Welsh section D - feeding worries - HE IS NOT A GOOD DOER

[laurenblumfield]

Hello All,

Just looking for a bit of advice, hope and help!

I bought my first horse in March, he is a gorgeous section D.

When I bought him he was fed sugarbeet with mollichaff.

I decided to change this as he looked underweight and wanted him to be receiving more nutrients so added a topspec cool balancer and added cool condition cubes. He is fed twice a day and was out 24/7 during the summer but is now out through the day and in at night with lots of hay.

He is wormed and teeth checked.

Through the summer when the grass was rich he looked to be putting on weight however he seems to be losing it again!

I cant feed him anything that will make him too excitable as he is already a little bit tapped (welsh blood I presume!)

AND ONE MORE THING - he is not a stocky welsh type he seems more fine, is this due to age??? will he fill out when he matures?

Thank you all for reading, any advice will help xxx

 

[xgemmax]

I would swap the conditioning cubes for speedibeet and micronised linseed

 

[Meowy Catkin]

How old is he?

 

[iloveappy]

Fast fibre all way

 

[stilltrying]

Do you have any pics? Not doubting you but, there are definitely varying degrees of condition ideals, even with the most seasoned horse owners. : )

Also how old is he?

 

[laurenblumfield]

Thank you for getting back to me so soon, he is 5 years old (turned 5 at end of may) not sure how to post photos on here but am just trying to figure it out xxx

 

[laurenblumfield]

I have added a photo into an album on my profile xx

 

[stilltrying]

Just seen pic on your profile, he looks a cutie, but bit difficult to judge his condition from a head on shot!

But taking that to one side, I like to feed fibre fibre fibre. You say he has plenty of hay at night, i'd be inclined to weight out what he is getting just so you know how much. I have an idxtb and in winter he will eat 16k overnight. Not suggesting you feed quite this much, but id always rather keep them munching all night long than start upping their bucket food. As for bucket food, again i favour the high fibre route so just tend to feed speedibeet, readigrass / hifi light and oil, plus a pro earth supplement, and i'm also trying linseed this winter.

Another thing i've found with mine is that no matter how much grass / feed he gets, he doesn't tend to look particularly fat or round. It is only when he does a bit more work that he builds muscle and fits his frame. Some horses are just naturally more round looking than others.

One positive though - it is a LOT easier to manage a horse than needs a bit of feed rather than a fattie!

 

[Queenbee]

Fast fibre isnt exactly a 'weight gain' feed but its a good base, if you want to tailor your diet... I personally like a combination of a grass chaff and speedie beet, with added vit and min supplement and added linseed meal for condition, but you could do something like this with the FF.

I personally prefer to feed a vit and mineral supplement to a balancer, but top spec is fine. use FF as a base, add your balancer and invest in some linseed meal... depending on the horses needs I have fed up to 3 cups a day, 1/2 a cup is good for just a gloss and condition, more is required for building condition. when working on muscle development and topline, I always like to add an additional vitamin e supplement, I find the gold label one to be reasonable. Linseed meal is best purchased in bulk sacks, a20kg sack will be around £20 and last you for ever! If you do consider changing from a balancer to a vitamin mineral supplement (the right one, is more cost effective I find) I would reccomend equimins tip top... its excellent and very comprehensive.

 

[SuperH]

If he is only 5 I would imagine he will fill out a lot over the next few years. Having said that not all Welsh are the stocky leg on each corner type, I have had two quite fine and narrow Ds. Got one of each at the moment. The finer one has bulked out a lot over the last two years but she will never be as broad as my other.

 

[laurenblumfield]

I think a lot of fibre is definitely the way forward! before posting this I was considering getting a different conditioning mix to replace the condition cubes however I am now looking at linseed meal instead to add over the winter

 

[laurenblumfield]

If he is only 5 I would imagine he will fill out a lot over the next few years. Having said that not all Welsh are the stocky leg on each corner type, I have had two quite fine and narrow Ds. Got one of each at the moment. The finer one has bulked out a lot over the last two years but she will never be as broad as my other.

Was hoping somebody would say this I really hope he does fill out more, just want him to do it naturally rather than overfeeding him x

 

[Borderreiver]

I know you said he was wormed but would you care to share how often and with what? Any egg counts done? Some young horses carry a lot of worms and take a lot more worming than you think. We tested someones new horse today and the count was over 15000 epg which is going to take a lot more than normal worming to sort out. Just something to consider and it may not be this at all, but worth finding out.

 

[laurenblumfield]

Hello,

When I first got him he had double dose strongid p and then he had an ivermectin one around july and I gave him an equimax last week. I know this is a random worming programme but it covers all the worms! I would definitely consider doing a worm count though as I think it would be interesting to see the result. Can you recommend any good companies for a worm count?

Thank you for your help xx

 

[Borderreiver]

Hi Lauren I would definitely recommend a count but as you have just given Equimax then not at present. Your plan has missed encysted redworm so you should use plain Equest in a couple of months to treat them. Start your worm counts about three months after that next spring.
You may find it is a worm problem as if he came with one then that would not have dealt with it very well. Always best to test a new horse before you start with any worming so you know what you are dealing with. You will always get good support and advice from Westgate Labs as well as a proper lab test but then it is my business so I know that. We are passionate about helping people to get their worming right.
Good luck with your horse in the future.

 

[WetandMuddy]

I know this is probably a little late, but I have just seen this thread and wanted to add my bit!

I have a Section D who can be very sharp, spooky, nervous/anxious who can lose weight quite quickly. I have had him on The Pure Feeds PureEasy for 4-5 weeks now and it is wonderful. He is not only holding his weight, he looks fabulous - lovely shiny coat, but he is as calm as anything to ride! He has had absolutely no reaction to this feed - which has absolutely amazed me.

 

[laurenblumfield]

Hello, thank you I will have look at it, he seems to be bulking out a bit after just eating more hay on a night as all summer he has bee out at night and the grass must have lost nutrition which has made him lose a bit of weight. I'll definitely look at the pure feed you recommended though as I have heard a lot of good things about them xx