Thoroughbreds weight??

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hi all just wanted your opinion on my horses weight? He is a tb ex racer and i have had him for 6 months now, he eats for england but is still ribby? is his weight ok??

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Hi
My horse looked like yours does now when I first got her. She is now in beautiful condition, due to 24/7 on good grazing and two feeds a day of readymash extra. To be honest I wouldn't be happy if my horse looked like yours at this time of year. I'm not trying to be horrible (honestly I'm not like that!), but you need to get some weight on before winter. Good luck - it is difficult finding them the right food, but you'll get there in the end.
 
My exracer TB looks like that! I've been advised to put him on Pink Powder to help him get the best from his feed, only had him 6 days though so can't comment on the results!
 
I would be concerned that he has no topline and is very light behind the saddle with wastage behind withers,very typical of horses that have been in racing.
Is he being ridden at the moment?
 
Right now, I'd want a lot more on him sorry... His coat is looking lovely, but he does look like he lacks the condition he'll need to help him through the winter.

This is Reg on May:
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He's got a bit more behind now (we don't have many stood up photos of him, this is the most recent). He's also a bit more 'up' than usual- he's just had a hard lesson and has had his wash, hence the patchiness. He's on track for where we want him (finally, after nearly 2 years of stuffing him with food... Remind me why we have a 16.3hh ex-pointer?).

Before the winter, his feed will be upped a bit more so he goes in carrying a bit more weight, as keeping it on when he can't be in full work (he also is having December off, so needs a bit more on too) is quite hard.
 
Kerri_Godfrey said:
he just does general ridden work including hacking schooling and jumping?
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I'd get more muscle and topline on him as he is in work, maybe feed him a non-heating conditioning feed..? Pink powder is a good idea though. My horse has done SOOO well on TopSpec Lite balancer in the last 2 years, he's in such good condition and not fizzy which he was when he was fed cool mix. x
 
yes he is being ridden about 4 times a week, i have a good trainner that is helping me with him.

he is fed dorson and horral build up mix and mollichaf he also get a hay net of hay when i bring him in for his feed/groom /to be ridden ect he is out 24/7 on ok grazing. was last wormed 3 months ago looked exactly the same as this befor and after i wormed him. he is due again in next week or so.
 
It is hard to tell from that small photo, but I feel that he could do with a little more, but he also looks weak behind, so it may not be a case of weight, just more muscle.

This is my TB, and no matter what I do she is always "ribby"

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I would also look at the feed. A friend was struggling to get wieght on her boy, and discovered that she was pumping him with too much suger (ie the molly) which ment that a lot of the food was burn't off as nervous energy. I cannot feed anything by D & H as I have found this gives my lot nervous energy too.

THe best thing I have found, is lots of fibre, adlib forage, adequate turnout, and rugging as appropriate. Agree about pink powder. Sounds mad but if you can balance the hindgut then everything else seems to come very quickly
 
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I would change the molichop,too much molasses,for a better quality fibre feed and try either a balancer feed or pink powder.Oil is another way to get calories without too much fizz.
 
Hi, personally I think he looks on the light side but he is really lacking in any correct muscle tone which would help him to look much better. I speak from experience, I've worked with several exracers and I took my horse on in a skeletal state last Feb. If I was really clever I could put on a before and now photo! It's hard to suggest what you should be feeding him without knowing his history and workload, however, exracers seem to thrive on adlib hay / forage. Mine is out at night and comes in during the day to have a rest! In his stable, he has as much hay as he can eat, in winter we feed haylage. If your can take it, without becoming ridiculous, I would be building up his condition before the weather starts to deteriorate. Spillers conditioning cubes, pink powder and Alpha A (the oil version is very good at weight gain but can be heating) worked brilliantly for my boy. In full work (6 days a wk), competing dressage and in great condition, he is now having ad lib hay/grass, 1/4 scoop horse and pony cubes, pink powder and 1/2 scoop Alpha A once a day. TBs don't need to be expensive to feed!
 
kirstyl said:
Hi, personally I think he looks on the light side but he is really lacking in any correct muscle tone which would help him to look much better. I speak from experience, I've worked with several exracers and I took my horse on in a skeletal state last Feb. If I was really clever I could put on a before and now photo! It's hard to suggest what you should be feeding him without knowing his history and workload, however, exracers seem to thrive on adlib hay / forage. Mine is out at night and comes in during the day to have a rest! In his stable, he has as much hay as he can eat, in winter we feed haylage. If your can take it, without becoming ridiculous, I would be building up his condition before the weather starts to deteriorate. Spillers conditioning cubes, pink powder and Alpha A (the oil version is very good at weight gain but can be heating) worked brilliantly for my boy. In full work (6 days a wk), competing dressage and in great condition, he is now having ad lib hay/grass, 1/4 scoop horse and pony cubes, pink powder and 1/2 scoop Alpha A once a day. TBs don't need to be expensive to feed!
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he came out of racing in late 2009 and was left in a field to chill for around 6 months then the previous owner lightley schooled him, he went out on loan and came back in a very bad way? again very light work for 6 months befor i bought him from field in jan! i have done loads of hacking and i have now found myself a trainer to concentrate more on his schooling? any advice on how to start with building up his condition would be greatfuly recived.

he is out with a mixed herd so hard to feed ad lib hay, i cant put him on his own as he goes crackers when left by himself..
 
