Weight Gain advise

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SGCR

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As the title says im looking for advice on the best feed for weight gain.
He is 5yo 16.1 flat bred tb i have had him nearly a year and always struggled with his weight he has had many blood test and everything shows up as normal, he is regulary wormed he has organic haylage/ hay as much as he could eat, hes on 2 scoops of alfala oil, mix, and sugarbeet, he was on blue chip for about 1 year but saw no change so took him off it.
He was turned out for 6 month in lush pasture with my others whille they came back as fat as houses hes always lean. I will upload a pick of him later of him recently. Any advise would be fab.

This was him in the summer you cant really see his ribs in this because of the angle

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I had trouble keeping weight on my rising 4yo in his first winter with me. I fed him similar to you, D&H build up mix, sugar beet, barley, oil, chaff etc and it cost me a fortune, but he still came out looking lean despite all that and adlib haylege.

This winter I have cut all of the course mixes and just have him on half a scoop of bog standard pony nuts and some mollichaff with pink powder and he is looking fantastic. He's got a good covering, with a shiny coat and a bright eye. I can't believe the difference and massively rate the pink powder. He's also grown upwards and hasn't looked to lean at any stage.

The PP ensures your horse is gaining as much from his feed as possible whilst adding probiotic and vits. Another thing is to make sure you are not feeding too much. I *think* horses can only usefully digest one scoop worth of food in a sitting, so I cut my portion sizes down to accommodate this :)
 
Allen and page's Calm and condition mix (you soak it with water) has done absolute wonders for my tb. She's gone from this

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To this in about 6 weeks :)

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She is also on a mixture of other feeds - M-Chaff, alpha a oil, speediebeet and 16+ mix (she's a 23yo) as well as some garlic :)
 
I started to use Baileys outshine on my WB youngster who looked like a hat rack when we bought her, and after various trials of build up mix/oil etc it's the only one which did the job. Its prety pricey at £30 a bag but you dont use a lot of it so the bag does last and I just mix it with economy mix and sugar beet, and she's gone from looking very riby and hippy to nicely covered in 6 months, with a steady rate of weight gain, nice coat etc, as you dont want whoosh as it will be harder to maintain in the future - if that makes sense.
 
I have been using Baileys Topline cubes for the past 8 weeks and I highly recommend this. I was a bit sceptical because of the high starch level but my starch sensitive pony hasnt reacted to it at all and looks fabulous!

I also highly rate Pink Powder. I have used this and Baileys Lo Cal with great success.

I would be a little concerned if I was feeding adlib hay/haylage and horse was still losing weight. May be an idea to have bloods taken if adding the Pink Powder doesnt help at all.

I would also recommend calling one of the feed companies for advice. Baileys were excellent for me and I didnt feel rushed to get off the phone either. Their advice has worked and my old girl looks wonderful. :)
 
Apologies, have just read your post again to see that bloods have been taken. The only other thing I can think of is perhaps teeth?

You could also perhaps offer a small hay replacer alongside your horses hay/haylage ration to help boost fibre intake if grazing is poor in winter?
 
Carrots! I rang one fo the feed companies for advice and as well as recommenging several feeds he said to give Gerry as many carrots as he wanted. I was a little sceptical about adlib carrots but they did the trick, a little too well in fact, my skinny WB is now feeling rather well...
 
Teeth all checked, we have really fantastic quailty grass aswell evan in winter its good, he goes out in the day eats the grass then stables at night with loads of hay mixed in with some horse hage ,well rugged and adjusted to suit the weather. Ill give feed specilist a ring.
Can it just be because of his breeding he could be just naturally lean?? :/
just baffles me as all my other tb are as fat as houses evan in winter. x
 
I think your horse looks in really good condition, not too thin at all. Just fit. Is he? Could do with a bit more topline on his neck perhaps, but that's often down to work rather than food (or should be).

