New horse still a little skinny

[sjdress]

I’ve had my new horse for approx 3 months. He lost a little weight with the move, as was quite unsettled for a good month or so, however he has chilled out a lot recently but is still a bit skinnier than I would want.
He is Currently having 1 scoop molasses free hifi and 1/2 scoop fibre nuts twice a day, along with approx 6 slices of hay per day and 12 hours turnout (grazing ok but not great at present).
He had bad teeth when he came, which are currently being treated, but this didn’t cause him to be skinny before he came.
He has a very shiny coat, lots of energy and a good appetite but he still looks slightly light.
He’s been wormed. Any ideas what I can add to feed to help him? Linseed sent him crazy so will avoid that!

 

[Pinkvboots]

What your feeding at the moment is not that conditioning, my first go to would be linseed but if he reacted badly to it you could try grass nuts, Copra or rice bran all should help with weight gain and condition.

 

[meleeka]

I’d feed something like unmollassed sugar beet or grass nuts rather than the chaff which is aimed at the good doer. If you want to feed chaff you could swap for Readigrass or Just Grass.

 

[Follysmum]

My friend has recently rehomed a very skinny neglected horse she fed the following and it looks remarkable in the 3months

2 feeds of Soaked grass nuts , linseed , grass chaff
6 small slices hay

 

[twiggy2]

Does he finish his hay?
If yes give him more

 

[sjdress]

Does he finish his hay?
If yes give him more

He usually has a mouthful or so left but never anymore than that. I wondered if adding in some haylage might help

 

[twiggy2]

I would increase hay and introduce grass nuts.
Some of them seem to get picky when they get to the last few bits of hay and he may eat mote if there is more choice.

 

[spugs]

Copra and micronised linseed are great for weight gain.

 

[Ambers Echo]

When I first got Amber she was very thin and I struggled to get condition on her. I went through multiple options including vastly expensive conditioning mixes, oils, linseed etc but she stayed a bit thin. So I tried thirds and she gained weight steadily without silliness. I only used one tub then maintained her on her usual rations and she never dropped again.

 

[paddi22]

we get rescues in and equerry conditions mash is a super feed. what you are feeding at the moment will be doing nothing. Also agree with upping hay, id ignore the fact there is some left, a few of mine will always leave some at the end, but eat new hay. definitely up the hay ration

 

[Micky]

Agree with with ambers echo, we had a very skinny tb, who I put on Alfa a oil, balancer, speedibeet and thirds, the thirds made the difference, didn’t hot him up and by spring/summer, took him off it and never had to put him back on it..

 

[JillA]

Depending on the quality of your hay and the amount of seed in it, there isn't a lot of protein in what he is getting, and to build soft tissue he needs protein. If there is no real reason why you have him on reduced sugars, I'd be trying him on something for foals or brood mares, are even micronised barley so long as it doesn't make him fizz up. My poor doer has gained muscle mass on that and also whey powder, or you can buy the amino acids which are the building blocks from Forageplus. https://forageplus.co.uk/protein-and-amino-acids/

 

[splashgirl45]

i would give him more hay or haylege and maybe feed it in the field as well. haylege used to send my mare a bit crazy but its worth trying as it should be higher protein than hay and yours may be fine on it....i would also feed him a balancer to make sure he is getting all the vits and mins he needs..

 

[Quigleyandme]

Balanced Horse Feeds Show Mix is a good conditioning feed that horses love as it is soft and sweet but doesn't wazz them up. I would feed that alongside Saracen Every Day Balancer and good quality hay or haylage and as much Dr Green as you have available to you.