Grrr TBs!!

C

Cobland

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 November 2006
Messages
1,271
Visit site
OHs TB Mo is staying, OH cried when i said about accepting the offer, he said he couldnt let him go. His boss said he can no longer pay him for overtime, he was working 50-60 hours a week, yet boss wants him to continue working these hours and get paid for 38 hours!! OH refused so is going down to 38 hours again. So more time for Mo.

When we bought Mo we were told he was a hard horse to keep weight on in the winter, now im seeing just how hard!! His ribs are starting to show again (was like that when we boght him), he doesnt look as muscley even though ive been lunging him and friend has been riding him. I upped his haylage but just makes him very fizzy, he gets 1 scoop of cool mix and half chaff as he wolfs his food down.

It doesnt make any difference, had vet out incase it was a medical condition but he said he just needs more food. Fields are pure water logged from the constant rain.

Ive never had this problem before, ive got cobs that ive to work with to keep the weight off lol. Mo is inside at the minute, is rugged and fed haylage twice a day, gets the rack filled and some on the floor.

Is there any feed i can give him to bulk up his weight but doesnt make him fizzy? Ive not had any experience with food apart from youngstock mix for the foalies or cool mix for the working ones.

Had someone recommend sugar beet, cool mix and chaff. Does sugar beet not hype horses?

What feed would yous recommend?

Hes a 17hh tb, 8 years old, gets the minimum of 30 minutes work a day, however more an hour with 2 days off a week.
 
sugarbeet is a slow releasing energy feed, keeps them ticking over for longer (hence why you'll find most RS ponies on it) instead of fizzing them up instantly. Plus if you get the unmollassed one, it's even better

Will help with the weight too
 
Unmollased sugar beet should not fizz him up as its low sugar. Adding some oil to the feed could help, and the very old fashioned idea of a raw egg and guiness once or twice a week used to work but make sure its the horse gets the guiness and not you!
 
I have a TB and feed speedi beet, alpha a, D& H Build up with soya oil or u could add veg oil

I'd give the horse 2 or maybe 3 feeds a day as well as ad lib hay
 
I'd feed unmolassed sugar beet, and maybe barley or similar if he didn't gain weight on the beet.
S
laugh.gif
 
agree with adding oil, i found it really helps. My friend has an anorexic TB she feeds him blue chip original, pony nuts and carrots and he is just right now. Also he never gets fizzed up on this.
 
Thank you, had called his last owners to asked what they fed him, they said that it was apple chaff, speedibeet and a spillers feed that they couldnt remember the name off, but contained molasses.

Its OH riding him now so dont want to feed Mo anything that will fizz Mo up and give OH a scare.

For a tb hes a big plod, Gypsy can keep up with him at a canter and shes only 13.2hh lol.
 
Seen the Aplha A in the feed store, its in a orange package isnt it? Or maybe im thinking of the wrong one. Will get him it tomorrow. If hes on that does he still need the oil aswell?

Sorry my feeding knowledge is not great, as i said i am only used to youngstock mix and cool mix.
 
He was out and seemed to want to run about more than eat. Teeth was done about 2 months ago, he was also wormed.

He was double rugged when out in the field and was warm but not sweating. Now hes in he has on a good stable rug and again hes warm but not sweating.
 
for a start i would buy some cheap kitchen scales.you need to know he is getting the right amounts.
scoops of different feeds vary.
1 kg of alfa-a would probably be 2 of those round scoops with a handle on. so look on the back of the sack for an amount he need for a horse his size.
also phone the feed company(dengi)they are very helpful.
hope this is a good starting point.
 
I have always kept tb's and from what you are suggesting doesnt sound like much food to me, i have two at the moment both tb and i would be feeding more along the lines of ad lib haylege, or good hay, 2 feeds a day am 1 scoop top line nuts, 1 s beet, 1 alfa oil plus at night 1 top line 1 light mix; chaff and beet, this is all non heating food. add another top line nut in am if still not improving. otherwise he will remain skinny i am afraid!
 
As i wasnt knowledgable on feed, i asked the YOs daughter. She was the one that said no more than a scoop of cool mix a day or i will colic him.

We use the big black scoops, so can anyone suggest to me how much of each feed to give him, should i gradually bring it up to that amount.

I will probably keep him on the spillers cool mix, but add sugarbeet or speedibeet with the Alpha A, does this seem ok?

What can I do to build up my knowledge of feeding?
 
Try spiller's topline conditioning cubes. It was the only feed I could use for one of my TB eventers who was a very, very sharp horse. It does wonders for putting weight on them. I also fed live yoghurt for a few weeks (it has to be live). This can replace the bacteria (?) in their gut that can be missing if they've had antibiotics etc and helps them digest their food better. Sorry, not a very technical explanation but I know both of those things worked. Good luck, let us know how you get on.
 