After 10+ years of keeping thoroughbreds I've got a few tried and trusted brands/products I like using. Pink powder, Hi-fi or alpha A instead of molly, ad-lib fibre as in good quality hay/haylage/grazing, readymash (absolutely fabulous stuff! only discovered it this year) and there is a brill feed company called Heygate who have a topline cube in their range thats half the price of other brands and does the same job :)

More importantly, make sure your boy isn't stressing off all the weight you work so hard to keep on. Keep home life calm, make sure he isn't getting bullied in the field, keep him mentally active with the work etc. I was advised to keep up with the work with my first ex-pointer even while trying to put weight on her and as the topline suppliments/cubes work better if they are doing a little work and it helps keep their brains busy! Keep trying as you really need him to be in better condition before winter. xx
 
After 10+ years of keeping thoroughbreds I've got a few tried and trusted brands/products I like using. Pink powder, Hi-fi or alpha A instead of molly, ad-lib fibre as in good quality hay/haylage/grazing, readymash (absolutely fabulous stuff! only discovered it this year) and there is a brill feed company called Heygate who have a topline cube in their range thats half the price of other brands and does the same job :)

More importantly, make sure your boy isn't stressing off all the weight you work so hard to keep on. Keep home life calm, make sure he isn't getting bullied in the field, keep him mentally active with the work etc. I was advised to keep up with the work with my first ex-pointer even while trying to put weight on her and as the topline suppliments/cubes work better if they are doing a little work and it helps keep their brains busy! Keep trying as you really need him to be in better condition before winter.
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TBs don't need to be expensive to feed! I second that. When I brought my current mare Nov09 she had been fed tonnes by her previous owner and hadn't been in any work. Now she's super fit and only fed quarter scoop of hi-fi, quarter of readymash and pink powder twice a day, haylage when she is stabled daytime, a few pony nuts in her snack ball in the afternoon to keep her busy (that thing was the best £25 i've ever spent on her!) and out at night.
 
If he's on 'ok grazing' that is grazed 24/7 at this time of year for a poor doer then its likely there won't be much nutritional value there and enough fibre if he's just having one haynet.

Pink powder will save you a fortune in hard/conditioning feeds, it will kick start the gut and help him to get the best of what he's eating.

Make sure his teeth are ok.

Ablib good quality hay.

Cider vinegar can help with appetite as well as being good for the coat and joints.

Dengie Alfalfa A Oil mixed with loads of the HiFi lite and redigrass with soaked speedibeat and Allen Page Calm and Condition in three small feeds three times a day with a few slugs of vegetable oil.
 
we find our ex racers thrive best on hay/haylage as much as they want and plenty of turnout

they hardley get hard feed in summer but do give in winter (allen and paige calm and condition) but found Coligone powder works wonders with the ribby ones

we do alternate days of ground work long reining or pessoa to build up
they are hacked out the other days until they are ready to take on schooling
 
Its SO hard trying to put weight on your TB .. I found it difficult with my mare, in feb she got an absess in her neck was on anti bitoics 4times a day and she dropped ALOT of weight .. even though she wasnt on a great weight when i bought her.

My mare is now moved to a new stables where she is in at night with a big net of haylage, out in the day with good grass and shes fed 1/4 calm and condition and 1/2 alpha a oil .. the alpha a oil is fantastic stuff I honestly swear by it!

This is when she lost all her weight from her absess
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Her in may time something like that
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and this was about june time in her previous home
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She can still do with topline more muscle in her neck and bum muscles but its not going to be something you can do overnight. My mares worked in the school about 3/4times a week and hacked out either 1/2 times a week .. I try work her about 5 days with 2 days off but it all varies each week just because she loves to be doing things she loves to be exericed and if shes not she picks up naughty things and is on her toes a lot .. theres quite a few tbs on my yard and a lot of them look like yours .. just there build very well fed and in work but just not much coverage over there ribs.

Sorry not much help but you will get there in the end! Takes a very long time ive had my mare a year now and still working on her
 
For me, the importance is getting the environment right, as otherwise they fret all their weight off. One I changed environments, and got some regular pessoa work going, mine went from this:

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To this


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Achinghips said:
For me, the importance is getting the environment right, as otherwise they fret all their weight off. One I changed environments, and got some regular pessoa work going, mine went from this:

MayMarch2010009.jpg


To this


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I agree with this, but on the side that ive been able to do so much with my mare shes coming on so well! yours looks fab! I love a chestnut although I have a dark bay :D
 
We tried all sorts of conditioning feeds with our ex racer but the thing that made the difference was adding a feed balancer - any one! Now we feed less mix and he's fatter. He seems to prefer to stay out overnight so we keep him well rugged through the winter. He has an under-rug we call his pjs with a neck cover under a heavyweight turnout for when it's really cold.:eek::cool:
 
thanks for all the advice, i am going to try pink powder i think and get his teeth done asap? he is happy in his environment i think and he only stresses when left on his own wich is very rare and he is getting better with this. thanks again
 
This was my thoroughbred yesterday after his bath, hes fairly chunky though bless him :rolleyes: he just grazing 24/7 and fed half scoop of healthy hoof with a handful of conditioning mix.
photostream
 
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