Thoroughbred feed help

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CharlotteSara

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I have an 11 year old thoroughbred and I have had him for 2 months. He was in really bad condition when I got him, I will post a picture of when I first got him (ignore my mum). As you can probably tell he is lacking a lot of muscle, he is extremely ribby, around his withers he is extremely hollow and his bum is very skinny. Since then he has put on a bit of weight and gained a bit of muscle but he is obviously no where near what I want him. I wanted your opinion on using seaweed and biotin and after 6 months take his shoes off permanently? Also whats your opinion on using flaxseed/linseed for joints? Also your opinion on the magnesium oxide 99.7% from ebay as a calming supplement? Please could you recommend anything for weight management aswell. Thank you!
-Charlotte
http://tinypic.com/r/a2u901/6
 
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Hello I have a 5 year old ex racer who was also very poor. Her diet is kept very simple and is fibre and oil based which I would suggest for your horse as it is great for safe and steady weight gain and is also vital to have a low sugar/starch diet if you would like to go barefoot. My mare is on speedibeet, fast fibre, biotin, salt and magnesium with a glug of sunflower oil split into 3 smaller meals a day and she looks fab. Micronised linseed is great for general condition, including feet and joints. Seaweed is not always great for feet because of the iodine levels so I wouldn't feed that personally. Ad lib hay I have found is also very important to weight maintenance and gain. On her simple diet my mare is at the correct weight and hasn't dropped weight at all in the colder weather.
 
When i got my tb in September he wasnt quite as bad as yours but he was ribby and under muscled.
I had him on lucie nuts, fast fibre, pura beet, micronised linseed and brewers yeast (introduced slowly obviously)
I dropped the lucie nuts as i had a problem getting them but am about to re-introduce this weekend. Regular work has helped him to start build up some good muscle and he looks so much great. Not perfect yet but we're getting there.
Im a big fan of linseed but have never fed biotin.
Cant offer any advice on taking his shoes off as even though all of mine are unshod i dont know enough to advise anyone else what to do!
 
My tb sounds very similar to yours condition wise. I bought him in september, he's 13, very ribby and lacking muscle (although improved a lot!). At his old home he was just fed a scoop of nuts a day!
Now he has..
Morning: 1 scoop nuts, 2 scoops chaff
Evening: 1 scoop nuts, 1 scoop chaff, 2 scoops of allen&page weight gain mix, 1 scoop of sugarbeet, splash of oil, tbspoon of garlic powder and a carrot!
Also has a large haynet of haylage. He looks a completely different horse now :D would recommend pink powder.. I haven't had to use it but heard its great!
 
timiton said:
My tb sounds very similar to yours condition wise. I bought him in september, he's 13, very ribby and lacking muscle (although improved a lot!). At his old home he was just fed a scoop of nuts a day!
Now he has..
Morning: 1 scoop nuts, 2 scoops chaff
Evening: 1 scoop nuts, 1 scoop chaff, 2 scoops of allen&page weight gain mix, 1 scoop of sugarbeet, splash of oil, tbspoon of garlic powder and a carrot!
Also has a large haynet of haylage. He looks a completely different horse now :D would recommend pink powder.. I haven't had to use it but heard its great!
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I would think in this second feed you are exceeding the 2kg per feed rule.

Generally to put weight on, I would use one of the following: Pure Feeds; Topspec Balancer and Cool Condition Cubes, or Baileys Topline Cubes. Mixed in with some sugarbeet and alfa-a oil, for the latter two.
 
wench said:
I would think in this second feed you are exceeding the 2kg per feed rule.

Generally to put weight on, I would use one of the following: Pure Feeds; Topspec Balancer and Cool Condition Cubes, or Baileys Topline Cubes. Mixed in with some sugarbeet and alfa-a oil, for the latter two.
Click to expand...

Good for condition but not suitable if she wishes to go barefoot as the OP mentioned
 
I have him on alfa a chaff at the moment and I think it might be this giving him so much energy. As for the seaweed what is the result of the high iodine levels? Thank you for your help so far!
 
