds like a lot of food and I'm not sure he'll realistically be digesting all of that. I think that the bringing off grazing thing is a total myth!
 
most of that will be coming straight out the other end undigested - complete waste of money.

you cant feed more than 2kg of hard feed in one go. the stomach is small and the feed will go straight through. if you need to feed more than 2kg then you need to change to feeding fibre. fibre feeds dont have to be limited to 2kg. you can feed a big bowl of sugar beet, grass nuts, linseed etc. hopefuly he'll eat that when he wont eat hay.
 
Ditto bumblingabout : Best thing is for you to consult with some of the feed company specialists to sort your feeding out. They give impartial advice & don't put down other companies products.

[ QUOTE ]
Am going on what they say for 2/3 day eventing - Comp mix says you can feed from 4-6 kg a day and Staypower you can feed up to 2.25kg but can feed up to double that if needed??

[/ QUOTE ]
What they say about the quantities of Comp Mix & Staypower cubes?....... is that alone or in conjunction with other hard feeds as it seems alot of hard feed?
 
It does seem an awful lot of feed... I would agree with Star, increase the amounts of fibre through something like Alfa A. It could be worth phoning Dengie and having a chat with them as they are excellent when it comes to discussing the diet of eventers
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I know of one case study where an eventing yard was just feeding their horses so much mix etc etc and the Dengie rep changed all their diets. Within a few months they had amazing results!
 
I spoke to Baileys about Dexter's (full TB) feed a few mths ago and he seems to be thriving on what he is on now
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He is doing about the same amount of work as song at the mo (novice eventing) and he has 2 feeds a day the same in each as follows:

1 scoop Hi-Fi
2 cups of Baileys Outshine
1 scoop of pasture mix
1 scoop of Baileys staypower muesli
He also has electrolytes and an extra flex supplement
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Dougal (also TB) who is about PN fit and doing work to that standard is also on 2 feeds a day the same in each as follows:

2 scoops of Hi-Fi
1 scoop of Baileys top line conditioning mix
Electrolytes and a small amount of the extra flex supplement
smile.gif
 
i have a tb who is a good doer and on the advise from baileys feed him, 4Ibs of oats & 3 mugs of low cal balancer over 3 feeds. he thrives on this and is competing @1* level. he lives out 24/7
 
Forgot to say they are out in the day on good grass in at night.

They have about 3 sections of hay a night and in the winter they ahve as much hay as they can eat, Dexter has hayledge and redi-grass too
smile.gif
 
Mine isnt Nov eventing, but have spoken to help line re. his feeding for his energy as needed to be giving him enough for energy and stamina. I am feeding Allen and Page Comp extyra mix for sparkle and ALfa A Oil for Endurance without too much hard feed
smile.gif
 
I agree with what star says in that most of that will be coming straight out the other end because thinking of the size of their stomach its too much for him to digest at any one time so will just get wasted.

I've found that starting wtih a forage based feed and building up from there is the best way to go about it especially with sensitive competition horses. Nearly all of the professional eventers i have worked for base their feeds (usually 3 or 4 a day) on that.

Mine (when he wasn't broken and was 3DE fit) was on 3 feeds of simply alfalfa and unmollassed sugar beet. From there we added a multi vitamin supplement rather than a balancer and oats when we needed them. good thing about it is you can up the oats when they feel a bit lacking and then drop them off again quickly.

Grass nuts from simple systems do the same thing if you're wary of oats but its all a lot more digestable and natural for the horses.

Sometimes it gets to a point where we're feeding them and feeding them with competition type feeds but as their systems aren't designed to digest that sort of feed they lose energy purely because they're either not managing to digest it or are spending energy trying to digest it! I know quite a few who go flat on competition mixes as their systems just acn't cope with it!
 
Interesting you say that Sw123. I for a while upped my horses feed closer to a comp and actually find he went flat. Now have upped his Alfa Oil and dropped the concentrate and he is fine.
 
Thing is it might be a case of that sort of energy - ie cereal based, is what is making him lack energy as you're putting so much in (in whatever quantities) but his system doesnt want that it wants forage based energy. People get really scared by not feeding competition mix to a competition horse but trust me i've had them at 3DE's from * to **** on literally chop and sugarbeet!!!
 
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