To Feed Or Not To Feed

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funsizesteff

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My youngster is 4 years old he has been brought back into work after a year off and is being schooled. He has an endless supply of very good quality haylage and is turned out every day for a few hours on good quality fresh grass.
I am debating whether to start feeding him to help him with his energy and topline. I have found the feeds to give him the energy and help him build muscle although I do know this will happen with work and time

Any tips would be appreciate because he is my first horse and I don't want to overfeed him and cause more harm than good
 
i wouldnt want to give a 4 year old too much feed and you sound as though you are giving him plenty of fibre so i would just feed a good quality balancer to make sure he was getting all the vits and mins he needs, maybe some chaff to mix the balancer in and speedibeet or fast fibre for the winter months.....if you start feeding him high energy feeds you may find he is too hot to ride safely. a 4 year old is still finding his feet and i would be cautious about feeding him too much. piccies would be nice...
 
funsizesteff said:
http://bentleygrange.co.uk/product/speedi-beet-20kg/
http://bentleygrange.co.uk/product/mollichaff-apple-chaff-12-5kg/
http://bentleygrange.co.uk/product/suregrow-pellets-20kg/
http://bentleygrange.co.uk/product/build-up-mix-20kg/

would this be a suitable combination?
Click to expand...

In a word NO.

You want to feed a 4 year old carefully, with a decent balancer or supplement to give the vits and mins he requires and a low sugar/ starch feed to carry it, plus a little something if and when required for building muscle tone most of which comes from correct work, unless he is a really lazy horse or you plan on seriously hard work to a high level, not ideal with a 4 year old, then he will get all his energy requirements from the forage he gets.

Of the above, apple chaff is at best an expensive filler, at worst full of sugar and not good for them.
Build up mix, full of undesirable starch and sugar and likely to make the average young horse far too full of the wrong type of energy.

Suregrow is used by breeders as a good source of vits/ mins so could be worth using as your main supply of nutrients.
Speedibeet is a good base feed, low in sugar but is a good source of fibre and energy without the fizz that you get from sugar and starch.

I would feed the latter two as a base with possibly an UNMOLASSED chop if you want more in the bowl, plus ad lib forage, if he requires more weight/ topline look at giving some micronised linseed, another safe form of energy/ condition with the added benefit of giving them a lovely coat and healthy feet.

Be very careful about feeding him too much, he may be fine now but midwinter he may be fitter, more full of natural energy and you could find he becomes difficult to ride, better they are a little under powered than bursting out of their skins and scaring the rider.
 
Apple chaff is up to 22% sugar despite the claims that is has "low sugar molasses" in it.

Build up mix does not have the sugar/ starch % on the website so cannot tell you what it is other than it will be very high.
 
Definitely a big NO to the Build Up Mix! If he is on a balancer and good grazing and excellent haylage he won't need anything extra in the way of feed to build muscle - he just needs the correct work. Feeding a high calorie, barley-based, high starch mix is a recipe for disaster with a young horse, especially with an inexperienced owner.

Is it just muscle he lacks, or is he underweight?
 
He isn't underweight he just has no muscle and is very weak under the saddle I want to give him the fuel he needs so he can work properly. he is being professionally schooled so he isn't getting correctly worked

Everyone keeps telling me to feed him but I don't know what to feed him hence asking on here I do not want to cause more harm than good and would rather ask 10 million questions and know I am doing the right thing

I found this for molasses free - http://bentleygrange.co.uk/product/hi-fi-molasses-free-20kg/

does he need supplements ?
 
That molasses free is fine, if you feed a balancer, such as suregrow you mentioned earlier that will give him all he needs.

You are right to ask questions, the pro that is schooling him may give you better advice than other liveries on a yard who possibly have not much more idea than you do and get taken in by the feed manufacturers who want to sell you feed and are very convincing with their advertising.
I have looked after hundreds of horses of all different shapes ad sizes and all most of them need is good grass and or hay/ haylage to look and work well, they get almost all of their requirements from decent forage and may just need a few additional vitamins and minerals to top up their intake, they certainly don't need the highly molassed, full of starch feed that so many people use, it is a bit like giving them a "fast food" diet which we may enjoy but is not good for us if we ate one every meal.
 
why not try what has been suggested on here already and see how he goes...most are saying some sort of balancer plus chaff and speedibeet if needed....as he isnt underweight you dont need to feed him loads...as everyone has said the work will build muscles and topline but it takes time...as well as schooling long hacks with plenty of slow uphill work would help....i cant make out from your post is he is or isnt being schooled by a professional so...... is he being worked correctly or not? its really not clear..
 
Is he at your yard and someone is coming into school him for you?
Or has he been sent away to a professional schooling yard?
Are you riding him yet, or will the pro be on him for the foreseeable future?
 
Your horse is four, it's a baby - it's not going to be fully developed, neither are its muscles... This takes time, patience and the correct work... By work I mean exercise, not feed. Fibre and a decent supplement or balancer -no mix, no build up, no competiton feed, just a low starch, low sugar fibre base and a balancer, lots of hay and grass - especially if the horse is not underweight, to feed more than is required due to impatience - especially for a young horse is absolutely asking for trouble. I agree with everything said here.


You have been given excellent advice, when mine was 4 he was fed a grass chaff - containing no molasses, Speedie beet and a supplement.... The beet and chaff were given in a handful of each just as a token to carry the supplement. As he went through a 'development stage' and started to look a bit on the light side, I added a cup of linseed for help with condition - and that was only as a result of him visibly packing his calories into growing. Nothing else should be needed.
 
splashgirl45 said:
i wouldnt want to give a 4 year old too much feed and you sound as though you are giving him plenty of fibre so i would just feed a good quality balancer to make sure he was getting all the vits and mins he needs, maybe some chaff to mix the balancer in and speedibeet or fast fibre for the winter months.....if you start feeding him high energy feeds you may find he is too hot to ride safely. a 4 year old is still finding his feet and i would be cautious about feeding him too much. piccies would be nice...
Click to expand...

Great advice, especially when you may not be riding as often, most balancers have a good protein level which will help with muscle building
 
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