Thinking about changing my TB feed...any advice welcome

yaffsimone1

yaffsimone1

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My 15.2 TB is currently fed:-

4 scoops of Alfa A oil per day (2 in each feed)
1kg (dry weight) Speedibeet
Vit and Min supplement.
Ad lib hay

Our grass is rubbish

I've only had her 2 months and this diet is what she came on. She holds her weight well on it and its gives enough energy to work without going potty (she has been off for over a year).

TBH I would like a bit more sparkle, but that may come with time as she unfit due to being off work.

That little lot costs me £52.00 a month, excluding hay. Don't get me wrong I will pay whatever its costs, but surely there is a cheaper way of keeping her weight on but giving her enough energy to work?

I was thinking changing the diet completely and moving to a Bailey top line / competition or racehorse cube as this seems to works out cheaper?? cut out the chaff until winter time when she needs extra fibre?
 
I recently changed my 16.1 20 yo TB to baileys no:4. He has a scoop of that twice a day along with 1/4 cup of baileys outshine twice a day, a scoop of speedy beat twice a day and some basic chaff and he does REALLY well on it and looks great.

I buy 1 sack of baileys a month (£10-£14), 1 sack of chaff every 6/7 weeks (£7) and the outshine and speedi-beet lasts for months.

Unfortunately I haven't really been able to reduce his feed by much this summer as he drops so quickly and grass isn't great. Luckily it's reasonable cheap!
 
gosh i wish i had your feed bill!

my hard feed and supplements are £180 a month! thats excl hay!

if she's in enough work to warrant it, try winergy condition. its not cheap at £13.20 a bag, but its good stuff and will give her energy from fibre and oil which the baileys wont.
 
My TB 15.3hh Ex Racer, good condition at the moment but drops quickly in winter.

Summer

400g Sugar Beet (1 stubbs scoop once soaked)
500g Alfa A (1 Stubbs scoop)
1 Coffee Mug Miconizsed(SP) Linseed
40g Brewers Yeast (2 heaped 20g scoops)


Winter

1kg Sugarbeet (nearly 3 scoops once soaked)
1kg Grass Nuts (2 scoops once soaked)
500g Alfa A Pellets (1 scoop once soaked)
500g Alfa A (1 scoop)
2 to 3 Coffee mugs Lineed
40g Brewers Yeast

She is feeling well at the moment, may a little too well, definately loads of sparkle!
 
My 16.2 four year old tb is on per feed twice a day
1 scoop fast fibre (dry)
3 (little) scoops of micronised linseed
Half a cup of farriers formula
1 (little) scoop garlic
Ad lib hay
Not a lot but she is on minimal work at the moment and we have good grass!
It will all be revised as her work load increases an for winter
 
My 15.3 TB has....

Morning and evening
One scoop Alfa a oil
One scoop condition cubes
Half cup oil
Farriers formula for feet
Supple ease gold one scoop

In winter she also has soaked speedi beet one scoop of soaked

She is looking good now, looked lean when we got her 12 wks ago

f8a5bb13735013f20a71d3a24d9be2be.jpg
 
was going to say I wish I had your bill too - mine eats a sack of ers pellets a week,near enough a bag of linseed a month and a sack of alfa a molasses free a month plus farriers formula and garlic. This is when he isn't in work (currently off with fairly broken front feet ) my bank account is cringing at the prospect of him coming back into work :p On the other my little mare was strictly a pony nuts and alfa a sort of a girl (see was secretly a cob in disguise )
 
Sorry for the late reply....oh my it looks like i'm doing better than I thought with the feed bill, I should be thankful now that she is doing ok on it.

Attached is how she is looking at the moment

On looking at all your different diets, there doesn't seem to be much difference apart from the extra mix / cubes here and there and some oil.

I like her simple straights, her belly is constantly gurgling, she loves a good poo and gets plenty of liquid from the speedibeet so I will keep it as it is but probably add micronized linseed in the winter. I have no idea what her winter temprement is like, so I will hold off with adding something for more sparkle.
 
