New owner! How much shall I feed?

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GoneWithTheWind

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I have very recently just bought my own horse (YEY! It's been a long time coming) and was wondering how much you'd feed him
He's a 9 year old 16.3hh Irish Sports Horse gelding who needs to gain muscle and weight. (he weighs approx 530kg)
He is going to be in light / medium work (1 to 2 hours schooling/hacking every 2 days)
Also how much hay would you give him (he's currently on 2 medium bags a night and 1 through the day
 
Did you ask what he was on before you bought him? Best to feed him what he was in and then adapt gradually, else you might upset his system.
I would give him as much hay as he can eat. For mine that is between 3 and 4 sections overnight.
 
Thank you all. At his old home he was on a chaff based feed with calming and conditioning cubes.

I was just wondering how much (in weight I.e kg) would you give him?
 
I would give him the same amount and type of feed that he had in his old home to start with. And as said above as much hay as he can eat if he is lacking a bit of weight. It can be quite unsettling for a horse going to a new home, so you don't want to make big changes to the diet at the same time. Once he seems settled then you can gradually start to increase the quantity of feed, if necessary, or think about changing to a different type.
 
As others have said, as much good quality hay as he will eat...this will depend on the horse, my poor doer who is a touch bigger than your boy, will only eat about 10kg spread across 24 hours if he is in 24/7 , he thrives on grass, so I try to turn out as much as possible. In terms of hard feed, I would advise keeping him on the same diet that he is currently on until he is settled and then you can gradually change him onto whatever is most suitable- I prefer fibre based diets as horses have evolved to eat fibre.
 
At least 10kg of good quality hay overnight, if he finishes it all before you arrive the following morning add another couple of kg until there is some left. Feedwise, I would probably give a full round scoop of chaff and half a scoop of cubes, dampened down. And plenty of turnout.
 
Hi hope you are getting on well with your new horse-are you on a yard with other liveries? I would call the prev owner and check feed and like and dislikes of this horse--I would not do too much except walk in hand and groom. Remember that horses can read you like a book so please show love not frustration which things do not go as you want them too.

We are always here if you need to ask for help x
 
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