weight gain on a tb

china

china

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i struggle with keeping princes weight on and he improved alot in november but he has gone backwards again, i would say his condition score is about 2 1/2, his bum is poor but im hoping hill work will muscle it up when the weather gets better, you can see his ribs, his coat his poor and he just generally looks ropey. he has got his neck clipped and the rest left on for warmth but will be having the lot off soon as he is getting to hot now we are competing BD again. he wears a 300 gram stable rug and a 350 gram turnout rug, they are both very light to lift so he isn carrying to much weight on him. i have never know a horse eat as much as he does! he has as much haylage as he can possibly eat and he has it loose on the floor so he doesnt have a net slowing him down. he has two big feeds a day consisting of alfa a, fibre beet 2 cups of conditioning nuts and a cup of solid gold feed balancer. he costs me an abolsute fortune to feed and he looks poor
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i cant think of what else to do! suggestions needed. hes up to date on teeth and worming,
 
Maybe an extra fleece under his rug... makes all the difference to have an extra layer... erm... maybe ring feed hotlines or something to get advice on feeding but sounds like you're doing everything you can... sorry this isnt very helpful!
 
My friend has a tb like this well he used to be. She used to spend a fortune on feed every winter. A couple a winters ago he was on box rest and going a bit nutty so she started feeding him happy hoof thinking well its just fibre should help keep him a bit saner and he got fat on it. She has kept him on it and two winters later he is still a bit porky it really does seem to agree with him even though its meant to be for fatties!!
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wouldnt clip all off if not holding his weight!!! go for a part clip to enhance his conformation! blue chip works well for weight gain (2 LARGE MUGS PER DAY) is he stressy? ulcers? i would get a worm count on him! Allen and page calm and condition is very good fed as per bag recommendations!
 
just to add, he is stable at night and out in the day, he tends to box walk abit so this could contribute to it but my YO has started turning him out for me in the morn when hers go out so he doesnt get stressed but he cant stay out coz he paces when the others come in and he shivers when it rains even if hes warm. he is the biggest queen going!! he loves his stable but does get stressed easily so i have to be carefull how much energy food i give him coz he box walks alot with the energy overload.
 
When I got my TB in October 2008 he was really poor looking and I struggled all that winter to get weight on him
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He was on Alfa A oil, Baileys No4 cubes and sugar beet - one scoop of each twice a day (he is 15.2hh/around 500kgs) - and ad lib haylage every night and out in the field during the day

TBH he didnt really body up until the spring though
 
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wouldnt clip all off if not holding his weight!!! go for a part clip to enhance his conformation! blue chip works well for weight gain (2 LARGE MUGS PER DAY) is he stressy? ulcers? i would get a worm count on him! Allen and page calm and condition is very good fed as per bag recommendations!

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he already has a clip from his belly to his withers but he is getting very hot, his coat looks horrible. he gets stressy easily and box walks mostly around feed time and in the morning but this is reduced now as my YO turns him out at 6am. he has had stressy vices since iv had him but hes an ex racer. i have always been paranoid about ulcers but he has never lost so much weight that i have been concerned, he looks super in the summer its the winter i really struggle.
 
I spend a fortune feeding my tb all year round - but he maintains his weight - he never looks fat! His coat improved loads on Baileys outshine and a cheap thing for weight gain is to add oil to the diet - corn oil from tescos or similar? Is he losing 'condition' to to a reduced work load - it could be lack of muscle tone rather than weight loss
 
Have you tried naf pink powder or something similar,worked wonders on a mare on the yard last yr,maybe get his bloods taken just to be sure he isnt aneamic or something else underlying!Even if he is underweight he should have a glossy coat if his general health ok,which makes me think could be an underlying problem that needs specific assistance from the vet?
 
I had a TB with a weight problem. I put him on Blue Chip and plenty of fibre to slow his hind gut down. seemed to do the trick with my lad.
 
