New horse - feed and supplement advice, please!

[IsabelleJ]

Well, Sidney will be arriving in 8 day's time (WHOO HOO!) He is a 16.2 Shire/TB and is a good doer, at the moment he is on a handful of chaff and a small amount of pony nuts.

I sort of went a bit mad buying food for him and have ended up with two bags of chaff and some pasture mix

I could keep hold of the pasture mix and maybe give him some in a couple of months when he has settled in, or I could start giving him some now. I'm inclined to just leave it for the time being, and give him some pony nuts of some sort. Does this seem right? If so, does anyone have any recommendations for specific brands of nuts? He's very calm, so fizziness shouldn't be a problem.

My other query is about supplements. Does everyone feed them? When I gave up horses (about 12 years ago) we didn't really give them anything except maybe garlic. Sid isn't on any supplements at the moment, but would people recommend I start him on one? If so, what should I choose?

Oh, I forgot to say that he will be in light to medium work - half an hour's schooling everyday, and possibly half an hour's hacking a day as well.

HELP!

Confused Isabelle

 

[YorkshireLass]

You feed for work done and go by how fat or thin the horse is.

Horses love routine, so I would continue his current diet. It will help him settle in. Then, adjust by how he looks, what he has done and how your grazing is holding up.

If you read the feed bags it gives a guide to the quantity to feed. If you feed the suggested quantity then it will usualy provide your horse with everything it needs. However, most people find the suggested quantity is way too much., hence they suplement to make up the shortfall in vitamins and minerals.

 

[pocket]

I would always feed the horse what he is being fed at the moment as he is going to be unsettled for a while until he gets used to you, so, if he is being fed the same rations as he is now, its one less thing to get him stressed. Once you have got to know him a little bit more then you can alter his feeds gradually. Good luck

 

[IsabelleJ]

Thank you very much for the advice. How long do you suggest that I keep him on his old feed? About two months? I suppose it depends on how quickly he settles, really. Fortunately I am getting a large metal feed bin with compartments, so should have loads of space to store stuff. Am I the only one who goes on a spending frenzy?

Isabelle