I've had good results from Allen & Page Calm and Condition, coupled with small bale haylage mixed with hay. All has put a decent amount of weight on my Welsh Cob who is often thinner than your TB at this time of the year... (looks wrong for a Welsh Cob, but right for a TB! ;-) )

C&C is about £10 a sack, and lasts me a few weeks. I've had to cut her feed and the haylage back to hay because she's looking fat! Unheard of!
 
Hes actually had 6 months off due to my health and also i wanted for him to bulk up todays picture was the first time i rode him so im hoping he will muscle up x
 
wellsat said:
Carrots! I rang one fo the feed companies for advice and as well as recommenging several feeds he said to give Gerry as many carrots as he wanted. I was a little sceptical about adlib carrots but they did the trick, a little too well in fact, my skinny WB is now feeling rather well...
Click to expand...

Except that carrots contain a lot of sugar, and for some horses that sends them so hyper they then burn more energy and weight, so it's self defeating.

OP, you say that your horse has a mixture of hay and haylage - have you tried feeding pure, (top quality) haylage? For my oldie I couldn't keep weight on her feeding normal hay, and good quality forage is always the best way to weight gain.

I know that you say your horse has had a lot of blood tests, does that include tests for encysted small redworm? That can be a problem for horses at this time of year, and won't show up in a normal worm count.

What sort of mix are you feeding? It may be that a starchy hard feed doesn't suit him.

How are his droppings? Is it possible that a pro-biotic would benefit him? I find balancers very good (my veteran is on topspec senior, my fatty on lo cal) I also have found Bailey's outshine very good :)

PS - please can you sort out your signature? It's several pictures deep and messes with the screen :o :D
 
Puppy said:
Except that carrots contain a lot of sugar, and for some horses that sends them so hyper they then burn more energy and weight, so it's self defeating.

OP, you say that your horse has a mixture of hay and haylage - have you tried feeding pure, (top quality) haylage? For my oldie I couldn't keep weight on her feeding normal hay, and good quality forage is always the best way to weight gain.

I know that you say your horse has had a lot of blood tests, does that include tests for encysted small redworm? That can be a problem for horses at this time of year, and won't show up in a normal worm count.

What sort of mix are you feeding? It may be that a starchy hard feed doesn't suit him.

How are his droppings? Is it possible that a pro-biotic would benefit him? I find balancers very good (my veteran is on topspec senior, my fatty on lo cal) I also have found Bailey's outshine very good :)

PS - please can you sort out your signature? It's several pictures deep and messes with the screen :o :D
Click to expand...

Hes on fab organic hay that has all the old herbs mixed in it, it isnt chemialised with sprays its loverly,and its mixed in with horsehage which i thought is the best haylage you could get?!

His dropping are solid greenybrown in colour.
Im not sure about the blood altho i did ask my vet check for everthing.
Hes on normal leisure mix also has garlic and karon oil x
 
I just posted this on another thread (I don't work for them, honest!) but I have found Equi Jewel by Saracen far and away the best for conditioning:

http://www.saracen-horse-feeds.co.uk/products/39183379/equi-jewel/

It isn't the cheapest, but it really worked wonders on ribby TB when he arrived. He has gained and kept the weight on, has gone from scurfy & dull to a glossy, shiny coat and his feet are fab :)
 
Hollysmum said:
How many times a day do you feed him? Is what you said split over those feeds or between them? What weight of rug do you have on him and what make? x
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His is fed 3 feeds a day its not split!
moring, lunch and dinner, The two bigger feeds are morning and night and a smaller feed at lunch, he gets better fed than me.

He has a wool rug underneath, his mw rambo on top then heavyweight rambo full neck stable rug on top then when hes out he either has his hw rambo full neck on or mw weetherbeeta depending on weather. He never gallops around so never gets himself worked up or sweaty and if its really cold he has a 100g fill at night but all adjusted to suit the weather but lets just say hes never cold.

Hes tb X
 
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