Horse feeding help! What to feed?

[Purplerain123]

Hi,

I am a first time horse owner and the horse feed market has really confused me! Its a mind field. I want to do best by my horse and struggling to work out what that should be. I have ridden for years and helped many other with horses but this is first time having my own horse. Sorry in advance for long post.

I have a 16yr old TB x ID who is 16h and use to be a hunt horse. However he was starting to struggle with long days hunting and has early signs of arthritis, he has now come to me as a happy hacker and a quieter life. The last winter he lost a bit of condition but apparently should get better on spring grass, however i have had him 6 weeks and not sure he is any better. He has a bit of a gut on him but poor topline (has been wormed).
He had physio on the weekend and is stiff in shoulders and has weak back end muscles so we have got stretches to do to improve this, im just worried about either overfeeding or not giving enough. He lives out 24/7.

The field he is in has next to nothing grass, but i am giving him hay. I was feeding him twice a day but now i take him out to to graze on banks and hedgerows in the evening for a short period of time. I ride him 2-4 times a week for at least an hour at a time.
I started him on basic horse and pony nuts 1 scoop twice a day, and Denge Alpha A oil 1 scoop twice a day. When speaking to Denge they suggested moving him to denge healthy tummy as a complete balanced diet but he needs 5 scoops a day which is a massive amount of feed. I can reduce it if hes looking well, but would then need to add extra vits and mins.
I have also contacted other feed company but have now got my self very confused about what is the best for him! Other horse owners say they don't feed at all, just a hand full of nuts hear and then. Everyone i ask says something different :/

Do I listen to feed company's and feed huge amounts that seems really expensive? (Dont mind paying if its truly what he needs)
Do i do what lots of people seem to do and feed basic nuts and chaff.
Or do I try a decent senior balancer like spiller supple which has joint supplements in and some chaff?
I am not sure if he's a good dooer or not, i think he will change shape a lot before he is correct and he seems to have a lot of muscle to build up. I don't want to up the food if its muscle i am waiting to develop.

Any help appreciated to ease my mind. Please be kind, i am trying my best to give him what he needs.
Thanks

 

[Sossigpoker]

Always up hay/ haylage before any feed.
If upping the hay doesn't work , I'd look after the Allen and Page feeds , they have one for every type of workload
Or if you want to.feed pony nuts ,.I'd add some sugarbeet to that.

 

[Purplerain123]

Yes we did stop hay for a bit as the grass was coming through. But not quickly enough to feed enough. We have started with the hay again.
Allen and page Reccomended the Cool and collected range but i heard stories about it making a lot of horses fizzy which I want to avoid. Plus one bag would only last 6 days I think.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Yes we did stop hay for a bit as the grass was coming through. But not quickly enough to feed enough. We have started with the hay again.
Allen and page Reccomended the Cool and collected range but i heard stories about it making a lot of horses fizzy which I want to avoid. Plus one bag would only last 6 days I think.

I've never fed as much as the feed companies recommend,.they always seem to recommend crazy amounts!
The Cool and Collected is still low in sugar and starch so it shouldn't make the horse silly.. Once my cob is off sick leave and back in work,.he will go on that. It's the next one up from Fast Fibre, so isn't high energy.

 

[Squeak]

I’d agree to up the hay. Is he on individual turnout or does he share the hay? If he’s on his own, give him enough hay that he always has some and if he’s sharing make sure that he’s actually getting the hay and not being chased away from it.

Feed wise, I also rarely feed the recommended huge amounts. It’s not how horses are designed to eat and so can become counter productive.

A good senior balancer would probably be worth adding so that you know he’s getting what he needs. Do you know what his last owners fed him?

 

[Red-1]

Hay wise, with an underweight horse, I would feed enough that there is always a tiny bit left in the morning.

For feed, I too like sugar beet with some form of chopped forage. Oil is a good additive to not get them fizzy, plus a balancer.

I would worm count rather then assume a wormer has done the trick. Do you poo pick daily too?

Is he warm enough? The weather has been poor for an aged horse who has been clipped.

Does he have company? An unhappy horse will often look poor.

Have you checked his teeth? An aged horse will need doing every 6 months, even if there are no issues.

If you are worried, I would ask for a blood test from the vet too.

If a horse is in pain, they will often look poor, so if he wasn't vetted, maybe a general check by the vet.