Struggling to find the right feed

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Scribbles

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Baby horse came to us having never been fed hard feed ni his life, and looking pretty sorry for himself.

We started him on conditioning cubes, build up suplement and some apple chaff, which worked a bit too well, and he blossomed into a bit of a porker. I rang Spillers advice place, who said to put him onto ordinary horse cubes, which we have done. I also exchanged his apple chaff for some happy hoof, as anything else gives him the squits (and he loves the taste of happy hoof).

But now he's losing weight. I mean, he needed to, but I don't want him yo-yoing all over the place. Tonight he's going into his MW t/o rug, as he currently just has a fleece and lightweight over that, but I was wondering if anyone knows of anything that might help, without making him into a crazy horse, which the conditioning mix did, and doesn't cost silly money.

I'm tempted to stick on the happy hoof, as the chaff is just to stop him wolfing his dinner, and get a few other minerals in, and perhaps use spillers calm&condition, or else try another brand horse nuts.
 
I am feeding all of mine Simple Systems feed. I emailed them to find out what they recommended, and they were most helpful.

I worked out all the cost, feed for feed, and it wasn't any more expensive than what I was feeding, although the initial outlay was a little more.

Mine all look great though. Really soft and shiny coats.

I would definitely recommend it.
 
Is he living in or out? Is he getting adlib hay or haylage? The most cost-effective way (apart from good grazin) to keep weight on is to give them as much good quality hay/haylage as you can.

The reason he went mad on conditioning cubes was probably because of the cereal content, so wise to avoid these as he seems to be sensitive to them. I can't see that changing the horse cubes to another brand will help, because most standard cubes will contain the same amount of calories. How many times a day is he fed? If the feed otherwise suits him, could you add an extra feed a day? If not, you could try adding an oil source of some sort, as oil is very dense in calories you don't need to feed a lot, so won't increase the size of his feed too much. Cheapest source is vegetable oil, which is what I give my poor doer, but some people prefer to feed an oil-rich supplement such as Equijewel or Outshine. Alternatively you could swap the Happy Hoof for an oil-rich chaff such as Alfa A Oil or Spiller's Conditioning Fibre.
 
I've spoken to Baileys Horse Feeds a couple of times and both times they were really helpful and they recommended other brands not just their own too, perhaps give them a call.

Have heard good things about high oil diets - keep the weight on without the fizz.
 
Thanks


He is rising 4, TBX type. He's currently out 24/7, but will soon be coming in on a night, with 1 haynet (which always has some left in the morning). He can only be fed once a day.

He is getting cod liver oil in his feed which has helped a lot. When the happy hoof runs out i might swap for Alfa A oil.
 
i'd say winergy would be a good bet - especially if he like happy hoof. you could go between the low when he's looking well and getting good grass and condition when he needs help. i use growth on mine and it's fantastic, she's shiny, healthy and very chilled out.
 
Just bear in mind, as you say you don't want a feed that 'costs silly money', that the Winergy recommended by a couple of users costs about £12 for a 15kg bag (most standard feeds come in 20kg bags). So if they sold it in 20kg bags it would be about £16 a bag.
shocked.gif
 
you're right TGM - it isn't the cheapest option. but actually if it works for you when nothing else seems to, as it does for me, it is worth every penny!


actually i used to feed alfa a oil, conditioning cubes toped up with a balancer because she went loopy on too much, a bit of sugar beet and extra oil. winergy growth is definitely not any more expensive than that little lot and much simpler.

if you've got on that lives on fresh air or economy cubes then a, why would you want to feed winergy and b, yes, it would work out way more expensive.

depends what you need from your feed i guess.
 
But I was talking about the OP's horse's needs, not your horse's.
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The OP's horse is obviously not a terribly poor doer, because at one point he was 'a bit of a porker' and she was wanting suggestions for something that didn't cost 'silly money'. Bearing in mind those criteria, Winergy wouldn't be the immediate choice for her horse, in my opinion.
 
you are right tgm, it isn't a cheap option, i pay 9.99 per 15kg bag. i thought about that after i posted. i used to feed mine alpha a and it was a nice feed and she liked it. i just wanted something lower starch and she is less spooky with the winergy.
with the alpha a i used to feed buildup which was quite good and not too expensive either.
 
fair enough! I just don't think it is 'silly money' for what you can get out of it which is why i suggested it. everyones opinion differs i suppose and can only advise on my own experience hence the post about my horse. i thought winergy sounded ideal for OP.
 
I had the same problem with my WB X TB, in the end after trying many different feeds he did superb on Allen & Page Calm & Condition fed with Alfa A. He was very prone to be 'hot' but this combination of feed never made him. Think it costs around £10 ish a bag (20kg), also add ordinary vegetable oil to the feed aswell, great cheap conditioning supplement. You do not need to pay lots of money for specialist horsey oils, simple veg oil from supermarket is fantastic. Hope this helps.
 
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