Thoroughbred feeding issue.. advice needed!!

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hurstondressage

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I ride a 17.1hh ex racehorse that the owners want me to show this season in the ex racehorse classes and as a show hunter. He needs some extra bulk on him, but he is amazingly fussy and is rather hot headed.
He has haylage all day plus night haylage at 11.30pm, and 3 feeds per day. We feed him non heating cubes and alfa oil, but I stuggle to find any suppliments that he will eat.
Here's a list of what we've tried and he's turned his nose up at so far:
Top Spec, Outshine, Equijewel, Blue Chip, Pink Powder, oils in general. Have tried all these in bran mash too...
He will eat barley but it sends him off his rocker.
Any ideas welcomed!!!
 
What are the non heating cubes you are feeding him? Have you tried giving him some unmolassed beet (such as Speedibeet)? This is a good source of fibre-based calories (as many calories dry weight as some conditioning cubes) plus is a good base to mix powders and supplements into and make them more palatable.
 
Have you tried Badminton triple crown? I feed mine the Equipower base feed which is like a balancer and they seem to like it. They also have the oil-based triple top up for extra condition. I also use speedibeet for non-heating calories.
 
Thanks, but yes we have tried Speedibeet, he won't touch it unfortunately. He won't eat wet feed in general really - ended up chucking all the bran mashes we made for him! The cubes he has are D&H hi fibre cubes.
 
Try Baileys endurance mix- very high oil and non heating. Horses love it. Dont know why its called endurance mix really- its far more conditioning /non heating than most usual conditioning feeds!

Another option would be red bag grass nuts from simple systems- apparently very fattening and also non heating- combine it with boiled linseed-dont get the ready made linseed as it doesnt work very well compared to the stuff that you boil at home.
 
The D&H high fibre cubes aren't very calorific - only 9.5 MJDE/kg. If he likes cubes then I would try replacing them with a higher calorie grain-free cube. Spiller's Response Slow Release Energy Cubes have 11 MJDE/kg and are grain free so unlikely to heat a horse up. Probably best to see if the manufacturer will send you a sample first to check if he likes them!
 
I'm using Winergy Equilibrium Conditioning for my mare. She's old and losing weight, but mostly TB and very hot headed! Most conditioning feeds, as well as most "leisure" feeds send her doolally. She's been fine on the Winergy and is putting the weight on. She's also super fussy, but loves this and eats all her supplements with it too.
 
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Most conditioning feeds, as well as most "leisure" feeds send her doolally.

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Snap! Forgot to say that we tried Baileys Build up but I ended up on the floor pretty damn quick after 4 days of him eating it.
 
i feed my TB winergy condition and added micronised linseed-he gobbles this down and he isnt a *foody* horse.

i upped the linseed from 1 1/2 mugs to 2 mugs going in to winter and it made a massive difference -is very calorie dense so i would try that as he may not even notice a mug per feed.
 
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I have tired the top spec balancer, but not the flakes. He might eat them - are they fed dry?

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you can feed them wet or dry- mine had his dampened a bit but they would be fine dry.
 
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Forgot to say that we tried Baileys Build up but I ended up on the floor pretty damn quick after 4 days of him eating it.

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Do you mean Dodson & Horrell Build Up? That is barley-based so if your horse reacts to barley then that would explain it. Really, you need to become aware of what ingredients your horse can't tolerate and then find feeds that will suit him. It could be that it is just barley that sends him loopy, but it could be all other cereals such as wheat, maize and oats. Unfortunately, not all the manufacturers put the ingredients on their websites so you might have to go round the feedstore looking at the ingredients on the sacks!
 
I have recently been recommended Top Spec Cool and Condition and Conditioning flakes combo
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I have recently been recommended Top Spec Cool and Condition and Conditioning flakes combo
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Is there any particular reason for feeding both those together? The Cool and Condition Cubes are grain-free so useful for feeding to horses who can't tolerate grains such as barley, wheat, maize or oats. The Conditioning Flakes are higher calorie but contains cereals (oats I think).

Both are unsupplemented as they are designed to be fed alongside the balancer which supplies vitamins and minerals.
 
I am aware that the Build Up is barley based, but this was our 1st experience of feeding the horse anything to do with barley - hence I ended up on the floor!
Might try the micronised linseed though - thanks.
 
Would second the endurance mix made a massive difference to my ex racer - also fed top spec flakes which also did the job really well. Onlys topped as they were a problem to get where I am.
 
My TB mare turned her nose up at all the feeds you've listed, then decided 6months later that she like TopSpec balancer.

However she hates wet feeds with a passion but found out in the autumn when she went off cool cubes that she loves Allen and Page Calm and Condition, you feed it soaked and it has an almost mash like consistency, I only tried it out of desperation as she wouldn't eat any hard feed and so far she loves it, totally unexpectedly! It's barley free too so might be worth getting hold of a sample
 
Know this is an old thread and maybe all is sorted now but thought I'd pass on some tip I heard. Racing yards have same problem of getting the horses to eat enough of feed they need to race so they pour ribena on it to make it more palettable. Sounds mad but horses really love the taste and though mine is not fussy if he were it would probably work. Then you could probably feed whatever you prefer.
 
I used the Baileys N04 Top Line conditioning cubes with my TB and they did wonders. Had good results with the top spec super conditioning flakes too. He hated wet feet aswell and got on well with both of these feeds
 
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