Fizzy TB Feeding Issues

[TPO]

Did you think alfa was an issue? Dengie molasses free contains alfa and alfa pellets so that *might* be contributing to the fizziness.

Personally I wouldn't want to change too much at a time so that I can keep track.

I'd swap out the beet for pink mash gradually and then see how things goes after a couple of weeks of pink mash and chaff.

If he drops any condition after that time, and his behaviour has improved, then I'd start slowly introducing micronised linseed.

If hes still wired to the moon, rather than just "horse out of training in new surroundings"/highly strung, then I'd swap the chaff for something alfa free. Personally I'd use Dengie Meadow Grass.

They are all so different it really is trial and error. My current ex racer appears to be fine with alfa and Baileys no.21 but loses his tiny mind if his linseed is increased to conditioning levels. I never thought that swapping linseed for a mix would work for him but so far so good.

 

[Double JD]

Did you think alfa was an issue? Dengie molasses free contains alfa and alfa pellets so that *might* be contributing to the fizziness.

Personally I wouldn't want to change too much at a time so that I can keep track.

I'd swap out the beet for pink mash gradually and then see how things goes after a couple of weeks of pink mash and chaff.

If he drops any condition after that time, and his behaviour has improved, then I'd start slowly introducing micronised linseed.

If hes still wired to the moon, rather than just "horse out of training in new surroundings"/highly strung, then I'd swap the chaff for something alfa free. Personally I'd use Dengie Meadow Grass.

They are all so different it really is trial and error. My current ex racer appears to be fine with alfa and Baileys no.21 but loses his tiny mind if his linseed is increased to conditioning levels. I never thought that swapping linseed for a mix would work for him but so far so good.

Thank you
I took him back to basics and started to use the Dengie Hi-Fi Molasses Free as my local feed supplier recommended it. She said she had never known a TB to react to it so I’m not sure if it’s that or the beet.... literally banging my head against the wall atm. Went on a little walking hack the other day and I think we manage a dozen strides in walk, the rest was stupid side trotting/cantering with the occasional buck and rear out of pure frustration. He’s still in really good condition, I’ve been giving him 3 feeds a day so not to have such big portions morning & night.
I am also having the saddle fitter out tomorrow to check our saddle which we’ve only had for 4 weeks so we can rule that out as a possibility of any discomfort... just in case.
I will do as you have suggested and go with the gradual change to pink mash with current chaff and see how we go ?
Really appreciate your help!!! X

 

[claret09]

i have recently started feeding my boy bailey's no. 24 ease and excel. i have been really impressed - my boy can be very fussy but he is actually finishing his feeds. i am currently giving him half a small saucepan full of happy hoof, the same of ease and excel, half saucepan full of spillers high fibre nuts, handful of mollicop show shine, salt, splash of sunflower oil and measure of equine america kentucky joint supplement. he is 23 and in full work. he was extremely sharp when younger and can be tricky even now

 

[deicinmerlyn]

Good evening all, I hope everyone has been coping okay with the snow/ice and minus temperatures!!!
Just an update on my post, I have only just managed to source a bag of pink mash as not many places stock it near me and the one closest has only just today received their delivery so collecting my bag tomorrow. Since posting I have had my boy on Dengie Molasses Free & quick soak beet- back to basics. Behaviour not much better tbh but have heard beet can cause fizziness!! My question is do you think the Dengie I am using will be a good addition to pink mash? Also going to start on micronised linseed once we begin the pink mash. Hopefully this combo will suit him better and keep him looking healthy inside and out ? Decided to eliminate the E&E and go back to basics due to his behaviour and thanks to the weather riding has been near impossible at the moment.

Just be aware that micronised linseed can send some a bit silly! Also Dengie is Alfalfa, which can also cause silly behaviour!

 

[TPO]

My mum bought the current ex racer straight out of training 6wks after his last race. They had kept him in work, had him at one or two shows and taken him xc schooling so he was still very fit when he arrived.

It's a long story but basically mum ignored everything I told her to do and not do and bought him unvetted and the fact he was an ex racer at all ?

