Weight Gain

Reashi

Reashi

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What is THE feed you would give to a horse to gain weight (and pref not fizz). I would like a meal you have found to actually help. And any supplements you have found that actually work. I am just sick of pumping stuff into him that might not even be helping, or there may be better stuff out there that I haven't tried yet
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. Thank you in advance!

ETS: This is his current feed:

Morning feed:
1 scoop high fibre cubes
1 scoop chaff
1 mug xlint omega 3 oil

Evening feed:
1 scoop barley rings
1 scoop chaff
1/2 scoop suregrow (not been feeding this long)
2 heaped scoops pink powder
1 scoop cortaflex
1 mug xlint omega 3 oil

He also gets a trug of Just Grass with carrots to eat overnight.

He is kept in at night with adlib hay and is out during the day.
 
1 Topline conditioning cubes
1 alfa-oil
1/2 micronised barley
1/4 sugar beet

3 times a day if possible, worked quite well for moon
 
I've tried just about every cube with Governor because he was a hat rack when I bought him, and the only thing that you can guarentee with him to put on weight is spring grass - but thats more bloat than anything else.

I also have the fizz problem and get tired of forking out £12 for a bag of feed that sends him ballistic.

Cooked flaked barley worked for Governor for a while but this season he's decided he's allergic to it and came out in horrendous bumps. But its the cheapest, effective way of putting weight on him that i've found.

For the 3 weeks i've been feeding 2 scoops per day of Spillers Conditioning cubes (which says on the bag its proven in trials not to cause excitability...its not lying) with MolliChaff Showshine. Then for the last two weeks i've cut back on the cubes a bit and Governor looks fab so it gets two thumbs up from me.

Spillers also do 'Conditioning fibre' which is chaff and alfalfa with soya oil and extra protein and vitamins (it has pellets running through the chaff). Its very good stuff but I was finding it expensive which is why I switched to Showshine (also with soya oil).

So the Spillers feeds get my recommendation (i've also tried Baileys conditioning, D & H conditioning, A & P calm and condition).

Sorry for the essay
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I'm not a fan of giving them a different feed in the AM then to what they get in the PM, I really dont think it works.

I think that stacks ands stacks of ab-lib haylage along with 3 feeds a day, and tons of linseed oil and brewers yeast works really well. As for what is in the feed, it doesnt matter what it is, there is really no difference wether stacks of economy mix or conditioning mix. Just as long as they get plenty of it.
 
Jerry was a bit of a hat-rack when I bought him last July. First I had his teeth checked!
He has (same morning at night)
1 scoop of D&H build up cubes
1 scoop alpha oil
1 measure of pink powder
Plus loads of ad-lib haylage in the field during the day and at night.

I noticed the difference when I started to feed the alpha oil but unfortunately the alfafa made him itch so I have now taken him of it however he is now at a really good weight.
I agree with the post about loads of haylage as it was also when he started to come in at night and have a load of haylage to himself that he really started to put on weight.
 
The best recipe I've found for keeping weight on my veteran mare is a mixture of micronized barley, vegetable oil and alfabeet.

I must say your regime looks like a bit of everything! I would suggest you feed either:

A combination of alfafa, beet, barley and oil plus a vit/min supplement or a balancer. Barley is a good, relatively cheap source of calories, but is best heat-treated in some way - either buy a micronized form or boil it yourself. Oil is very dense in calories and can be fed as straight oil, an oil-rich supplement such as Outshine, in the form of oil-rich seeds such as linseed or sunflower seeds, or in an oil-enriched chaff, such as AlfaA Oil. Alfafa and beet help to balance the deficiencies in grains, and can be fed in the form of AlfaBeet, alfafa pellets, alfafa chaff, speedibeet, sugar beet pellets etc.

Alternatively, you can feed the recommended amount of a conditioning cube or mix.

If you can split into three feeds a day that will help.

Looking at your horse's diet I would definitely cut out the high fibre cubes as they are relatively low calorie, and if the chaff is just a normal molassed straw one, then change it to something alfafa-based and/or oil-enriched.
 
Ok thanks guys. How about this then:

1 scoop micronised flaked barley (should this be cooked?)
1 scoop alfa-a oil
Pink Powder
Linseed Oil

Twice a day?
 
Sounds good - you don't have to cook the barley as it has already been micronized. I have heard that linseed oil can be irritant if fed in large quantities, but not sure if it is true, but might be best to feed either another oil such as soya, or if you want linseed for the omega 3s, then feed a little linseed and top up the amount with another oil.
 
I have mine on spillers conditioning cubes and conditioning fibre but it doesn't always give enough stamina so I which to an endurance mix which seems to work. A friend of mine has her 12 yo who used to look like a hat rack on a veteran conditioning mix which worked much better for her horse than the normal conditioning feeds might be worth a go
 
Suregrow is intended for use on breeding stock that don't need additional weight, so it is not a conditioning feed. It will keep a well covered horse looking very well indeed, but no use to add weight.
 
I feed my Filly

3/4 a scoop Alfa a
half a cup topspec
nearly half scoop soaked speedibeet

twice a day plus adlib hay overnight and she is steadily gaining weight...

the diet you have him on at the mo seems very low cal... I'd change suregrow to topspec and chaff to alfa a (perhaps alfa oil) and see how you go...
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ok thanks guys. How about this then:

1 scoop micronised flaked barley (should this be cooked?)
1 scoop alfa-a oil
Pink Powder
Linseed Oil

Twice a day?

[/ QUOTE ]

I would add some build up cubes or baileys no 4 also (maybe 1 scoop) and just half a scoop of barley as it can make some horses a bit fizzy,
 
Personally I think it is best not to mix straights with compound feeds. The whole point of feeds like Build Up and Baileys No 4 is that they are designed to supply a balanced diet on their own, when fed alongside forage.
 
The Spillers conditioning fibre is good with Spillers conditioning cubes as well. My two horses were part of the Spillers feed trials when they created the new fibre ranges. I found the combination of conditioning fibre and conditioning cubes really piled on the pounds, and I actually had to cut his feed down after 2 weeks as he was suddenly too fat.

Linseed is also really good for putting on weight and I dont find that it makes mine fizzy. I used to add oil but found the Anglo was a bit too loopy on it so cut it out. I also think 3 smaller feeds rather than 2 huge ones are more beneficial.
 
IMO you've got it about right.... however, I would cut out the barley rings, and replace them with either speedibeet or alfabeet or fibrebeet as they all provide fibre and non heating energy to keep condition on.
you haven't said how old the horse is so i'm not sure if you need the suregrow or not - as a general rule i would say he only needs it if he's less than 3, (4 if he's warmblood or irish draft as they are later maturing)
in terms of the oil you are feeding, you would be better off trying something along the lines of full fat soya meal or baileys outshine as you can put much mor ein the diet without giving him the runs.
you don't say what the chaff is, but i would be looking for something like alfa oil, or hifi senior (both have more calories than the lighter chaffs, and less molasses)

in terms of what i feed - my horses are hunting once a week, plus doing riding club and unaff competitions once a month or so. they both get ad lib hay all day and night.
then morning and night they get
2 scoops (wet) of speedi beet
1/2 scoop of full fat soya
2 scoops alfa oil
1 measure GP vits and mins

they both have fab shiny coats, endless stamina and are wonderfully sensible with it. PM me if you need help.
 
Another vote here for Spillers conditioning cubes. They don't heat up my boy. He's a nutty TB who stresses off weight but after much trial and error he's now looking very well on:
two scoops of conditioning cubes
three scoops of dengi hi fi
(Split between three feeds)
Simple yet effective.
 
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