how much of what do i feed, advice please.

[kazs]

when it comes to feed i aint got a clue, my last mare didnt get fed apart from supplements, anyway ive had my new boy for 2 weeks now, but i think he gets far too much food. he was in a riding school and ive already cut his food in half from what riding school told me to give him , he gets 1/2 scoop sugar beet, 1/2 scoop economy mix, 1 scoop alpha a, twice a day, hes out on grass during day, and hes not eating much haylage at night. hes a shire x tb 16.2hh and in light work,
any suggestions on amount and what to feed would be great.

 

[angiebaby]

If he's only in light work I would cut out the sugar beet, or replace with unmollassed one, ie speedi-beet. Not eating much haylage is probably an indication that he's full

!
If he's overweight, cut out the economy mix too, if just about right, don't give so much!
My 15.1h tb x who's slightly underweight has less than half of that, but he's on good grazing 24/7

 

[Kenzo]

Its hard for some Jo Blogs to comment on the feeding recommendation of someone's horse without seeing how the horse performs during his workload and actually seeing what condition the horse is actually in, please don't take that in the wrong light though, I just want to state that before people start firing feeding recommendations to you without actually knowing a lot about your horse and what the horse needs from his diet because this could cause further problems.

First of all, take a look at your grass, is it rich, is it sparce, are you clay,sandy soil? what type of grass was seeded in your field, you could have an analysis done to find out how much nutrition your horse is obtaining from his grass, you may find you don't actually need to supplement his diet with extra vits and minerals. Also check your worming plan.

Look at your horses condition, ideally you should be able to feel his ribs and its fine to have a good poke about, but not see them unless your horse is of a TB type and is super fit where yes you will see there ribs, a huge hard floppy crest on the neck is not a good sign neither, can you feel the withers or have they disappeared into the neck and back? looking from behind can you see your horses belly bulging beyond his round bum?

How's he coping with the work you do, puffing and panting because he has no energy or because he's unfit and too fat? or has your horse got too much excess energy?

If your horse came from a riding school and was used for faster or in advanced classes like jumping then its likely that your horse is now doing a lot less work therefore will need to alter his diet.

Otherwise I'd give D&H, Bailey or Allen & Page etc a call for some free expert feeding advice and explain exactly what the problem or concerns are and they will be able to give you some good advice, it may be that what you are feeding is working fine for your horse.

 

[kazs]

hes about right in weight, does any of these feeds cause them to get fizzy and spooky?

 

[Kenzo]

Suger beet, Alfa A and hayledge could very much cause a horse to be fizzy yes, if you think your horse is being a little fizzy then at this time of the year then cutting one or even all would certainly show a change in his behaviour.

because of the sugar content like the other forum member stated.

 

[kazs]

thanx im finding all this helpful, does he need hard feed, or shall i try him on half the amount. (still confused about feed)