Help me choose my feed for my 'skin and bones' TB please !

lizziebinks

lizziebinks

Active Member
Joined
6 May 2005
Messages
43
Visit site
I have a 17.1hh 10 year old TB who came to me very poor at the end of this winter. I put it down to not having any hard feed.

What can I feed my new horse please?
Horse details:
*17.1hh*TB ex chaser * 10yrs* Lives out all year round (and still rugged for now)*
*Been on half a bucket of D&H Build up Conditioning mix per day since he arrived - so 2 months now - all the others in the field with him (all ex racers, TB) get this.*
He is wormed regularly with alternative wormers.

This past week we have stopped feeding the others (all fat bloaters!) and hoik my new horse out to feed him his hard feed individually. If looks could kill from the other big boys, ha ha!!! they are all so jealous.

Objective : GAIN WEIGHT. He is to be my new hunter for this season and I need that covering now to ensure he does not lose much over the hunting season.

Work : hacking 2 or 3 times a week. He has not fizzed up one iota whilst on this build up mix.

Avialable feed:
Dodson & Horrell Build Up Mix (this is what he has been on to date and has gained a small amount of weight)
D&H Barley rings (how best to feed this???)
Micronized linseed
Sugarbeet
alpha-A Oil

What do you guys suggest pretty please? I can buy more stuff if this above is not sufficient. My horse's new feeding regime starts today since I've just had these feeds delivered so I am going to introduce slowly some of the above items.)

also - is a worm count a good idea? How much does this cost?

thanks so much :-)
xx
 
Last edited:
Hay, hay and more hay.

I'd personally I'd check the quantities you're feeding (love D&H build up cubes), and also think about adding Alpha A oil, and perhaps some sugar beat - and splitting the feeds up in to two or three a day, rather than one big one.

But fibre is going to be your friend on this (plus the best quality grazing you can provide). So, fibre, fibre, fibre.
 
Last edited:
As much hay as you can get him to eat.

Speedibeet & micronised linseed. I wouldn't bother with the mix or barley rings. IME forage & oil is the best way to get weight on.

I'm sure someone cleverer then me will come along and explain it properly, but its to do with the way the horse's digestive system works, they end up with more calories from the forage then from a starchy mix.
 
I'd get rid of mix, feed fibre based feeds and hay. My tb who came looking very poor is on hifi lite, fast fibre and pegasus nuts and a spash of sunflower. He has good grazing though.He looks fab in three months, it's a long game though. I'd also ensure yours has/is wormed if need be. If you have poor grazing I'd add bailey's topline cubes to what I've suggested.
 
I am currently trying to bulk up my horse as he dropped some condition, i feed him thirds or wheat feed a large scoop then a scoop of alfa-a oil, then 1/2half scoop of mixed flakes and some sugar beet. its worked wonders.
 
Im no feed expert but when I hoiked my lad back off loan after he dropped weight rapidly and looked like a hat rack, I fed him spillers slow release cubes, denjie alpha a oil, and top spec comprehensive feed balancer, and I think he got an extra splash of soya oil. He didn't have humongous quantities I think was about 3/4 scoop spillers and denjie twice daily and recommended amount of balancer (going back about 2 years ago!).He put on weight at a nice steady rate on that and was soon back to his usual self. He now only has 1/4 scoop hi fi lite, recommended amount of pure feeds pure balance, 1/6 scoop badminton hi fibre nuggets. He's a good doer normally for a TB, he only has the hi-fi to put his TB calmer supplement in, and the nuggets because all my horses adore them. He's on this all year round, though through winter they get ad-lib haylage overnight too.