To gain weight your horse needs to be fed more calories than he is using in work, and maintenance (keeping warm).
Firstly, try putting a much warmer rug on him to stop him using calories for heat - both in the stable and outside.
Secondly, up the nutrient levels in his feed - the alfa a and fibre beet are forages, so don't 'count' as hard feed, really, and two cups of conditioning cubes are very little for a horse which you aim to compete BD, IMO.
You could also try phoning feed manufacturers and asking them to design feed rations for him - they may even send you samples of feed.
Adding oil to his feed will also help - linseed is the best (but quite dear), corn oil is next best in terms of digestibility. You can add pints of the corn oil in theory - in practice obviously you can only add what his feed soaks up.
Ad lib haylage is good - but perhaps investigate whether you can get higher nutrient stuff - and make sure he has hay/haylage in the field too.
Hope this helps.
S
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i found with both of my TB's that alfa a had too much protein that they couldn't digest, i switch them to hifi and they gain weight easier. my mare lives in 2/7 in winter so she has as much haylage as she can eat and gets lots of exercise as well she has looked the best this winter than she ever has all she has is ad lib haylage, with 2 feeds of 1/2 scoop of hifi and 1/4 of fast firbe. she is fully clipped however she wears a 400g stable rug in the day and 400g with 200g underrug at night (she has had a newmarket when it has been below 0 as well)

so maybe rug up more if you can and look at the amount of protein you are feed you might find he is unable to digest it all properly therefore isn't getting out of it what her really should
 
Is he on the same diet winter and summer? If so then he will loose weight in the winter as the grass is not so good and it is cold. If he does well on grass in the summer perhaps you could try readi grass in the winter.

If he is shivering then he may not be warm enough - and shivering will use up energy and lead to weight loss. I have a fattie who is well rugged and even he has lost weight in the colder weather!

Box walking and being stressed will not help - you could look at feeding him perhaps a calmer so he is not using up energy though being stressed.

One of my friends has a skinny and she feeds her baileys outshine this seems to have helped as well. I would also look at getting a worm count done on him even if you have been worming just to double check.

Global herbs also do a good liver tonic called restore which might help as well.
 
Ive got a wee ex racer (in my siggy) he is an absolute nightmare to keep weight on ive tried all the suppliments under the sun but i think this yr ive cracked it! He has boiled/ flaked barley (if boiled i boil it with linseed) the local cheap equivilant of endurance mix, speedi beet and my magic ingredient is Excel muscle pro from equiform (http://www.equiformnutrition.co.uk/horse-supplements/EXCEL-MUSCLE-PRO-p-72.html) i also find it helps keep the weight on in the right places and works even better the more correct work they get. He also doesnt get fizzy on it. worth a try, let us know what you do and how you get on! Good luck, i feel your pain about shoveling food into silly tbs can be v.disheartening.
 
I would increase his rugs! 350g in this weather for a horse that doesn't hold his weight is not that much. Also add corn oil add it slowly as it may cause him to have very loose droppings. Once you add 1/4pt or so you will need to feed extra vit E and selenium too.
Does he have any ridden problems or farrier issues?? If so look at wwww.ruralheritage.com
 
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To gain weight your horse needs to be fed more calories than he is using in work, and maintenance (keeping warm).
Firstly, try putting a much warmer rug on him to stop him using calories for heat - both in the stable and outside.
Secondly, up the nutrient levels in his feed - the alfa a and fibre beet are forages, so don't 'count' as hard feed, really, and two cups of conditioning cubes are very little for a horse which you aim to compete BD, IMO.
You could also try phoning feed manufacturers and asking them to design feed rations for him - they may even send you samples of feed.
Adding oil to his feed will also help - linseed is the best (but quite dear), corn oil is next best in terms of digestibility. You can add pints of the corn oil in theory - in practice obviously you can only add what his feed soaks up.
Ad lib haylage is good - but perhaps investigate whether you can get higher nutrient stuff - and make sure he has hay/haylage in the field too.
Hope this helps.
S
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Very good advice,see how you go on from the above and if horse dosnt pick up investigate further
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(i use the linseed oil for my lads coat,it has taken a couple of months but his coat is amzing now
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As the proud owner of an anorexic 26yo TB we have several key things which have kept Cheeky looking virtually chubby this winter:
-if you clip, only take off half his neck (as in the bottom half) and don't take off too much
-a scoop of alpha beet twice a day, with another scoop of sugar beet in the evening with calm and conditioner and lots of chaff
-keep them fit, if Cheeky goes into the winter fairly fit he somehow keeps his weight
-massively rug them- he wears a duvet a lot of the time, and spends the majority of his day out in his field
-low stress livery yard- when he's on a yard which has lots of comings and goings he worries his weight off

