feeding with view to show- 4yr old horse

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fairdown

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i have a 4yr old mare, she was sent away to be backed last year and came back like a greyhound, poverty lines etc, she has put on a good bit of weight since she came home but was over at my instructers today for a lesson he also shows and comparing my 3yr old to his, my goodness you could fit 2 of my mare into one of his!! i know that it isnt good to overfeed a youngster but if she has any chance of featuring anywhere in shows this summer i must get some weight on her-honestly she is like a greyhound! i am currenly feeding her 2 scoops of baileys conditioning cubes plus a scoop of speedibeet with garlic and carrots, and in the morning 1 1/2 scoops of cubes again and a scoop of speedibeet plus the carrots an garlic, the mare also gets adlib haylage but is out in thefield most days from 8 inthe morning until about 2pm, is this gap without any haylage or feed disrupting any weight gain? she is ridden or 30 mins- 1 hour daily and is 16.1 hh

any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks
 
You could try cooked linseed meal, it adds weight and condition but does not fizz horses up. I use it and soya oil on my boy. He took being broken in really badly and got so thin even though he was on three bowls of Build up, cup of Blue Chip, Alfa A and ad lib hay, he looked like a cruelty case, I was so ashamed. He looks ace now.
 
Have you tried Alpha-A Oil? I've always given it to my young mare because it's a good source of calcium and the oil really does help get the weight on (plus it contains the added benefit of vit E and selennium which you need when feeding oil).

I also swear by Speedibeet and if you drain the water off before feeding, it further lessens the molasses. Plus I'm a big fan of Top Spec feed balancer - it really gives great condition.
 
My chap is now 3 1/2 and I am getting him ready for showing again. This takes me 8 weeks from slim baby to fit round with muscle but not fat gyspy cob.

Whilst he is technically able to show under the saddle, he is not 4 until July so I will do a few late local shows under the saddle this year but continue to show in hand affiliated.

What I do is increase his green gold (I feed Simple Systems) this is an alfa chaff to double what he gets in winter. I also add grass nuts and some Spillars conditioning cubes. Finally I increase his instant linseed which is excellent for condition and coat shine. This fibre diet works really well. He also gets as much hay as he wants. Though he is a cob, he naturally so far is a fairly trim chap.

I then start to build him up working him on vienna reins and the lunge but using the whole school so he is not on a circle. We get up to 3 x 20 minutes a week, this year he will do 4 sessions of 20 minutes. This gives him a nice round appearance and builds up his rear and top line. I hope to do a little more under the saddle with him of this type of work after he is 4.

This advice was given to me by a top show producer when I visited him. Once he has qualified I let him down a little and then four weeks before a final build him up again so he is not constantly working and being fed to increase condition. Over winter he was left to go back to a light baby shape.

Luckily now more Judges are being sensible about the weight on horses - Chancer was put up the line for being trim and fit with some. With the few saying he needs more weight, I ignore them - he is still a baby and I want him fit and sound into his 20s and not clapped out by 8.
 
What size is your scoop? If it is the round bowl type scoop, I'm worried that she is getting alot in one feed and she is unable to digest it efficiently. You should see her putting on some weight with 8 - 10lb of Top Line Cubes per day, divided into as many small meals as you can fit in. The only other thing to add is Baileys Outshine, the high oil supplement.
 
Ive got a 3yo who Im feeding up for showing, he's on Alfa A Oil with added soya oil and sugar beet. But Im also planning to give him some Baileys Top Line Cubes as well. Yours is already on the cubes (which I think are excellent) so Id personally just add some more oil from either actual oil or alfa-a oil which is coated in it.
 
My cob was looking a little weedy coming out of winter last year so I started feeding him Alpha A Oil, he rounded up and filled out so quickly I was able to come off the Top line cubes and he spent the summer just on Alpha A Oil and Top Spec feed balancer and looked brilliant all through the summer. Brilliant stuff!!
 
ive never really rated the conditioning or top line cubes as i have seen how they sent my old pony and my mums horse crazy when we tried feeding them on it!i dont show horses but i got a 3 year old ex racehorse just over a year ago who was like a hat rack and fed her on saracen show improver and also soya oil. we fed her a scoop of that and the same of hifi twice a day. she soon put on weight and looks stunning now!i dont know if that will be any help to anyone but i think the feed is great!
 
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