I need advice on how to fatten up my 16yr TB! Please help me to help him...poor boy!

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Chellery1

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Hi guys,

I really need some good advice and general help! I have recently loaned my first horse. He's a 17.2 TB and probably my favourite person in the world. He has recently dropped some weight which I know is to be expected as winters approaching.....except I am feeding him a shed load of feed and he's still loosing and actually looking quite ribby!! I am feeding him what has been recommended to me on the yard as I am pretty clueless when it comes to all this "complicated feed" as I am used to fat cob type!

This is what's he's on 3 times a day...

1 large scoop of molasses chaff
1 large scoop of Allen and page weight gain mix
1/2 a large scoop of Allen and page fast fibre
Cod liver oil, vegetable oil and garlic

In his stable at night he has

2 massive nets of haulage
1 stuffed manger of hay
1 bucket of ready grass

He is good as gold to ride but gets pretty stressed/prancy when he's around the yard. Could this be too much sugar??

His appetite is good although he gets easily distracted when eating and if a horse is going out when it's feed time he will just leave the grub until the excitement has calmed down!

Please please give me some advice....


Cheers,

P.s his teeth are all good and he's recently been wormed!
 
Hi,

He's not clipped (nothing to clip lol) and he's out in a heavy rug with neck in the day and in a heavy stable rug at night!! I think he's always warm enough. Any other ideas???
 
Hi, I would highly recommend NAF pink powder I had a poor tb and now she is unrecognisable!! It take a couple of weeks to see a difference but when in the system the results speak for them selves!! Good luck!
 
No, not really. Cant see much wrong with what you are feeding and I dont think you could give much more.

Might be worth trying Yeasac, our warmblood put a lot of weight on when we started feeding it. Think it balances the gut or something, that wasn't why we originally fed it though. It was recommended by our saddle fitter as she was such a stressy cow. It worked for that and the weight gain :D
 
Is he having any hay during the day, and how long is he out for? Is he finishing all the hay you are giving him? Agree, check if he's warm enough too.

I'm concerned about mine as well (though she's younger) so am going to make sure she's on ad-lib hay day AND night, cut the chaff levels a bit so I can up the higher calorie feed, and I've also been advised to add corn oil by the vet (due to her being a cribber and at risk of ulcers, apparently it's vaguely preventative as well as high in calories). My next port of call will be micronised linseed as everyone on here raves about it. I also always feed speedi beet; but I think the fast fibre is very similar?

I am currently using all top-spec products but sometimes a different brand just seems to suit different horses; so might consider a change. I previously found Baileys no1 or no 4 pretty good on another TB.

ETS sorry I see you are already feeding oil, and he's well rugged. My main thought would be to make sure he has hay 24 hours a day. I reckon mine will only eat a limited amount over night, but if I can spread it throughout the day as well her overall intake increases.
 
Yeasac is great for stressy types...have seen great results with this and its not gonna hurt to try. Does he crib/weave/pace etc when he is in?
 
I use equimins advance complete and have seen a big difference since my tb has been on that and the best bit is it comes with a money back guarantee if it don't add condition. I keep my recepts but I'm more than happy with the product
 
Forgot to add my TB who lost alot of condition last winter due to impaction colic regained his condition with ad lib haylage available 24/7. He can probably eat at least twice as much hay/haylage than our haffie and still look abit lean while the haffie looks enormous!
 
have you tried micronised linseed? im jumping on the bandwagon this week after weeks off putting it off. and yea sacc or brewers yeast is good for their digestion and condition. and also aplha a oil is good for weight.
 
You can increase the calorie content easily by:

1) Swapping the molassed chaff for alfalfa chaff

and

2) Swapping the fast fibre for sugar beet (the molassed version will be more calories than speedibeet).

Or to make life easier you could swap both the molassed chaff and fast fibre for Alfa-Beet or Fibre-Beet. Both are a combination of alfalfa and sugar beet and need soaking.


If you're worried about changing the feed you could:

1) Feed the recommended levels of fast fibre, at half a scoop its unlikely you're feeding anywhere near recommended levels. You could put it in a bucket as part of the overnight rations.

2) How much oil are you feeding? You can give a mugful but will need to supplement with extra vitamin E.