Hope those could be any use- he's been hard work, especially because of his age and its taken 4 years to get to the point where he looks really well.
 
My tb does well on an endurance mix rather than conditioning mix (saracen does a really good one). he gets 1 1/2 scoops of barley a day and a heaped scoop of alfa a in each meal. Would love to be able to do the fibre beetthing but he has had a hobday so most of it makes a reappearence out of his nose
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He also has haylage rather than hay and lots of it and gets a big tub trug of hi fibre cubes ,good doer and readigrass each night as well. Also agree that tbs seem to keep weight on better when they are worked quite hard on a regular basis. Mine loks awful when he is on his hols but as soon as he comes back in within a week the weight is back onhim - strange animal
 
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I would increase his rugs! 350g in this weather for a horse that doesn't hold his weight is not that much. Also add corn oil add it slowly as it may cause him to have very loose droppings. Once you add 1/4pt or so you will need to feed extra vit E and selenium too.
Does he have any ridden problems or farrier issues?? If so look at wwww.ruralheritage.com

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both the rugs i have mentioned he wears together. the H/W stable rug and turnout, i have just bought a cheapy 100 gram stable rug so il try that on underneath. he has shocking feet and i have an excellent remedial farrier but there is nothing supplement wise that can be done for his feet. and he is an angel to be ridden he just looks like a toast rack.
 
In addition to whats already been said I would suggest trying him on a very low starch/cereal free diet. Check the starch levels of the feed you are using and the ingredients list and see if you can find a similar feed with less starch. The only one I can suggest is the winergy range because thats the only one I've used - it seems to suit some horses and not others but may be worth a shot. I'm sure there are plenty of other feeds you could try as well I just don't know what they are!

I say this because I have a mare who sounds fairly similar - she's a bit neurotic and can box walk and any starchy feed she goes straight off her head, spends all day hooleying round the field and all night spinning round in her box. Last year on my YO's advice she was fed 4kg build up mix a day plus hay and came out of winter looking terrible. The mix also turned her into such a loon that I didn't ride all winter which didn't help matters either.

This winter, she looks fabulous on just ad lib hay and 1kg winergy low energy a day (which barely has any more calories than your average chaff - but is v. low starch, low sugar, etc.) The feed is mainly to carry her supplements anyway. She's also in regular work as keeping her fit and muscled helps the weight stay on. And, incidentally, she's spending most of the winter unrugged as she was too hot last year - although this doesn't sound like the case with your boy.
 
Tried few feeds for similarish scenario- Spillers Slow Release Energy cubes and Baileys no 6- both very good. More fibre and less starch then alot of conditioning feeds.
 
I used to find it hard to keep weight on my T.B., without him going completely over the top.
Rug wise he has a 450g heavyweight rug, and thermatex on when out in the field, and at night 2 heavyweight rugs.

Feed wise he gets fed Top Spec Comprehensive Balancer, (2 cups per day) Top Spec Cool Condition Cubes (1 scoop per day), Mollichaff Showshine(2scoopd per day) love this chaff as it contains a good amount of oil without the upsetting amount of protein my lad couldn't cope with in alfa oil, and Speedibeet (1 scoop a day). These amounts are split into 2 feeds aday.

I would suggest ringing feed merchants for their advice but be warned their advice is sometime biased. But I love Top Spec as its cereal and sugar free.

Remember not to overload your feeds, as a rule of thumb a horse can only digest a feed the size of a small football at once, so feeding anymore than this is a waste, so it is better to split into 3 or 4 feeds a day.
 
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