Feeding underweight ex racer on rest

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Nieriel87

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Hi All,

I have a 16.3 TB ex racer, finished racing in June and I've decided to give him the winter off to chill and then start retraining Feb/March time. He is underweight and has zero topline, a u neck and no bum.
He is in a night with ad lib hay and out 7am till 6pm each day on reasonable grass so want to try and get some condition on him this winter prior to starting work.
I am conscience of the possibility of Ulcers as is very sensitive to groom/rug up etc so have him on 2 scoops of Dengie Healthy Tummy, 2 cups of micronised Linseed and just finishing a bag of conditioning cubes (local feed stores own brand) however these seem to be making him a but fizzy.
With winter approaching where turnout maybe limited I don't want anything to heat him up so am looking to replace the conditioning cubes with something else.
I have read numerous threads on here and a lot of people seem to recommend Coolstance Copra however I don't think anyone near me sells this (but could buy in bulk online) also it seems that I would need to feed a calcium supplement with it as well?
Bailey's have brought out a new one called 'Ease and Excel' so was tempted to start him on that as this is fully balanced but with it being so new can't find many reviews on it.

Does anyone have anything they found worked well for condition without the fizz? He's not a fussy eater, in fact will pretty much eat anything!
Also any good Ulcer supplements? I know Gastrogard is the best for treatment however was considering a supplement to see if this improved his sensitivity before going down the scoping route.

TIA
 
A&P Fast Fibre plus high fibre cubes plus a grass chaff plus your linseed would be my recommendation.

All low sugar/starch so should be ulcer friendly as well as non heating. Its what we feed our toothless elderly pony and it certainly doesn't make her fizzy even in large quantity..

Fiona

Fiona
 
I have found Topspec Ulsa Kind and their comprehensive balancer with Alfa A Oil really good for my TB mare, I also used micronized linseed through the winter when trying to build her up but once up to weight etc just fed the rest and reduced the feed during summer etc. Shes looking really well and doesnt seem to fizz her up like the Bailey no4 seemed to which i first tried for weight gain. My horse didn't like the healthy tummy chaff so switched back to the Alfa A oil.
 
My ex racers went through last winter on good haylage, grass nuts, readigrass and micronised linseed. They all looked great but for the ones that needed a little more weight I added whole soaked oats and they bloomed.
 
My TB does well on add lib haylege .
If I need to feed him I give him speedibeet oats chopped grass micronised Linseed he also get a supplement .
TB's vary a lot some don't have enough appetite for add lib hay to work well they simply don't eat enough .
Also it's worth considering if he has ulcers some ulcery horse never gain condition unless you sort them out .
 
You don't want too much in the way of carbs, they produce energy and the calories get exercised off, but protein builds soft tissue, so puts on muscle. It is worth having your forage analysed - mine turned out to be quite low in protein. My poor doer TB is on lots of soya hulls and meal, plus extra amino acids (lysine, methionine) and hasn't looked so good for a couple of years. I am now a serial label checker - looking for protein and to reduce starch, which adversely affects his feet
 
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