Additionally, if he's stressy I would change the mix (starchy therefore increases fizzyness in horse) to the nut equivalent. Try to find a nut feed with the same calorific value (written as DE MJ/KG, or something like that, on the bag) but with less starch.
 
Hi there,


The women I got him off gave me some of the pink powder but said it was just for using in spring when the grass is rich! How would it help him gain weight

Cheers,
 
redriverrock said:
Yeasac is great for stressy types...have seen great results with this and its not gonna hurt to try. Does he crib/weave/pace etc when he is in?
Click to expand...



Hi there,

Yes he's very prancy and dancy around the yard! He won't just stand and chill in the stable during the day unless he's hungry and will munch hay for an hr or so!! If horses are going in or out....or there is any activity he starts the prancing and takes 5 mins to settle! Believe it or not, I've done quite well to get him to be this chilled out in the stable as he was worst and not nused to being in when. Got him lol! I have to put him out first in order for him to eat brekkie....and bring him in last in order for him to eat dinner so he's not distracted! It's a good job. Love him to death lol!!!

He weaves when desperate to go out or stressed!
 
calm & condition and pink powder worked miracles on mine, and can you not just seperate the feed into two so then he can have two feeds a day? because horses find it hard to take in ALL of the fat if its just one big feed!
 
now_loves_mares said:
Is he having any hay during the day, and how long is he out for? Is he finishing all the hay you are giving him? Agree, check if he's warm enough too.

I'm concerned about mine as well (though she's younger) so am going to make sure she's on ad-lib hay day AND night, cut the chaff levels a bit so I can up the higher calorie feed, and I've also been advised to add corn oil by the vet (due to her being a cribber and at risk of ulcers, apparently it's vaguely preventative as well as high in calories). My next port of call will be micronised linseed as everyone on here raves about it. I also always feed speedi beet; but I think the fast fibre is very similar?

I am currently using all top-spec products but sometimes a different brand just seems to suit different horses; so might consider a change. I previously found Baileys no1 or no 4 pretty good on another TB.

ETS sorry I see you are already feeding oil, and he's well rugged. My main thought would be to make sure he has hay 24 hours a day. I reckon mine will only eat a limited amount over night, but if I can spread it throughout the day as well her overall intake increases.
Click to expand...

He's out for about 7hrs a day and ridden 2-3 times a week lightly at the mo. theres next to no grazing at the yard this time of year but he's having 2 massive stuff nets of haylage and a big manger of hay every night...along with a bucket of ready grass to try and make up for it!
 
moodymare123 said:
calm & condition and pink powder worked miracles on mine, and can you not just seperate the feed into two so then he can have two feeds a day? because horses find it hard to take in ALL of the fat if its just one big feed!
Click to expand...


The amounts I quoted are what he's being fed 3 times a day! S he's on 3 feeds a day not one....

X
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
You can increase the calorie content easily by:

1) Swapping the molassed chaff for alfalfa chaff

and

2) Swapping the fast fibre for sugar beet (the molassed version will be more calories than speedibeet).

Or to make life easier you could swap both the molassed chaff and fast fibre for Alfa-Beet or Fibre-Beet. Both are a combination of alfalfa and sugar beet and need soaking.


If you're worried about changing the feed you could:

1) Feed the recommended levels of fast fibre, at half a scoop its unlikely you're feeding anywhere near recommended levels. You could put it in a bucket as part of the overnight rations.

2) How much oil are you feeding? You can give a mugful but will need to supplement with extra vitamin E.

Additionally, if he's stressy I would change the mix (starchy therefore increases fizzyness in horse) to the nut equivalent. Try to find a nut feed with the same calorific value (written as DE MJ/KG, or something like that, on the bag) but with less starch.
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for you reply

I briefly chatted to a horse dentist that visited the yard today as she has a tb. She reckons I'm be feeding too much sugar trying to fatten him up....which is then making him high as a kite which he's then burning off by being stressed and prancy in the stable etc?! How does this sound to you?
Regards,

I'm only feedi him half a scoop of the fast fibre because he's having a big scoop of chaff and big scooppf weight gain mix....and he physically won't eat anymore before getting bored!

