having trouble with his diet could anyone advise me please?

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archie23

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hi i own a horse which is about 17-17.1 hands pure irish draft, his work load is currently 1 days hunting and 5 days being worked for 20 mins, he is fed haylage at night and grass in the day and being brought up at lunch time, he his currenlty lacking a bit of energy (he tends to be a bit lazy) and have been recommended spillers cool mix 4 scoops a day, dose this sound right or should i be trying something else? bearing in mind he likes his food, so have to watch his weight!!!!!
 
That sounds like an incredible amount to up it to, after having no hard feed whatsoever.

If he doesn't need the weight on, schooling can sometimes sort out a lazy horse, if he shines and is healthy with nice hooves, etc and a bright eye, then he may not need much especially with haylage all night.

If the haylage is ad lib for the whole night, maybe just try getting after him instead!

If that doesn't work and you want a little bit more fizz/sparkle type energy, then to start a hard feed I would give total one scoop split in two for the first week or so and see how you get on. It doesn't much matter what hard feed, but if you like spillers that would be fine. Just don't go to something like racehorse/competition stuff or fattening show stuff!
 
I'd start him on some mix twice a day and see how you go from there. A scoop PM and AM with a mixer like alpha. You may also find adding sugar beat beneficial too.

From your post it would appear he's getting no hard feed at all at the moment???? So not suprised there's no petrol in the tank if he's hunting weekly....
 
Absolutely and give him some (if not beet) carrots, apples, etc. for the winter vitamins.

If you do have a really good quality haylage though and its ad lib, many would get away with that.
 
he his having no hard feed at the mo, was having some before we started the season but he got too much for me,and im a rider who is a little nervous and he is great with this as he looks after me loads, so didnt want this to go pear shaped on me agian! he has currenlty just been put on limited haylage as was piling the weight on and was stuggling when we went out on saturday and was told to cut it back! its soo confusing!!!
 
definately not 4 scoops a day - you introduce feed gradually, as in half a scoop a day for a week and build it up like that.

Phone somewhere like Baileys (number on thier website) and they will advise you what to feed ad how to introduce the feed slowly to him.
 
My ID is on the same diet as yours, grass, haylage ad lib at night and he has a bucket feed of Pure Grass with a small amount of sugarbeet (vits, mins and carrots) twice a day.

If I felt he was lacking energy for work my first port of call would be an oily feed, either an oily chaff, pure oil in some form or possibly something like the Spillers slow release mix if the oil wasnt enough.

Avoid the explosive quick release energy products as they really dont suit this type of horse, what you need is endurance stamina not race horse stamina!
 
We've had a few people coming into our shop with similar problems recently, adn SPiller Quick Release Energy mix or cubes has been very popular with them...

But echo what Tempi says, ring the helplines, that's what they're there for.
 
thank you every one for your information, i got my dad to ring spillers up yesturday and that amount of cool mix is what they recommended, i have put him on one scoop cool mix per day and some hi fi to go with that.
Dose this sound ok?
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The recommended amount doesn't always match the horse. If I gave my horse the recommended amount I'd have a big, fat wild thing!! Start gradually with 1/2 scoop per day then up it slowly - you shoud notice the difference and be able to find a good balance without feeding too much.
 
Can you post a picture up of the horse so that we can see what his condition is like.

Would you say he was overweight, just right or a bit slim??
 
As others say really "couldnt comment without seeing a piccy"
However 4 scoops aday is a bit steep,especially with a good doer,you want feeds with a slow release energy that wont send him scatty!!
The cool mixes,cubes are great if you dont want to send them wild,sugarbeet is also good for slow release energy and is non heating!!Trial and error really,just stay away from competition mixes etc
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