Putting condition on an Ex Racer

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BoggyGirl

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My new horse about 6 weeks since his last race now. We are feeding him adlib haylage but ours is more like hay and he is receiving a scoop of Topspec chaff and half of fibre cubes twice a day. He is turned out 8 hours a day and in at night. I am not doing much with him at all but it would be nice to start to build some top line from groundwork and long lining over the next month or so. We have great grass in spring which will help. He is super laid back and easy to do he has taken to everything I've asked so easily lunging etc.. I'm a bit worried about Calm and Condition as I have had horses that have become very sharp on it. The feed merchant is recommending conditioning mixes but I'm not sure that's the way to go?
 
Racehorses are used to be fed hard feed 4x a day and forage 2/3 times a day.

I feed mine Equerry Conditioning Mash with Alfa A Oil and Veteran Vitality. You may find the VV works better for racers as it is pretty much fully balanced.
 
Beet pulp soaked in a big trug and Once soaked add a few mugfuls of linseed meal and give free access overnight. You can also mix with grass pellets as well for extra proteins. Puts good weight on without your mixes or excess starch or upsetting gut balance. Always worked for anything I’ve had to put weight on and very economical in the pocket.
 
Don't rush the weight on, if he is eating well and not losing weight I would stick with what you are doing. If I was to add anything it would be micronised linseed and speedibeet with a good supplement. To be honest though that fresh of the track I would just feed as much forage as he wants, it is potentially a stressful time for him and it may not be showing yet so keep it simple.
 
I've had mine eleven months and in light work he is fed ad lib premium quality first cut ryegrass haylage and three kilos a day of Top Spec Cool Condition cubes and that just about holds his condition, which is never more than 5/10.

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mine doesn't like anything mashy so I am mainly sticking to nuts/pellets and ad lib haylage. We are currently on conditioning cubes and omega rice. He's not a great eater (hence my recent thread about big holed haynets - if he thinks it's too difficult to eat then he just won't bother :rolleyes:)

I have to take photos to see the progress because when you see them every day the incremental changes are a bit invisible but trainer remarked yesterday that he's come on quite a bit. I think he was between a 2/3 when I got him and he's a good 4 now, still some way to go but he is putting on muscle which takes time.
 
I would agree not to rush about putting condition on - I used calm and condition on one of mine and he was fine with that. To be honest he is an easy horse to feed. My other one always stayed "moderate" condition even when doing serious showing. One thing I did find very good with a horse that had been ill was Equi Jewell but would agree plenty of fibre and time. Hope you have lots of fun with him.
 
ycbm said:
And mine likes his as almost gruel! talk about horses for courses 😁
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haha! yes absolutely. Darcy just can't be arsed if I give him mashy stuff, he pushes it around for about 30 sec, nibbles a teaspoonful and then goes off to have a doze. But he loves NUTS! nuts nuts nuts. I think he probably dreams about nuts.
 
Muffin just sprays nuts everywhere! I called the dentist as an emergency when he first did it, but there was nothing wrong with his teeth at all. He likes them soaked in as much water as they will hold, then he wolfs it down, slurpily 😆
 
I found mine only put weight on when I upped his protein - he gets specific protein powder, you could buy the individual amino acids or look for a high protein feed. That plus micronised linseed and micronised barley has covered his ribs finally, and he isn't in work. Their systems seem to be geared to cereals,and TBH unless your hay is June hay there isn't a lot of protein in his feed - beet pulp is mainly fibre and I don't know what is in the mixes, you need to read labels or websites. Oil is recommended but mine didn't like any oil I offered him
 
Stuffed them full of forage and now that the goodness is out of the grass adlib hay in the field.

Vet check for any undiagnosed pain, physio, turnout to let down and gut supplement.

Pink mash, grass nuts and micronised linseed with unmolassed chaff has always worked well for me. At times tried different things for different reasons but that base has done the job.

Pink mash has been amazing for everything to be fair
 
Both Bisto and Rose came to me needing a bit of weight and a lot of muscle. Although not OTTBs Bisto was 7/8ths TB and Rose has a lot of TB in her. Both did very well on unmollased chaff, micronised linseed and unmollased Beet + ad lib haylage and good grazing. I've now got Rose on Ease and Excel + micronised linseed and beet but that's only because she's a bit fussy with her supplements particularly turmeric, which I have no idea is any good but it makes me feel better! Bisto didn't get on with calm and condition, it made him a bit silly.
 
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Trouper said:
I would be tempted to add in something like Protexin to help his gut adapt to all the changes he is going through - both routine and diet. If his gut is operating properly he will get the most benefit from what you decide to feed him.
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Pink mash contains this. Its lower calorie than typical conditioning feeds (& is fed in lower quantities to the fattie) but it put condition on the ex racer better than higher Mj/Kg feeds. I put it down to the same reasoning as you that a healthy gut works better and gets more out of all other feeds too.
 
Thanks all I will have a look at the linseed. He loves being out I guess that is a new thing for him and is eating tonnes of this years haylage. I am a bit scared of supplements as I spent a fortune on them for another horse and they causes all sorts of trouble. Has anyone had a problem with a horse eating pink mash? My old mare refused?
We do have great grazing all summer so hopefully next year he will put it on well. I am in no rush to work him much I will give him some time and see how he goes.
 
I've had one who wouldn't eat pink mash.

You could try yea sacc as a cheaper alternative to Protexin. I believe it's a key ingredient, and it's well proven for gut health in farming.

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