His feet were a mess. One was tiny and tall and the other was a splat. He presented as an ulcer horse and he was such a mess muscularly that the physio thought he had Kissing Spine until we finally had a break through.

I think it was the September he was bought and it was already decided to let him down, get feet and muscles treated before picking him up the following spring. One day just out of interest I got my previous TBs saddle just to try it and current TB about threw himself on the ground at the sight of a saddle; he was that sore.

Now we are three years down the line and admittedly he hasn't had a massive amount of work put into him for a multitude of reasons and he is relatively quiet and amenable in the school (can still throw in a buck) but hes a nightmare to hack. Hes really backwards, spooky and sharp. This would be helped by more schooling to get him truly in front of the leg but it's also just part of him.

My previous ex racer was the nicest person and a dope on a rope but wvry so often his TB "switch" would go and he would lose it out hacking and rear, bunny hop and basically just lose his mind. That only happened when hacking alone.

My ex racing arab (also sensitive chestnut mare) could only jog out hacking for years. It took a LOT of work to master a defined walk and trot and even longer to nail walking home on a long rein yet she had won at medium (not with me) and was incredibly well schooled by her previous owner.

My point is that having had him such a short time it's hard to know what's him, what's part of being an exracer and what's feed related. He might be a stressy jig joggy (technical term) horse or he might just not have settled into his new home and routine yet.

It sounds to me like you are doing all the right things with teeth, saddle and feed. I'd stuff him full of hay and turnout as much as possible as well as they to have a semi regular routine. In training he was probably in a regimented routine around staff hours and exercise etc and some find reassurance in that.

Hes a lovely looking boy and hes landed on his hooves with you

 

[Double JD]

My mum bought the current ex racer straight out of training 6wks after his last race. They had kept him in work, had him at one or two shows and taken him xc schooling so he was still very fit when he arrived.

It's a long story but basically mum ignored everything I told her to do and not do and bought him unvetted and the fact he was an ex racer at all ?

His feet were a mess. One was tiny and tall and the other was a splat. He presented as an ulcer horse and he was such a mess muscularly that the physio thought he had Kissing Spine until we finally had a break through.

I think it was the September he was bought and it was already decided to let him down, get feet and muscles treated before picking him up the following spring. One day just out of interest I got my previous TBs saddle just to try it and current TB about threw himself on the ground at the sight of a saddle; he was that sore.

Now we are three years down the line and admittedly he hasn't had a massive amount of work put into him for a multitude of reasons and he is relatively quiet and amenable in the school (can still throw in a buck) but hes a nightmare to hack. Hes really backwards, spooky and sharp. This would be helped by more schooling to get him truly in front of the leg but it's also just part of him.

My previous ex racer was the nicest person and a dope on a rope but wvry so often his TB "switch" would go and he would lose it out hacking and rear, bunny hop and basically just lose his mind. That only happened when hacking alone.

My ex racing arab (also sensitive chestnut mare) could only jog out hacking for years. It took a LOT of work to master a defined walk and trot and even longer to nail walking home on a long rein yet she had won at medium (not with me) and was incredibly well schooled by her previous owner.

My point is that having had him such a short time it's hard to know what's him, what's part of being an exracer and what's feed related. He might be a stressy jig joggy (technical term) horse or he might just not have settled into his new home and routine yet.

It sounds to me like you are doing all the right things with teeth, saddle and feed. I'd stuff him full of hay and turnout as much as possible as well as they to have a semi regular routine. In training he was probably in a regimented routine around staff hours and exercise etc and some find reassurance in that.

Hes a lovely looking boy and hes landed on his hooves with you

Thank you so much, I am trying really hard to get things right for him! He’s not had the best start to life and I know he has great potential, once we get over these hurdles lol.
I know some of his behaviour may be him testing me to see how far he can get away with things... he’s a big boy and I am only tiny so we are currently working on some ground rules with voice commands to teach him some manners.
I collected my bag of pink mash today at last and wow he scoffed his dinner down, the fastest I have ever seen him eat and he only had a small amount in his already mixed feed... good sign ?
Hoping to get some schooling sessions booked in too for the new year so we can really crack on with his re-training. I am hoping a structured routine with lots of learning will allow this boy to shine Wishing you all a very Happy New Year... stay safe x

 

[Clodagh]

Can't you just stuff him with hay?

