getting weight/condition on 16 yo TB

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spaceflower

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Hi

My 16 yo TB is looking a bit lean. I don't mind a few ribs showing but there are more than a few. He's happy and healthy with plenty of energy so don't suspect anything else to worry about.

I've started his winter feeding programme early so that we're going into winter 'on the right foot' as it were but just needed some reassurance that I'm feeding him enough.

I started out on 7kg of Baileys No4 split to 2 feeds, with a bit of chaff and 100ml of corn oil again split across 2 feeds, but after going through a bag of no 4 in a week (£40 quid a month, no thanks!) have now moved him on to the following twice a day:

1 large stubbs scoop soaked grass nuts
1 level stubbs scoop soaked speedi beet
1 large stubbs scoop of no4 mixed with mollassed chaff
corn oil as before

He has ad lib hay in the field as the grass isn't fab.

He's been on this for approx 10 days now and is starting to show improvement, but just wanted any words of wisdom from anyone else out there ;)

He's hacked out 2 - 3 times a week, and is generally a reasonably chilled out chap.

any advice gratefully received, its so hard to get good feed advice from the manufacturers without worrying that they are just lining their own pockets!
 
yes, i may well move from corn oil to linseed. the corn oil isn't too expensive, £2 for 1 litre. Will have a look next time I'm at the feed merchants ;)
 
Charnwoods for micronised linseed, the best you can get but not horrendously expensive :) Also try Thirds and add that into his feed instead of the speedibeet and a good supplement like tens or dengie vits n mins. My old tb did very well on Thirds (speedibeet did nothing for mine), he was very ribby hippy coming out of winter, so the autumn hit and i went onto the above ( with alfa a oil but not no 4), the difference was brilliant, he had a good covering without being overweight or massively excitable...eased it off towards grass growing season and started again in autumn :)
 
thanks Micky
thats another question for the feed merchant, just done a quick search and doesn't look like its a common term. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on the soaked grass nuts, he does really well on good grass (he was even fat one summer) so hoping that these pile some weight on him as they are 'cheap' and I like the idea of feeding something thats close to their natural food.
 
I love grass nuts and our old girl gets them along side the feed she eats in the stable once she starts coming in. She then eats through it through the night and I can feed as much as I like.
 
Would I need to worry about fizz on oats? I've not found anything that does specifically heat him up, but oats traditionally do don't they? Or is that a old wives tale?
 
Der try micronised linseed, much easier to feed than oil, and you need to find over 100ml for oil to be of use.
Would also say as you are prob feeding less than recommend, a good all round supplement, just then ensuring your covering all bases!
 
The best thing for my tb when he runs up a bit light is the grass nuts. Also, take a picture each week and you will find it easier to see how well (or otherwise) he is doing.
Personally, I think the safest way to put weight on is slowly, so not a big fan of conditioning mixes and the like, unless the horse is needing the calories for the amount of work.
 
A quick update - its working! He's been on this feed now for 2 weeks and noticeably improved. I reckon another 2 weeks of the same and then I'm thinking of cutting down the No4 to a cheaper option, or getting hold of Bailey's No 11 (race horse cubes) which seem to be virtually identical but a bit cheaper.

I soak the grass nuts and speedi beet together then add the chaff/No4 combo in at feeding time. The only negative I have is he's not a fast eater, which at the moment isn't a problem, he's in a field by himself so I can leave him to munch away.

I'm now thinking about the best routine when they come in at night and particularly what to feed in the morning, as I really don't have time to hang around to wait for him to munch through it. My gut feeling is simply to feed a bit less grass and speedi beet in the morning, which he can get through while I muck out, and then give him a slightly bigger feed at night which he have all the time in the world to eat.

Any one else got any brainwaves?
 
No particular brainwave but just to say that feed merchants own make conditioning cubes are pretty much exactly the same as baileys no 4 at half the price!
 
Hi Feisty Mare

Yeah, i've just been having a quick look at some Burnhills in cleckheaton and their conditioning nuts are £7.50 a bag - that's cheaper than race horse nuts ;) I've also just been comparing speedi beet with fibre beet and think I'll swap to fibre as its got a higher level of everything in it too! ;)
 
spaceflower said:
Would I need to worry about fizz on oats? I've not found anything that does specifically heat him up, but oats traditionally do don't they? Or is that a old wives tale?
Click to expand...

Old wives tale this is the best feed I have found for him and he is a lot more sane on Oats than pre mixes.
Glad you have found something that works.
 
There seems to be a lot of people who love grass nuts for condition. I really want to put my boy on them as he needs some weight on him but the local tack shops (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) don't sell them so I would need to order online but the price of delivery makes them very expensive - Any ideas?
 
Think you need to check the quantity of each feed - max should be around 2kg per feed.

Also if you are looking for weight gain, I believe speedi beet has a higher DE than fibre beet.

If you are looking to try and save money, how about sugar beet you have to soak for 24 hours, its loads cheaper than speedi beet etc.
 
Ask your local feed stores if they can order it in or try the farm/agricultural places as its also fed to sheep/cows etc
I asked a bunch and one now orders it in for me and it doesn't cost extra as they pay per large delivery of everything.

That's how I got hold of coolstance copra and micronised linseed too. I have to go to a couple of them but I don't mind as I plan my orders so its cost effective.
 
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