Thoroughbred feeding - no weight gain

[curiousclover]

Hello, I'm having trouble getting weight on my 4yo TB mare. She was getting chunky over summer on good grass and had no worries of her losing weight any time soon. She dropped weight quite quickly in November time and have been struggling to get any weight back on her.
I'm currently feeding Alfa A oil, baileys performance balancer, micornised linseed and some conditioning mash and adlib hay- all pretty much on the maximum recommended amount for her size. Energy levels she is perfect and not fizzy currently so want to avoid adding too many sugars etc.
What are people feeding their poor doers this winter?

 

[TheLoneWanderer]

A&P Calm and Condition is brilliant I've just started mine on Dengie cool condition and shine.

 

[Iznurgle]

How much work is she in and what intensity is it?

 

[AmyMay]

How much work is she in and what intensity is it?

This.

Is she warm enough. How much turnout (grazing ok?)

Teeth ok?

 

[curiousclover]

How much work is she in and what intensity is it?

Hello, She's in medium work, exercises 6 days a week (includes roughly 1 hour hacks and 20-30mins schooling)

 

[PurBee]

Emerald green feeds do grass pellets - fresh cut grass, not hay, made into pellets.

My gelding when younger lost weight in winter on just mainly hay and thrived on grass…wish i knew back then about grass pellets as im sure that would have helped his weight massively. I ended up using cooked mixed grain feeds which werent ideal, too fizzy….id try good quality grass pellets if he does well on grass.

EG use tall fescue grass for their pellets - its a lower sugar grass than many others…its the grass the deer round here leave and eat last, also horses, yet its got wide leaves, loads of chlorophyll, very nutritious.

 

[Squeak]

I was having this issue this winter. Grass nuts were a game changer. They essentially give him the grass he's missing from the summer as mine also looked fabulous then living out on just grass with a balancer but dropped off when the goodness went out of the grass.

I've added a scoop of them (soaked and then split between three feeds) and he's piling the weight back on after only a couple of weeks.

 

[curiousclover]

This.

Is she warm enough. How much turnout (grazing ok?)

Teeth ok?

Teeth done within the last month, not amazing grazing (poor quality grass at the moment) but hay provided in the field

 

[curiousclover]

Emerald green feeds do grass pellets - fresh cut grass, not hay, made into pellets.

My gelding when younger lost weight in winter on just mainly hay and thrived on grass…wish i knew back then about grass pellets as im sure that would have helped his weight massively. I ended up using cooked mixed grain feeds which werent ideal, too fizzy….id try good quality grass pellets if he does well on grass.

EG use tall fescue grass for their pellets - its a lower sugar grass than many others…its the grass the deer round here leave and eat last, also horses, yet its got wide leaves, loads of chlorophyll, very nutritious.

Thank you!! never heard of these so might give them a try!

 

[curiousclover]

I was having this issue this winter. Grass nuts were a game changer. They essentially give him the grass he's missing from the summer as mine also looked fabulous then living out on just grass with a balancer but dropped off when the goodness went out of the grass.

I've added a scoop of them (soaked and then split between three feeds) and he's piling the weight back on after only a couple of weeks.

Thank you!!

 

[I'm Dun]

Mine has a small bucket feed then a big bucket of grass nuts, sugar beet and a small amount of alfa a. Thats made a huge difference for him in terms of keeping the weight on without silliness. Too much alfa a and hes a bit of an idiot though so I'm careful how much

 

[curiousclover]

Mine has a small bucket feed then a big bucket of grass nuts, sugar beet and a small amount of alfa a. Thats made a huge difference for him in terms of keeping the weight on without silliness. Too much alfa a and hes a bit of an idiot though so I'm careful how much

Is this twice a day? and how much work is he in?

 

[I'm Dun]

No once a day. He gets his small bucket feed which is pink mash, sensi care and minerals, and then I leave the huge bucket with him all day and he picks at it, its gone by tea time. Hes usually in work 5 days a week, couple of hours hacking, an hours schooling etc, aiming to build up fitness to event later this year. Nothing too taxing and rarely breaks a sweat! Although at the minute hes having a holiday. But thats his usual sort of work

 

[magicmoments]

This is exactly the issue I have with my tb mare. Fine in summer, but can drop weight in winter in 10 days. In essence she doesn't eat enough hay for her size in winter. Giving her more, she just wastes it. She is only ridden 3 times max a week, unclipped and often in 300g rug. I've never had her too hot. This winter is fed, speedibeet for hindgut, sooth and gain, linseed, emerald green grass pellets, and grass chaff, plus dengie leisure balancer. She can be fussy, and likes her nuts. The feeds are low starch, low sugar. No molasses, or soya. I'm happy with her weight now. Will need to drop some feed soon, before/as grass comes through.

 

[MagicMelon]

Someones already said but I have to agree with Calm & Condition. Ive gone through various conditioning feeds over the years with my veteran and he always starts to look skinny this time of year but he's got a good covering still now which is a first! Both mine (slim types) are looking great on it. Both love it too (including the veteran who can be picky) and you can make it wetter in the summer on hot days. I also feed ab lib hay 24/7 even though they live out, which I think helps too. I also make sure I dont let them get cold, I think a horse can lose weight really quick if they start getting a little chilly.

 

[sunleychops]

plenty of oil, something like Outshine or Equijewel with lots of fibre

 

[Follysmum]

My 23yr old shire x dropped off a few months ago. I started leaving him a big bucket of soaked grass nuts with another mug of linseed ( he gets 1 in his normal feed)
He now looks amazing. Vet commented yesterday how well he now looks and says micronised linseed is a wonderful useful feed.

 

[Pinkvboots]

plenty of oil, something like Outshine or Equijewel with lots of fibre

Agree with this Equijewel is just so good for adding condition and you don't have to feed loads and can often drop it once the weight goes on, it's not the cheapest but it does work and I have never known it to fizz anything up either.

 

[Squeak]

I've been seeing loads of posts about feeds for condition etc. Not sure if I've just seen more of them or if it's been a hard year for keeping weight on for some reason?