He's on a "gulp gulp" of both cod oil and veg oil 3 times a day n each feed!!!

I was consider baileys top line cubes instead of the weight gain....???

Way do you think of badminton cubes?
 
Last edited:
Sounds about right, my mare is a good doer luckily, but most feed sends her loopy unless she's working. Baileys outshine is completely non heating & fab for weight gain, but expensive, I'd try the linseed first. And is there hay & haylage left in the morning? Although haylage is generally better for weight gain, some horses do get a bit hyped. Try splitting the forage half & half, & experimenting with what proportions work best for him. Do you know when he was last wormed or had teeth done?
 
littlelegs said:
Sounds about right, my mare is a good doer luckily, but most feed sends her loopy unless she's working. Baileys outshine is completely non heating & fab for weight gain, but expensive, I'd try the linseed first. And is there hay & haylage left in the morning? Although haylage is generally better for weight gain, some horses do get a bit hyped. Try splitting the forage half & half, & experimenting with what proportions work best for him. Do you know when he was last wormed or had teeth done?
Click to expand...

Hi,
I got his teeth done as soon as I got him in 2 months ago and he was wormed last week and was fine. There's is always abit of hay left in the morning....he won't eat what has fallen on the floor etc! His bucket of ready grass is always empty too.

I've been recommended baileys outshine....is it linseed oil you mean?

X
 
I used Readymash Extra to get the weight on my TB - she was in poor condition and after using two bags of this I had to take her off it as she got to the stage of obese! I have before and after pics if you want to see them - the change is phenomenol.

The only thing I would say about the Readymash Extra is that it is very high in starch and not something I would want to feed on a permanent basis as it also has a high cereal content, but to get things started I always recommend it. My mare also never fizzed up on it either and she is a complete and utter stress monster!
 
No, micronized linseed, its a feed. The good thing is too that you need small amounts compared to the average mix or nuts, so even if he's not food orientated he should finish the whole portion. Most feed merchants sell it, but I believe you can get it cheaper on line from what I've read on here.
 
Holly Hocks said:
I used Readymash Extra to get the weight on my TB - she was in poor condition and after using two bags of this I had to take her off it as she got to the stage of obese! I have before and after pics if you want to see them - the change is phenomenol.

The only thing I would say about the Readymash Extra is that it is very high in starch and not something I would want to feed on a permanent basis as it also has a high cereal content, but to get things started I always recommend it. My mare also never fizzed up on it either and she is a complete and utter stress monster!
Click to expand...

Hi there,

Photos would be good to see! I've never heard of ready mash?? What would I feed with this?!


Cheers,
 
So guys and girls,


Here are he options you've recommended.....

Baileys top line conditioning cubes
Alfalfa chaff
Badminton cubes
Baileys outshine
Micronised linseed
Yea sac
Ready mash extra


At the moment he's on

Molasses chaff
Allen and page fast fibre
Allen and page weight gain
Veg oil, cod oil
Hay and haylage (lots of, all through the night)
Bucket of grass


I want him to chill out, not be stressed and high on sugar...and PUT ON weight! Can anyone recommend a feeding plan on the recommendations I've been given lol?

Cheers
 
Chellery1 said:
Hi there,

Photos would be good to see! I've never heard of ready mash?? What would I feed with this?!


Cheers,
Click to expand...

Ok - here goes - again!! I keep bringing these photos out every time there is a weight gain thread!!!
Before: This was about two days after she came home from a 3 month stay at hospital

blueresize2.jpg


This was about two sacks of feed later - coupled with ad lib haylage

013.jpg


The readymash (and you need Readymash Extra for weight gain) is made by a company called Rowen and Barbary - if you google them the website will come up. I had to get my feed store to order it in for me as it's not something they all hold all the time. You soak it for about 10 minutes with the same volume of water - a bag was about £14 when I was buying it but it lasted a long time. I didn't add anything extra to the feed apart from the water.
 
I would cut back to ad lib hay and haylage night nd day if you can then just feed fast fibre with micronised linseed mixed in. It's amazing stuff. I'd Los leave a bucket of fast fibre in the stable over night so horse can graze on it. This is the only thing hat has worked for my fussy poor doer.
 
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