This completely. Generally people massively overthink feeding. Ad lib quality hay should be a starting point. Ad lib as in he always has plenty available, they eat a lot!

 

[Double JD]

This completely. Generally people massively overthink feeding. Ad lib quality hay should be a starting point. Ad lib as in he always has plenty available, they eat a lot!

He has so much hay, as much as he likes. I always make sure he is never without and at the moment as the weather here is so bad he is in at night times. There is always hay left in his nets when I get there in the mornings so he is not going hungry ?

 

[brighteyes]

He has so much hay, as much as he likes. I always make sure he is never without and at the moment as the weather here is so bad he is in at night times. There is always hay left in his nets when I get there in the mornings so he is not going hungry ?

Therefore all I would be giving him, if bucket-feed him you must, is a token something that is wet. I haven't heard anything against Pink Mash other than the price and I believe its mega high-fibre and not much else. Seriously, forage, forage, forage and leave the stuff-in-a-bucket in the feedroom.

 

[Trouper]

Bit late to this thread but I sought advice from Moorcroft when I bought my underweight TB. Here is what they told me:

We feed all 25 horses here with 3 or 4 feeds per day of Hi Fibre cubes/nuts from a reputable firm like Spillers, plus chaff and sugarbeet and carrots. None of them ever get hot and all look well very quickly (see website) and all arrive in a terrible state from racing.

You need to keep it simple as nature intended and stop financing these feed merchants who develop the most ridiculous range of feeds designed to make you feel that it is rocket science to feed your horse - it is not!

I did add a balancer, as I would give that to any horse irrespective of how much feed they did/didn't need and adjust the volume of feed depending on how much good quality hay you feed. I kept off the haylage as it sent him loopy.!!

 

[LilyB92]

Keyflow pink mash made the biggest difference and improvement to my exracer.

He is generally fed a base of:
Pink mash
Micronised linseed
Unmolassed chaff (dengie meadow grass)
Salt
Progressive earth pro balance (vit/min balancer)
Science Supplements Gastrokind (treated as an ulcer horse and this supp works best for him).

In winter/when needing condition grass nuts are added.

However last winter he started to drop a bit of condition and when I upped the quantities of his feed it became too much even split over 3 feeds. He's not a greedy horse and buckets full of grass nuts put him off.

On advice from here I tried Baileys no 21 Ease & Excel mix. He was getting less than half the recommended amount alongside his normal quantities of the above. He loved the feed (who wouldnt, it smells amazing) and it had no detrimental affect on his behaviour or hooves (he's barefoot).

This winter I've started him on E& E, again at less than half the RDA and he's looking great.

I'm also experimenting with chaff and have swapped him and another over to Dengie Healthy Tummy. Neither have any known issues with alfa and so far so good. Again they are getting much less than the recommended amounts and looking great on it.

However my last ex racer didn't tolerate alfa too well and on one occasion came out in a (protein) rash

A lot of it is trial and error. If I up this TBs linseed too much he gets wild but hes been fine on the mix

Hello! Just a quick question - how much pink mash are you feeding?

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Haven't read the whole thread so sorry if repeating!

If he was fine before on speedibeet and chaff, feed him that - just more of it if needs be. It's not the ideal diet, but more than fine, you can add in a vits & mins supplement if you want. Then add one ingredient at a time if you really want to, and you will then know which element is the culprit for any change in behaviour.

 

[TPO]

Hello! Just a quick question - how much pink mash are you feeding?

I havent weighed recently and go by sight mainly.

TB only gets approx a small double handful alongside half a Stubbs scoop of Baileys ease and Excel and chaff (swapped back to dengie meadow grass) with salt, gut supp and pro balance