Is my sister feeding incorrectly?

sandi_84

sandi_84

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My sister has been worried that her cob cross will loose a lot of weight this winter, he hasn't as yet tho. It's her first winter with him and also her first horse in a long long time. He is a working liveried horse and is used for her personal riding also but to be honest he doesn't really work that much and when he does it's usually not that strenuous. He is being fed a combo of sugar beet, chaff, pony nuts and barley and he also has access to plenty of hay in the field. He is 15.2h and 5 years old. Recently she has doubled his feed intake when he has been worked but she also feeds him nearly every day that he doesn't work with his usual amount plus about an extra scoop of sugar beet and an extra one of the high energy mix. I try to excercise him for her occasionally and he is usually very good. He sometimes has what i call a "woo-hoo moment" when you take him up to canter he sort of flicks up his bum a bit. It's just in high spirits and isn't really anything like a proper buck (think what running over a mouse is compared to going over a speed bump) but the last time i rode him he had two massive bucks and he very nearly had me off both times! On the second one i lost one of my stirrups and jolted my back because i was (stupidly) unprepared for him to do it. I know the plan is to bulk him up on hay when he is stabled during the worse weather but I'm wondering if she is just feeding waaay to much at the moment (resulting in such ungentlemanly behaviour) because she is worrying about something that hasn't happened yet?
 
It sounds a rather muddled diet, he is on working livery at a RS so do they not manage his diet and daily routine which would be normal as a working livery.

He is, I assume, living out with access to hay for now and not coming in unless the weather turns. I would give him a daily feed, ideally twice a day but I think the yard should be doing this, he needs plenty of fibre so chaff, sugar beet are the best place to start I would cut out the barley and if he needs more energy give some oil, a higher quality chaff or a high fibre cube.
If fed a huge feed once a day he will not get the benefit as it will not be digested properly and could cause colic.
I also think they should have the same feed every day, maybe a little extra after they have worked very hard.
 
The sugar beet/ high energy mix is because the yard wanted to try out a different feed but they had a huge container of sugarbeet left over so they get a bit of both. Yes he is living out at the mo and there is a regular supply of hay bales available in the fields. The yard would indeed feed him etc but my sis wants to do it herself and goes up at least twice a day to check on him. I totally agree his feed should be given in smaller amounts. Do you think that the barley is causing the amount of extra oomph he's displaying at the moment? He's just had his teeth checked and there doesn't seem to be any problems with his feet, back or tack.
 
The barley could be causing the behaviour, cereals are high in starch and that combined with mix will probably make his diet too high in starch and sugar, both of which can make a horse a bit "high".
He is still young and could also be going through a stage of finding his strength and getting a bit opinionated.
 
Okey doke i'll suggest she cuts out the barley (and feeds twice a day instead of once) and see how he gets on. Thank you! :)
 
Ditto, sugar beet and alfa A, plus oil if he needs it as we get further into winter. If he is a cob cross and holding weight well, with ad lib hay and, I assume, a rug, then he should be absolutely fine on that all winter long.

You might like to remind her that horses are supposed to lose a wee bit of weight in winter to make room for the spring grass, she'll have an absolute nightmare next spring if he gets fat this winter...
 
what is he crossed with??

My 22 yr old irish mare was on chaff, pony nuts and a little bit of speedi beet with ad lib hay

how ever she kept getting choke on chaff so now on sugar beet, baileys number one cereal meal as its easier to eat.

In all the years my cobs/good doers have been fine through winter on chaff & nuts

dont waste unnecessary money where its not needed :)
 
Does sound a lot for a chunky. I would echo poster above. A scoop of chaff and some nuts twice a day is probably fine, as long as he's got lots of hay I honestly can't see why he would need more?! That's pretty much
what my TB has!
 
I'm not actually sure what he's crossed with but yes he is all cozy in his med weight rug at the mo, it's still quite mild up here for the time of year. Yeah i did think he was getting rather a lot for what little he does, I think it's coz she (understandably) loves him to bits that she's so worried about the weight loss. He hasn't actually lost any weight yet tho. And unfortunately she's a bit impulsive when it comes to splashing her cash, it's one of the things we have serious convorsations about on a regular basis ha ha!
Thanks to everyone who has commented! I shall pass on your info to her and see how he gets on :)
 
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