Now however I would choose differently :

My (now) 3yo filly lost weight coming out of this winter and the vet did say to get a worm count done if she didn't put on some weight (sorry I can't remember the cost). I added sugar beet and some soya oil to her diet (which was previously a low cal one as befitted her needs through the autumn and most of winter), and she started to put on weight so we didn't bother with a worm count. When that feed was running low I then swapped them all to pure feeds and use a combination of pure feed products for her which allows me to balance her weight perfectly and also keep the quantities of feed down :). Pure feeds deliver to your door for free if that would help make it a viable option for you :) there aren't any stockists local to me so thats how I get mine.
 
Plenty of Fiber . The Alfa oil will give him good bulk, I would add a balancer to give him the Vit & Minerals in needs. I would give him Sugar beet and then some conditioning feed such as the Baileys No 4 (conditioning cubes)

Good grazing and good hay

There are a number of things that would also help. I would give him a detox /general tonic
 
We've got masses of great grazing so grass no problem. Really old turf and acres of it. But those old thorughbreds eat so delicately and slooooowly.

I'll put out some hay as we have lots and lots of nice hay still. It's tricky though because he is out with 4 others and he is the bottom of the pecking order. If he gets pushed off by so much as one other horse, I'm doomed. I have no option to place him in a different field though. He panics when on his own plus our grass rotation would mess up if we used more fields.

thanks for all the suggestions so far. Going to print this page off :-)
 
mmm not sure I can do hay then. He panics on his own so can't bring him in - and if I bring a friend with him, he would get pushed off the hay because he is the world's biggest wimp!
 
Erin said:
As much hay as you can get him to eat.

Speedibeet & micronised linseed. I wouldn't bother with the mix or barley rings. IME forage & oil is the best way to get weight on.

I'm sure someone cleverer then me will come along and explain it properly, but its to do with the way the horse's digestive system works, they end up with more calories from the forage then from a starchy mix.
Click to expand...

This ^^

Can't you electric fence him a small paddock to have his hay & feed in? In the field with the others?

I would also add Fast Fibre to the speedi beet and linseed.
 
I have a 17.1hh ex point to pointer. He has Alpha A Oil, Baileys Topline no.4, Speedibeet and pink powder twice daily.
Plus.....as much hay as he can eat (currently feeding a lot of hay in the field rack as our grass is not good atm)

Agree with what others have said.....fibre, fibre and more fibre with some pink powder thrown in to provide vits and mins.
 
Worm count-excellent idea as is tapeworm blood to find out if your wormers are working(should be worm counting them all rather than just worming blindly)
 
Allen and Page's Calm & Condition mixed 50:50 with Fast Fibre twice daily, haylage, good grass and linseed oil did it for mine... That was last year and the grass at this time was great... This year it's abysmal so it would be in with a stable buddy for slightly longer periods to get more chance at the haylage with no field arguments...

Used Panacur 5 day guard twice over two months on vet advice as he was so poor and he felt it was the gentler option...then worm tested a few months later...

Changed the linseed oil for micronised after advice on here... :)
 
The key to gaining weight is haylage. Lots of it! Hard feed does not make a huge amount of difference TBH. I don't know why so many people waste their money on it when they should be feeding more haylage.
 
Just an illustration as to why hard feed is a waste of money for putting weight on. Typical Digestible Energy (MJ/kg) for conditioning cubes is 12. Typical Digestible Energy (MJ/kg) for good quality haylage is 9 - 12. You feed only around 1 - 2 kilos of hard feed, but can feed up to 18kilos of haylage if trying to put weight on a horse, which they can be eating much of the time. I find it best to just feed one or possibly two small hard feeds a day mainly for vits and minerals, and the rest of the time feed haylage. I have never failed to put weight on a skinny horse in a very short time like this.
 
