Thinking ahead - feeding

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I'm totally rubbish at knowing what to feed - I need help!!

Horse has been a bit funny looking most of his life - he gets a big belly in summer and has poor top line, then just looks a bit poor in winter. I've intentionally had plenty on going into winter/hunting season - he gets thinner from each meet!! He was looking fat but after one days cubbing now looks well I think.

Anyway, when the grass goes and he starts hunting properly every week the weight will drop off him - so I'm wondering how to increase his feed?

He's currently out with decent grass 12 hours, big hayledge net and has 3/4 scoop baily's #4, scoop of sugarbeet and scoop of chop twice a day.

How would you look to increase this as work load increases? Not sure I can afford loads more #4 for him. He will be mainly limited to school work in the week but not too worried about overheating.
 
I always take the cowards way out and ring a few feed manufacturers :D.

Write down everything each one says, then ring them back if I need to hit a budget :)

They have been very good at knowing the competitions feed and accepting that I might be using something from one of them; they've always worked with it rather than saying I have to get their version instead :).

I know I harp on, but having tried various feeds for the stresshead-skinny-mare that is the Dizzy one, I now swear by Saracens Releave and their Equijewel. I've seen it do a very good job on her (DWB) and two ex-racers without heating them up, piling on the weight too quickly, or having to feed so much we'd need to be feeding every couple of hours to get it all in!
 
Fibre and oil for extra calories, if your not lacking energy.

Ad lib grass and haylage, unmollased sugar beet, alpha a oil and additional oil as required upto half a pint a day. Although if feeding that much oil add Vitamin E to the feed also. Four small feeds a day, better than two big ones as you will lose most of it a horse can only digest 2lbs of feed at anyone time efficently, so by feeding more you are just chucking money away, check he is warm enough, if using his feed to keep warm then he will drop weight so counteract this.
 
Equijewel is brilliant high in oil, triple crown also do one as well although the name escapes me as they have changed it all.
 
scally said:
Equijewel is brilliant high in oil, triple crown also do one as well although the name escapes me as they have changed it all.
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Yes! Dizz will happily eat the Equijewel, but pour oil or mix it a feed and she snuffles it round then walks off in disgust :(. Alpha A Oil - she'll wuffle it out of the way and eat everything else!
 
Lol its the dumbblood in them they never know what is good for them or my pocket.

Mine will eat Linseed Oil (as the most expensive) Equijewel or any other alternative and normal alpha a, but cheap and cheerful no way.
 
scally said:
Lol its the dumbblood in them they never know what is good for them or my pocket.

Mine will eat Linseed Oil (as the most expensive) Equijewel or any other alternative and normal alpha a, but cheap and cheerful no way.
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Hm. Maybe they're related ;). I think that's why I now stick so religously to the Releave and the Equijewel - they're doing what I need them to do, the vet is happy (she was worried about the potential for Dizz to get stomach ulcers), Dizz eats it all, and I don't have too big a feed bill all things considered :D
 
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