Loads of feed and expense for hardly any fat reward :(

[auntienutnut]

I am wondering if it is really worth the expense?

I have spent the past two months with my horse on

Equitop Myoplast, as per vets instructions

A Thunder Brooks diet of Base mix, Complete and Condition, Chaff topped off with Equijewel (each product £40.00 a bag)

All in line with the amounts he should eat against what he weighs.

Ad lib hay overnight.
Good turnout during the day.

My cost are awful and I wound mind if he was starting to put on weight!

Everyone says how well he looks, perky, shiny coat etc but I can still see ribs

I have had him tested for Ulcers, hind gut ulcers and all blood test came back clear, seems there is nothing wrong with him

I'm wondering if I should have saved my money and left him on Chaff and a balancer, but now I'm scared to change back in case he looses weight.

Or am I expecting to much to soon?

 

[ihatework]

Firstly ribs isn't necessarily bad. It depends on a whole host of other things too - do you have a picture?

How long has weight gain process been going on? It can take months.
How old is horse and what breed?
How much work is the horse in?
I assume teeth and worming done?

Personally I'd save your money on the Myoplast and thunder brooks.
Go for the best quality ad lib forage you can afford and the supplement with 3-4 smaller but high calorie content feeds. Equijewel is good and an alternative to that is omega rice which may prove slightly cheaper. I'd add that to soaked grass nuts and also consider oats.

 

[auntienutnut]

Firstly ribs isn't necessarily bad. It depends on a whole host of other things too - do you have a picture?

How long has weight gain process been going on? It can take months.
How old is horse and what breed?
How much work is the horse in?
I assume teeth and worming done?

Personally I'd save your money on the Myoplast and thunder brooks.
Go for the best quality ad lib forage you can afford and the supplement with 3-4 smaller but high calorie content feeds. Equijewel is good and an alternative to that is omega rice which may prove slightly cheaper. I'd add that to soaked grass nuts and also consider oats.

Id have to work out how to get a photo on here but will try later.

How long has weight gain process been going on? It can take months. 3 months +
How old is horse and what breed? 11 year TBXID
How much work is the horse in? light to medium probably, riding club, worked 5-6 days a week
I assume teeth and worming done? yes all up to date.

Maybe I should ignore the ribs, he is built very downhill which maybe don't help the overall picture.

I don't really want to change his feed again tbh, was just thinking was it all worth it, maybe I have to accept what I have got in the winter.
I have owned the horse a year.

 

[ihatework]

Okay, if you don't want to change the actual feed I'd say reduce the volume of chaff slightly, increase the equijewel and save money by cutting out the myoplast. Then give one extra hard feed a day until the grass starts coming through

 

[JillA]

I'd be looking at the analysis of your hay - it is after all a huge % of his diet. He might be filling up on fibre without the necessary protein or minerals he needs to create soft tissue. The protein content of your hay is important and if it is low you could add amino acids to his feed, specifically lysine and methionine and look at the document I posted a link to on my post about protein. Read up on it on the Forageplus website
I have a TB who is a really poor doer and protein was the answer for him - he gets anything other than starchy cereals with a high protein content, which even includes bran at 12%. And minerals to balance what is in his hay.

 

[TGM]

When you say you can see ribs, do you mean a hint of ribs or are they clearly defined. Horses that are fairly fit and in good healthy condition often show a hint of a rib, especially when clipped and is nothing to worry about unless you want to show the horse.

If he really is too thin, have you tried actually weighing how much forage he actually eats? I know you say he gets ad lib hay but have you tried weighing how much you put in and how much is left in the morning, to see if he is eating enough for his size? If he is not eating at least 2% of his bodyweight in hay then you could look at giving him a variety of forage to see if this will get him to eat more - some haylage, hay from a different source, soaked grass nuts etc.

 

[Casey76]

The Myoplast is nothing but a sugary gimmick... get rid and save yourself a fortune.

How often is he being fed? Small and often will be better than two big meals a day.

 

[JillA]

Just a thought - have you had him tested for Cushings?

 

[SEL]

I thought the Thunderbrook's conditioning product already had rice bran in it - so adding Equijewel as well seems excessive. Why not knock the C&C on the head and just stick with a Equijewel? Or ditch the a Equijewel if it isn't working and try linseed.

A glug of veg oil adds a lot more calories into the hard feed.

 

[tallyho!]

I'd change your forage to a more nutritious hay/haylage... 1/2 scoops of bagged feed is never going to be enough...

 

[TheMule]

I agree- good quality haylage would be my first choice and Spring is coming so the more grass he can have the better.
I feed a mix of soaked grass and alfalfa nuts- really economical, they love it and I'm really impressed with how mine come through the winter. I think you can spend huge amounts on very small quanities of feed and waste your time

 

[jaffa2311]

Have you done a worm count?

I've never seen such a hue change in condition with my filly.

I have fed micronised linseed, alfa a, balancer and ready mash with ad lib haylage. My good doer drops in the winter too however has not at all this year and is fed alfa a and linseed with ad lib haylage.