To be honest I find that its fibre that puts weight on the TB's rather than conditioning mixes. You could mix the build up with alfa and sbeet and split into as many feeds as poss, it will help a bit but it is adlib grass and hay that will make the real difference in the end, he needs to be eating fibre constantly...
Has he had his teeth done and been wormed?
This is my TB ex-racer on a diet of good grass during the day, adlib hay at night, fibre cubes and pink powder:-
525913_10150803067175210_503675209_11616881_1152749770_n.jpg


My mums ex-racer has grass, fibre nuts, pink powder, hay and because he's a bit fussy with his hay and doesnt eat it all up he also gets a tub trug of hifi at night to munch on:-

557779_10150730259695210_503675209_11382785_26633486_n.jpg


Fibre, fibre, fibre!
 
There is no substitute for good quality ad lib hay. Any concentrate needs to be fed in as many small feeds as is possible. Oddly enough ,research shows that the number of feeds is more important than the quantity.I know that sounds weird ,but it is to do with the gut flora and giving them a consistent energy source to break down the fibre.(research by Tisserand and Wolfe)
 
Grass he needs grass but the right kind of grass. Have a look what's in your field it can save you a fortune. You need meadow plants and the right kind of grass. Do a bit of research and by next year you should have a lovely meadow.

In the meantime I would feed hay and small feeds. This is basic BHS stage 1 rules of feeding small feeds as the horses stomach is not very big.
 
I'm currently pulling him out of the field whilst he has his hard feed each day. He loves his feed thankfully.

He has lots of good grass. My husband is a farmer and manages the grass fantastically and makes our excellent hay - so I have no concerns on quality and quantity of hay.They get masses of hay through autumn to April and plenty of grass at all other times. None of our TBs (all are ex racers) have ever not lived out all year round.

Bringing my new horse in, plus one other for company, to feed him hay or haylage is a last resort for me due to work and family commitments. Time I don't have and does not fit in with the rest of our horses here. (He would be given to someone else to use if that was the only thing that is going to work. I can't give him that time.)

Going to try and grass plus hard feed and assess mid June to see how things are going. He has gained since February being on just D&H Build up mix 1x a day plus hay even though he lived out (previous home stabled him, hunted him lightly but gave him no hard feed ). He was a hatrack when he arrived - now he is gettting a tummy but not yet fat over his ribs. This weight gain will be the long game :-)

Thank you all for your advice xx
 
Grass on its own pretty much will do the trick, so long as you're rugging appropriately while it's still cold (and a skinny TB needs a LOT of rugging up!). My TB actually looks a bit fat atm and that's on day turnout only, so good is the grass now! I've never managed to get her fat in the winter as however much haylage and feed she gets, so whilst she looks ok, she's never fat. In the summer, she can turn into a heffalump on full turnout - grass is the very very best thing!
 
these 'old' TBs?
he's only 10!!!

my TB is 26, ridden three times a week, lives out and looks in better condition then when he was 12

agree with most posters

GRASS, grass and grass - as you are lucky enough to have loads of good grass
Rug well - my TB doesn't know how to sweat, thankfully, but i'd definitely 'over-rug' compared to 'normal' horse

but the weirdest thing about TBs in my experience is you can feed them til the cows come home and they'll barely gain an ounce
unless they're happy

happy?
no niggling pain or discomfort
company they enjoy
and something to keep their brain occupied

sounds like he has 'upgraded' his home recently
he just might need a little longer to fully settle and relax

and it's easier to put muscle on a TB than fat
so work him (that'll sort his brain too)
 
I have recently cared for an emaciated TB and fed him alpha oil, speedibeet, topspec balancer and linseed oil 3 times a day with ad lib hay. He put on an enormous amount of weight in 2 months.
Now I have used topspec, I wont go back to feeding mixes, it works out cheaper for me and my horses look great!
I completely agree that horses need good quality fibre, or Dr Green as my vet called it, to put on the weight.
 
we have a 21 yr old Tb and usually loses condition during the winter. However, this year we tried him on Spillers conditioning mix. Really good stuff, he looks better than he has done for years. We put hot water in it and make it into a mash. I would feed him sugar beet aswell and of course plenty of hay!! Maybe feeding him two smaller meals a day rather than one big one may also help. Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top