Help conditioning a TB

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sparry

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Hi everyone, a bit of help needed!

I'm showing my TB this year and I've been told by judges that he needs to be bigger!! I'm at a stage where I can't seem to put any wieght on to him and get him into 'show condition' so I'm wondering what you lot may suggest. Feed wise he's on a Stubbs scoop of Baileys No. 4 and a scoop of chaff and some fenugreek and Linseed twice a day. He has ad lib haylage and is turned out for about 8 hours a day but we have pretty much no grass left now! Work wise he's worked 4-5 times a week we hack quite a lot as he goes stale very quickly if schools to much so that is done when as needed and we try to do a good hill session twice a week. He's not a typical hot TB either (the complete opposite if anything!). Thanks for the help in advance.

image_zps3ddd3dd3.jpg
. (Sorry if its huge, I don't know how to make it smaller!)
 
Your horse doesn't need to be bigger! He has quite enough weight on him - how fat exactly do these showing judges want horses to be?

Readymash Extra by Rowen and Barbary is great for weight gain and put my TB in "show condition" (overweight), so if you really want to satisfy the show judges, then I would recommend that.

I think your horse is lovely just as he is - a bit more topline would be nice, but that comes from work and feed, not just feed alone. :)
 
@ sparry

apart from the fact that the coat is looking a bit dull the overall condition on him is good.

You have to consider in that you have a greyhound (tb) and not a rottweiler (draught).

If you bulk him up or even if you try it wich is difficult with a tb, you will put him in danger to get sick.

It is not the nature of a tb to look bulky.
 
I would not want any more weight on him at all!! Especially this side of spring. The grass will add the pounds... Right now I would look at some work to build topline... Hacking and hill work is great. maybe introduce one or two lunging sessions a week - over poles for some of the time with either long and low side reins, or nothing at all.... he needs to me encouraged to use himself and not rely on something to hold him up...
 
*bangsheadonwall* This is why I stay as far away from showing as possible :mad:

You horse does not need more weight at all, piling too much weight on a tb is not healthy at all. You need to get bulk through muscle, not fat. Your tb looks perfect weight wise at the moment.
 
Any more fat on him would make him overweight, which poses serious health risks. Build more muscle, by all means, but that must be done through work, not feed.
 
Looks fine weight wise - perhaps you could try adding in a small amount of Baileys Outshine - this helps to make them nice and shiney!
 
I wouldn't want any more weight on him - but he is lacking bloom. Try adding some oil to his diet which will improve his coat.

But apart from that - keep doing what you're doing. He's fab.
 
Thanks for the replays everyone. I don't really want him any fatter coz of his poor little legs. His coat hasn't come through the best but he came up in heat lumps (he is very very sensitive!) and that has seemed to of messed up his summer coat as he had a fab winter one. I'm really struggling with his top line and I put in so much work to try and improve it. It can be a bit depressing when you think your getting somewhere then the judge says they need to be bigger but for some reason I still keep wanting to do it lol!
 
sparry said:
It can be a bit depressing when you think your getting somewhere then the judge says they need to be bigger but for some reason I still keep wanting to do it lol!
Click to expand...

Next time a judge says that to you, simply ask them if they condone obesity in horses.......
 
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