Well, my TB gelding (who only a few months ago was being treated for stomach ulcers, so only in full work for a couple of months) gets:

1 stubbs scoop Dengie Hi-Fi Unmollassed
1 scoop Alltech Lifeforce
1/2 mug ERS pellets (for sparkle) i up or reduce the volume of these depending on what work he's doing at any time
1/2 scoop fenugreek

and in winter he'll also have 1 mug of micronised linseed added,

he gets this twice a day... and looks fab! I go for the lowest starch/sugar, highest fibre diet i can find, its what horses are built to eat

he lives out 24/7 - the dengie is ~£11 and lasts well over a month, ERS pellets ~£12 - only on my first bag but look to last a long time, Lifeforce ~£35 for a month, Fenugreek £7 for 2 months supply, Linseed ~£22 lasted me 6 months...

he looks fantastic:
DSC_0054_zpsfe966f4b.jpg
 
I spend over 200€ per month just on hard feed - add ad lib hay paid by the kg and supplements on top of that.

You can change to something cheaper but you'll almost always end up spending the same or more because you'll have to feed more to keep the horse well.

The feed your horse is on now is low starch and sugar and high fibre and fat, which is ideal. Don't change it if its working.
 
I've just a rather worrying telephone conversation with Baileys / British Horsefeeds.

I told them I feed my mare, in light work, and on the advice given by Dengie 4 scoops of Alfa A Oil and 1kg dry weight speedibeet (its soaked) over two feeds. They told me i'm very lucky she isn't tied up and going down colic due to the huge amounts (his words) of Alfa A that i'm feeding. He recommened cutting out the Alfa A completely and feeding the speedibeet with Nr 17 Baileys instead.

Now i'm confused as i've had two lots of conflicting 'advice' from feed manufacturers.

We have one TB on our yard who gets mix and that's it. Only has additional chaff in the winter.
 
If you ring feed merchants help lines they will always tell you to stop feeding any brand that is made by someone else and start feeding there brand, its best to get feeding advice from a feed shop or someone independent rather than feed companies, 4 scoops does sound quite alot how big is your horse? I only feed my 15h Arab up to 1 1/2 scoops a day.

I think your horse looks fine, why not try adding some micronised linseed it does give mine extra energy.
 
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Pinkvboots said:
If you ring feed merchants help lines they will always tell you to stop feeding any brand that is made by someone else and start feeding there brand, its best to get feeding advice from a feed shop or someone independent rather than feed companies, 4 scoops does sound quite alot how big is your horse? I only feed my 15h Arab up to 1 1/2 scoops a day.
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She is 15.2 and approx. 500kg.

Originally this post was looking for cheaper alternative (not because I cant afford the feed but trying to be a bit more financially savvy), now after speaking with Baileys I'm more worried that i'm doing more harm than good
 
I am from Herts too near St Albans! Where you from?

I would say it is alot of alpha a oil for a horse that size doing light work but I think many feed companies say to feed too much, why dont you cut the alpha a down a bit and try the micronised linseed it will still add condition and energy without the bulk feed, I get it for about £18 at Tittmuss lasts me about two months depending how much I feed my horse gets between 200 and 300g a day depending on work and how he looks.
 
I don't like feeding too much alfa oil either. My last horse got colic and my boy now gets quite gassy and chewy on it. I do feed it as it is a good source of fibre and energy compared to normal chaffs but not much, just a double handful in each feed.

I really like spillers slow release cubes. My ex racing TB has been on them for 6 months now and they really suit him. He is beautifully calm on them but responsive and doesn't get tired or flat. They keep his weight perfect and give him good topline. They are low in starch and high in oil.

In the winter he was on 3.5kg (2 stubbs scoop per day, 1 morning and 1 night) its £10 a bag and was costing around £40 a month. I only fed the cubes with the double handful of alfa a oil to stop him scoffing but they can be fed alone.

Now it's summer he is getting fat on the grass so he only has a handful of cubes with a handful of alfa a morning and night as a token more then anything.

I'm very happy with them.
 
Pinkvboots said:
I am from Herts too near St Albans! Where you from?