I know there are endless conditioning products and it is overwhelming but this worked for me.

 

[meesha]

Make sure there is ad-lib forage at all times even in field,

 

[NOISYGIRL]

Mine has cushings and is 38 he lost weight last year he wont eat any chop feed or speedibeet and is allergic to fibre beet

He was on a supposed weight gain feed but didn't put any on, then he went off it so had to find something quick, thankfully my friend was using topspec fibre plus cubes and luckily hes been eating this and senior lite balancer since then as a mash, for the weight gain he was on 5 feeds a day (only because he doesn't like big feeds) he now maintains on less feed as he is now eating the hay.

Saracen releve is also good for weight gain and you could try micronized linseed. Personally I think the more feeds you give the less unbalanced the diet is. I'd stick to one or two feeds and increase these

 

[Polos Mum]

i had one I tried all sorts with barley rings, whole oats, rolled oats, micronized linseed - all sorts of branded mixes - nothing worked - I was close to choppin up £20 notes and feeding him those to cut out the middle man!
Then a friend recommended grass nuts - they are economical, you can feed loads and loads (soaked) - they changed his life completely with a noticeable difference in 2/3 weeks - I love emerald green ones - it's now what I feed all of mine
If he;s on his own in the paddock he can have buckets of it outside while there isn't much grass.

 

[CrazyMare]

I was feeding Equijewel for the last few years, I didn't mind the cost when she was putting on weight but it seemed to become less effective.

I'm feed Keyflow Feeds Pink Mash this winter and finding it more palatable and she's put on more weight with it. Bonus is it's far cheaper.

 

[southerncomfort]

I had a similar situation with a pony that had been sick. I was turning myself inside out giving her buckets of this that and the other desperately trying to get some weight on her. In the end I ditched it all for Top Spec Cool Condition and Fast Fibre, good old veg oil (she hated linseed) and Equimins Advance Complete (TS CC doesn't have any vits & mins). She perked up immediately and put on weight very quickly.

 

[LCH611]

I would also ditch the Equitop Mytoplast and TB.... and feed grass nuts, alfa pellets, beet, either a balancer or vits & mins supplement. If you need to add extra condition you could add copra or linseed. None of those are expensive and they all go quite a long way! The good news is that if you don't have gut issues to worry about you can save yourself all the expense of those expense gastric supplements.....

 

[nikkimariet]

Myoplast is full of cr@p.

Thunderbrooks... Sorry, but it's just not got enough in it for weight gain.

Linseed over Equijewel.

Chaff? What type? Most chaff is either dust or sugary dust.

Try:

Winergy Condition or Havans Slobbermash
Linseed
Oats
Readigrass

Also, two months isn't a whole heap of time in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Red-1]

Is he warm enough? Mine can drop weight dramatically when cold. It makes it a bit tricky as if he is too hot he takes his own rugs off, ripping the shoulder in the process as he pulls them over his head! Means we sometimes have to change rugs after the morning chill has gone.

I would keep with the ad lib forage, but in the day as well as at night. I have also found it useful to have two different types of forage, mine will prefer one type then have a change and prefer the other. It can even be two different deliveries of hay from the same supplier, but they are different in colour and small, and obviously taste. Maybe try a net of normal hay and a net of steamed?

I like the Equijewel, but have also had huge success with NAF Thrive (a powder). You generally have to order it in. I believe it is clay from Australia? It really seems to perk up their appetite. So much so that when it first came out a vet warned me to be careful as some horses had had lami after gorging when fed it! He did not know why it worked, but said it seemed to do something.

I would leave out the Myoplast if it is not being effective, as it is £££££.

Also, feed salt.

 

[indie1282]

Grass nuts. They cost about £7 a bag and last for ages. Make sure you soak them and I've not known any horse turn their nose up at them. I've fed them with a grass chaff aswell.

Linseed or vegetable oil.

You could add Copra or FibreBeet- Copra can be an acquired taste.

 

[amandaco2]

copra, adlib hay even in field, linseed meal.


check for any low grade pain.
does he struggle to put muscle on? could be a bilateral issue with hocks or SI or neck which causes horse to move in a restricted fashion and then not put muscle on properly......

 

[irish_only]

Definitely soaked grass nuts. It is what the horse is designed to eat, and look what happens if you turn them out in a big grassy field - they get fat. I'm starting to build an allergy to all these feed companies whose products claim to be the be all and end all.

 

[irish_only]

Forgot to add, you can build up to feeding a large tub trug with grass chop and grass nuts well soaked. They munch their way slowly through it, and it's as good as being on lush grass without all the problems of huge manufactured feeds that they eat too fast.

 

[D66]

Your horse needs to be getting all the essential amino acids to be able to make the best use of the feed it's taking on board. In your circumstances I'd do a worm count and then feed a fibre, like grass nuts or fast fibre, along with thunderbrooks base mix or daily essentials and salt.