Alpha A oil or Showing Chaff, Speedibeet, and a conditioning feed such as Calm and Condition or D+H Build Up, you may also want to think about using a feed balancer such as Blue Chip or Top Spec. The most important thing to get/keep weight on is ad-lib forage with a good quality hay (not sure but I think there's a reason you shouldn't feed hayledge ad-lib)
 
I have a looses-weight-if-cold-or-wet-TB too... welcom to the club!!!

He gets Alfa A Oil which is like normal Alfa A but its mixed with Soya Oil as it helps them keep weight on, he also gets Calm and Condition which is pure calories and fibrebeet which is like sugarbeet but its mixed with Alfalfa, so again its pure calories, this seems to work...

There are loads of conditioning mixes/cubes out there - Dodson and Horrell do Build Up, Baileys do No4 Cubes and a No17 Mix, and Spillers do one that I cant remember the name of, you would be best to get one of them to try.

I personally would be giving him two feeds a day of at least a scoop of a conditioning mix, a kg (3/4 scoop) of unmollassed sugarbeet/fibrebeet and Alfa A oil....
 
Hi Cobland,

Silly YO's daughter haha!! My thoroughbred was super skinny when I got him and now he's bordering fat (not quite) haha. I feed him 1 lrg round scoop of Baileys no 4 Topline, Alfa a and sugarbeet twice a day with pinkpowder. His field is still pretty good so he gets two sections of hay and one section of haylage in the field (the haylage alone makes him very very loose, then he drops more weight).
Hope your thoroughbred puts a bit of weight on soon and don't despair because once you get into a new feed regime he will start filling out. x
smile.gif
 
i'd try alfa instead of chaff, unmolasses sugarbeet, and baileys stud balancer. i'd cut out the cereals completely and see how he was on those.
if his weight didn't start picking up, i'd add either bailey's No1 (cooked cereal meal, very fattening, not heating) or micronised flaked barley... most are fine on this, it's only the odd one that finds barley exciting, i've found.
if you're feeding alfa and sb, you can feed more than a scoop, because it's more like long feed. my big lad (tbxwb, 18h, living out) gets adlib hay and 2 feeds a day of about 4 scoops readigrass, 1/2 scoop alfa, 1/2 scoop sugarbeet, 1/2cup baileys stud bal, to give you an idea.
 
I had one that was difficult to keep weight on. I fed him SB, D & H Buildup, cool mix and blue chip once a day. The Bluechip is expensive, but really made a difference. I also used a supplement called Flourish I can't remember who made it, but it came in a tub with a green label and looked herby. It contained a probiotic and really helped.
 
Hi Cobland, try speaking to the feed manufaturers for if you want to improve your knowledge about feeding or ask advice - most of them have a Helpline number now and are very friendly.
 
Why are people so crazy about feeding sugar beet? it does absolutely no good for them at all- its not bad for them as such,apart from prob causing loose bowels, but has no more benefit than hifi.
Think adlib top quality hay, 3 feeds a day, feeding a non heating conditioning cube such as spillers Max one scoop in each feed. Top Spec feed balancer, Saracens equi jewel, alfalfa and brewers yeast.

The most important thing is the hay- if they are eating that all the time then they all should put weight on- if he doesnt want to eat much of it, then its not good enough quality.
 
I can't work out from your posts whether he is getting any turnout at all. To be honest, if he is not getting any turnout it will be difficult to stop him getting too much for a novice rider, whatever he is fed.

I would make sure he has adlib forage - ie there is some available in his stable at all times. If you are finding the haylage is making him fizzy then look for a late-cut, meadow grass haylage or swap him to good quality hay. Then for a bucket feed look for high calorie fibre feed and an oil source. Something like Alfa Beet with added veg oil, Dengie Alfa A Oil, or you could use something like Bailey's Outshine. If you still can't keep weight on him on fibre and oil alone then you will have to use cereal based feeds, either a commercial conditioning cube or mix or something like micronised barley.

At the end of the day, if you can't keep the weight on him without him getting too exciteable, you do have to question whether he is the right horse for you, especially with your turnout situation.
 
[ QUOTE ]
As i wasnt knowledgable on feed, i asked the YOs daughter. She was the one that said no more than a scoop of cool mix a day or i will colic him.



[/ QUOTE ]

Unless he has a specific history of colicking on certain foods the YO's daughter is talking out of her a$$.

Forgot to add, you can always order the Baileys Horse Owners Feed award pack which has loads of feed info, plus a knowledge test for you to complete of you feel so inclined here
smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top