I would say it is alot of alpha a oil for a horse that size doing light work but I think many feed companies say to feed too much, why dont you cut the alpha a down a bit and try the micronised linseed it will still add condition and energy without the bulk feed, I get it for about £18 at Tittmuss lasts me about two months depending how much I feed my horse gets between 200 and 300g a day depending on work and how he looks.
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I near Broxbourne and do pop into Titmuss when i'm in the area. I will definitely cut the Alfa A Oil down to a scoop or 2 a day but keep the speedibeet. Because she has been on a straight diet for so long i'm a bit apprehensive about changing it and adding a mix, so I will try the addition of Linseed first.
 
Firewell said:
I don't like feeding too much alfa oil either. My last horse got colic and my boy now gets quite gassy and chewy on it. I do feed it as it is a good source of fibre and energy compared to normal chaffs but not much, just a double handful in each feed.

I really like spillers slow release cubes. My ex racing TB has been on them for 6 months now and they really suit him. He is beautifully calm on them but responsive and doesn't get tired or flat. They keep his weight perfect and give him good topline. They are low in starch and high in oil.

In the winter he was on 3.5kg (2 stubbs scoop per day, 1 morning and 1 night) its £10 a bag and was costing around £40 a month. I only fed the cubes with the double handful of alfa a oil to stop him scoffing but they can be fed alone.

Now it's summer he is getting fat on the grass so he only has a handful of cubes with a handful of alfa a morning and night as a token more then anything.

I'm very happy with them.
Click to expand...

You've said one thing which i've not mentioned...she can have lots of energy to work one day but can be very flat and lethargic another, i'm beginning to wonder whether its down to the large volume of feed.

I've definitely decided the volume of Alfa is going to be cut down with either Linseed or a low starch mix / cube added instead
 
yaffsimone1 said:
I near Broxbourne and do pop into Titmuss when i'm in the area. I will definitely cut the Alfa A Oil down to a scoop or 2 a day but keep the speedibeet. Because she has been on a straight diet for so long i'm a bit apprehensive about changing it and adding a mix, so I will try the addition of Linseed first.
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I used to feed mine Speedibeet, Copra (high in calories and protein but oil so slow release) and linseed plus a mineral supplement. I prefer straights as even minimal amounts of molasses have a very undesirable effect on him. I also like to add brewers yeast or yeasacc to keep his gut working well.

Do not buy your linseed from animal fayre which would be one of your locals, they charge £30 for it but they are reasonably priced for Copra.
 
Your not far from me then my Sister used to live in Cheshunt!

I also feed a straight diet of the alpha a and sugar beet, my Arab can be mollasses sensitive and many cubes and most mixes have added mollasses, I started the linseed as I was doing more and needed more energy but not silly energy and it did work, I also give him the dengie performance supplement if I really want to do hard work or showing as it just gives him that extra sparkle.
 
criso said:
I used to feed mine Speedibeet, Copra (high in calories and protein but oil so slow release) and linseed plus a mineral supplement. I prefer straights as even minimal amounts of molasses have a very undesirable effect on him. I also like to add brewers yeast or yeasacc to keep his gut working well.

Do not buy your linseed from animal fayre which would be one of your locals, they charge £30 for it but they are reasonably priced for Copra.
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I'm not far at all from Animal Fayre but try not to go in there as I find he is stupidly expensive. I did notice the other day though he was selling micronized linseed but didn't buy any (i'm not sure if Eastwick Lodge sell it, they are my preferred choice)
 
yaffsimone1 said:
I'm not far at all from Animal Fayre but try not to go in there as I find he is stupidly expensive. I did notice the other day though he was selling micronized linseed but didn't buy any (i'm not sure if Eastwick Lodge sell it, they are my preferred choice)
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At £30 it's cheaper to pay titmuss to deliver!

Don't think Eastwick do, I think I asked about both Linseed and Copra when I was in there one time and think they didn't do both.

I tend to do a big shop at Titmuss now as I save so much. Apart from the Copra which for some reason Animal Fayre are cheap for and Titmuss aren't.
 
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