Horses can have bad reactions to alfalfa, either becoming, excitable, itchy etc.. It can also clash with barefoot horses, making them footy so I wouldn't feed a chaff unless necessary, and if it is needed then a basic non molasses hay or oat straw chaff would be fine for bulk. As for the seaweed, you should not feed seaweed without a forage anaylsis. If you are high in iron, manganese or molybdenum, iodine or low in copper as many areas are, then seaweed is NOT a good supplement and may actually cause your horse problems from excess iron, excess iodine or low copper uptake.
 
My TB looked similar to yours when I got her almost 3 years ago. I toyed with the 'fancy' feeds but to be honest the best she has looked is when we just went back to basics. Good hay, good grass, chaff, balancer and speedi beet over winter.
She is perfect right now, she infact turned into a nightmare good doer last year! So now she is just on big scoop of chaff, some balancer and a handful of speedi beet once a day with enough hay to last her the night. She also has corn oil, but this was vet advised due to her leg problems and I know some people prefer different types of oil, and her joint supplements.
Also to add she is barefoot all round which I transitioned her to last year and she has fantastic feet :)
I know it isn't everybody's cup of tea but it worked for us! Good luck!
 
I used to use Allen & Page's calm and condition for my ex racer ... at the time I didnt really notice a massive difference as saw him every day but when you look at pics from the shows this year, amazing results ... just fed him that with alfa a/oil :D
 
What are you currently feeding and how much?

To be honest most horses (yes, even typical TBs!) will put on weight with an add-lib supply of good hay. So this would be my starting point.

I've just noticed you're feeding alfa-a... I'd ditch this- it is probably the culprit of his excitability.

My feed of choice would be:

Speedi-beet (soaked scoop of) and micronised linseed (half a heaped mug full) twice a day.

to this I would buy a specialist hoof supplement like forage plus's balancer or Pro hoof from progressive earth.

I wouldn't bother with biotin or seaweed and there would be no need to add magnesium to this.
 
Best calmer for my TB ive found is the Global Herbs one, but its a case of trial and error to see what works.
As for feed really recommend the Allen and Page feeds, calm and condtion (or if your old like my girl Veteran Vitality)
Speedi Beet
Alfa A unmolassed
Linseed (mug of)
 
My tb goes loopy if I feed him alfalfa. He has kwikbeet (lowest sugar sugarbeet I have found) micronised linseed, Progressive Earth Pro Hoof and yea sacc to support gut function. He looks amazing on it! Can't believe the difference the yea sacc made to his ability to gain and hold weight :) His hoofs are soooo much better on this than when I fed cereals/grains
 
I feed my barefoot Tb a mixture of oats, Alfafa ,speedibeet , micronised linseed ,chopped straw add lib good quality haylage farriers formula and Protexin ,
 
ImmyS said:
Hello I have a 5 year old ex racer who was also very poor. Her diet is kept very simple and is fibre and oil based which I would suggest for your horse as it is great for safe and steady weight gain and is also vital to have a low sugar/starch diet if you would like to go barefoot. My mare is on speedibeet, fast fibre, biotin, salt and magnesium with a glug of sunflower oil split into 3 smaller meals a day and she looks fab. Micronised linseed is great for general condition, including feet and joints. Seaweed is not always great for feet because of the iodine levels so I wouldn't feed that personally. Ad lib hay I have found is also very important to weight maintenance and gain. On her simple diet my mare is at the correct weight and hasn't dropped weight at all in the colder weather.
Click to expand...

Agree with the seaweed for the feet, i fed it to my mare and if anything i would say they got worse!
 
My mare is underweight and under muscled too, I am currently feeding her 2 meals a day of the following:

1 Scoop of alpha a Oil chaff
1/2 scoop topline condition nuts
1/2 scoop of barley rings
1 jug of sugarbeet

she has ad lib good quality hay/haylage and is turned out for at least 7hrs a day and rugged accordingly.

She was cold when she first arrived, so layered her up, last night she only had her m/w no neck on and was sweating!
She is obviously still got all her winter wolly's on.

I have also just had her shod as she was footy and looking at her hooves hasn't worn shoes for some months, as no holes were apparent.

I will review her feed once she has gained a little more.
Interesting reading all the different suggestions mind.
 
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