thoroughbred - not gaining weight

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Poppys Nannan

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Hello everyone

I have a 16 year old thoroughbred who i have been feeding

veteran vitality by Allen & Page
Some plain chaff
Speedibeet
garlic granule and oil

But she is not gaining weight - any suggestions - i am thinking of changing chaff to Alfa -a and the veteran mix to calm and condition - any ideas

thanks x x :):o;)
 
Hello

she was wormed two weeks ago and had her teeth done 3 weeks ago.

Access to hay most of the day.

Has a lightweight rug on, but weather still quite mild here at present x x
:rolleyes:
 
teeth and worming are the first thing then adlib haylage 24/7 . i think baileys no4 is great for condition and you can feed a large stubbs scoop morning and night with your chaff and beet. also its getting cold now are you rugging ? tbs lose weight quickly if theyre cold.x
 
she takes ages with her feed, so i am trying to increase calories / nutrients / goodness without increasing volume to be fed - if you know what i mean!

how useful is speedibeet, i know we need some sort of chaff / chop to stop her bolting it down (but she isn't bolting it cos it takes her ages.

will change rug to a medium weight meantime x x
 
If she is eating slowly and the feed is soaked anyway you could cut out the chaff and increase the other feed a little, Pink powder is a good addition to aid digestion and so can help with gaining weight . Feed 3 or 4 small feeds daily if you can.
At this time of year it is not so easy to get weight on as they are still eating plenty of grass [if you have it] and not so keen on hay.
 
YOu need to make sure she is getting enough calories, that every part of her feeding has a distinct benefit (no low cal feeds) and that nothing is potentially irritating her.

Garlic isn't always a helpful feed - it is a powerful antibiotic and can rid the hind gut of its good bacteria. Unless you directly see a benefit from feeding it I'd cut it out. I'd also guess that the VV is very high in starch. Many horses just can't cope with starch and get much better benefit from low starch feeds - my boy ate fewer calories and cost less to feed once I got him off cereal based starchy feeds.

I would feed her a short course of a good probiotic like Protexin first. I would then put her on a very low starch conditioning feed, perhaps once aimed at EPMS sufferers as they have the lowest starch levels of high cal feeds - am thinking of ERS pellets or Re-Leve.

If you'd like to stick with straights, and it's my preferred way of feeding, then i'd try her on a good low starch balancer like Top Spec that will provide her with all her vits and mins plus good quality protein. You can then add straights like your beet, a high DE alfalfa (pellets are fine, chaff really isn't necessary and pellets are cheaper because they are cheaper to transport). You could also add high conditioning feeds like linseed (Charnwood), copra or possibly a blended one like Outshine. Also, TS make some good feeds that have no added vits and mins that are designed to be fed alongside their balancer - Cool Conditioning is excellent, as is their feed helpline by the way :D

Large feeds are actually no problem for the horse as long as they can snack on it like they do hay, so if she is stabled overnight then that is perffect. If she is anxious to get out in the morning then she could have her balancer fed alone or with a tiny addition of beet etc, and could have a large soaked feed at night. Bear in mind that soaked feeds like beet usually need to be fed in muych greater quantities than they are - measure in unsoaked scoops, not soaked. One soaked scoop is about 1/7 of a scoop unsoaked, which isn't much at all!
 
sbloom said:
I'd also guess that the VV is very high in starch. Many horses just can't cope with starch and get much better benefit from low starch feeds - my boy ate fewer calories and cost less to feed once I got him off cereal based starchy feeds.
Click to expand...

Veteran Vitality is actually relatively low in starch (10%) compared to many other veteran feeds. However, I do agree that a higher calorie feed may be necessary for this mare, although the OP doesn't make it clear what quantities are being fed at the moment.

I'd also want her on adlib haylage and three feeds a day if possible and perhaps consider a tub of soaked grass nuts alongside her net at night (if stabled) if she doesn't seem to eat a lot of hay/haylage.
 
I don't rate Allen & Page at all I'm afraid.

If you are concerned that over a period of time the horse isn't picking up - and there is nothing wrong with her - then I'd be inclined to look at an actual conditioning feed. Personally I love Dodson & Horrell Build up. Drop the chaff, and use Alpha A instead (possibly Alpha A Oil) and drop the garlic all together as it can be harsh on the stomach, hence preventing condition. I would also use sugarbeat, rather than speedybeat.

Split the ration in to four meals a day - and obviously ensure ad lib hayalge is available.

Is the horse stabled or out 24/7?? And how much work do they do?
 
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