What are you feeding your cobs?

sidesaddlegirl

sidesaddlegirl

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I checked Lucy's weight this morning and bascially she;'s gained about 5- 8 kilos since I got her nearly 3 weeks ago!! She wasn't thin when I got her, she's already a BIG girl but I have a feeling that I'm overfeeding her (or feeding her the wrong thing) which is contributing to her gaining weight (she doesn't need any extra weight on) and perhaps explains why she gets wappy when I hack her out!

I spoke to one of my friends and she only gives her cobs hay during late spring to about December when the grass starts to go plus some chaff at feed time.
I've got good grass in my fields as there is good drainage as well.

At the mo, I'm giving her a scoop (one of those Stubbs scoops) of Pegasus mix (Spiller's version of pasture mix), a scoop of molichaff and two chopped up apples for her morning feed and again for her evening feed. She gets turned out all day, every day after I finish riding her.

I would consider her to be in VERY light work as I school her for about 30 minutes each day, the occasional hack when I have time during the week and an hour's lesson on Saturday. I don't show yet but when I do, it's just going to be local dressage shows in the intro levels as she's only 6 and I'm a novice at dressage!

She's a good doer and don't want her to get any fatter than what she is so should I go with the chaff/hay only route (with hard feed in the winter- I thought about trying the Allen & Page Relax & Ride feed as it doesn't have barley or extra molasses in it).
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My mare who is in no/light work is one the well side of a good weight is fed somewhere between 1.5-2kgs (3 small, square scoops) of Hi-fi good-doer with NAF Slimline weight supplement.

She'll also be going onto Allen & Page's Slim and Healthy soon too which I'd reccomend (gives fantastic coat condition to those who can get fat easily!) It's quite hard to get though, so may just be going onto some basic pony nuts or some more "substance" to her feed.
 
Hi

She prob has gained the weight by being on the grass, although you could check with the feed manufacturers website and check the calorie/content of you feed, it may be you are feeding a bit too much for the work load she is doing.
Possibly then either restrict grazing more , cut back hard feed and increase work load.

I have myy boy on turnout 24hrs just now as he is recouperating from a muscle injury but prior to this he had 8 hours turnout and either hacked or small school session due to his young age and fitness, with one scoop of Competition mix and handfull chaff - he needs some oomph!!

Best to speak to feed suppliers as thay can guide you on approx weight of hard feeds etc required for her weight.

happy hacking!
 
As she is a cob, and is a bit overweight, you certainly dont need to be feeding her any sort of mix of cube. Instead, to make sure she has all the vits and mins she needs (yes - even fatties need them!) give her a lo cal chaff, such as Happy Hoof, and a broad spectrum supplement (e.g. Equivite) or a lo cal balancer (e.g. Baileys Lo Cal). Or perhaps go for the complete fibre feed route, such as feeding her the recommended ration of Winergy Equilibrium Low, or the recommended ration of something like Happy Hoof
 
I'd suggest halving the amount you're feeding if she is getting fed twice a day. And tbh, she sounds like she'd be fine on just chaff without the hard feed (I like Alfa A rather than molichaff as there's no molasses in it). After all, it's not cold yet, the grass is still pretty good and she's not doing very much... You could also try hi-fi Good Doer instead to control her calorie intake...
 
Our welsh section d competed affiliated sj on loads of hay and just a handful of alfa a and spillers pony cubes twice a day with cod liver oil and garlic, we worked her from her fitness not her feed. Now she is only hacked a couple of times a week and we have to watch her weight, so we limit her hay because she is on good grass during day gets only 1 small section at night and had to put her on shavings to stop her eating her straw, the only hard feed she gets is a handful of hi fi and a handful of spillers pony cubes in the morning and she is in excellent condition.
 
Our cob who tends to get weighty VERY quickly is on a small handful of chaff at teatime, and thats it! He is turned out all day eats only a slice or 2 of hay at night, and the very occassional carrot or apple for a treat. His paddock is far from lush as he is such a good doer, this is him this morning......as you can see, not a lot of grass (but a very fat boy!)! He still has plenty of energy (enough to be a complete p**t sometimes anyway! lol) I would deffo cut yours down and moniter for a few weeks.
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My cob has a small feed in the morning of 1/2 small scoop of beet pulp, 1/2 small scoop of mix, garlic, Black Salt and a tbale spoon of oil. He has 2 sections of hay morning and night. He is turned out for about 6 to 8 hours a day at the moment. He looks well and efinately doesn't need any more. He is worked 5 to 6 days a week.
 
Mare cob 15hh - used in light work 6 days a week, schooling, hacking and showing in the summer.

We have good grass and she is out from 8am to 6pm on that - but the grazing is restricted as we have fenced off the field and she is still on the same patch as she has been on all summer - so it isnt long stuff.

When she comes in at night she has a level round stubbs scoop of HiFi Lite, a small mug of TopSpec Balancer (so that she gets her vits) a tablespoon of Linseed Oil and some carrots for interest - and that is it. During the night she can munch on a smallish net of haylege just for something to chew.

I am hoping that I wont need to start feeding her breakfast at all as I didnt last year, but then the weather was a lot drier last year !

Hope this helps
 
My Welsh D has been on restricted grazing and hay since April and will not be moved onto normal grazing until about Nov. He has an all round vit/min supplement in a few handfuls of Dengie Hi Fi Lite once per day. He does well on this and in the summer will do 25 miles hacking per week plus a 15 mile pleasure ride in trot and canter...no problem at all.
Even on thsi he can creep the weight on if I dont do enough riding! And I dont like to restrict access to hay as it just winds him up.
 
My H/W is on Happy Hoof (Well Safe & SOund/Healthy Hooves are same thing), with RDA of Baileys Lo Cal Balancer. Hes a big lad anyway and i dont want any unnecessary weight on him - his coat is gleaming for a piebald, and hoofs strong.

Maybe as well as weighing her with a tape (unless u r lucky to have a weighbridge of course), condition score her too as i think this is a better indicator of losses and gains. World Horse Welfare have alot of info on this.
 
If she is on good grass she does not need a pasture mix. I don't give pasture mix in any circumstances - even in the depths of winter. Both of mine are on a low starch diet - one is a cob. He gets a handful of hifi lite with his F4F when the grass is good from late March until about early October and then I gradually increase the food and introduce other things to see him through the winter.

George is a very good doer (and so is my warmblood), but I don't rug until I absolutely have to, so he uses his fat stores and what fibre he is fed to keep warm. This way, he comes out of winter a nice weight. He's now gone over to hifi original with a tiny amount of speedibeet, his F4F and some garlic plus some black oil sunflower seeds.

Both of my horses glisten in the sun despite my grass being YELLOW because it has practically died off already. They get ad lib hay at night and their 2 small feeds a day. They are thriving without a pasture mix, and I certainly would not be feeding a good doer cob pasture mix.

artysteph, I completely adore your horse. Can I have him, please? I'll pay... I have some bourbon biscuits or some jaffa cakes - which would you prefer?
 
A couple of handfuls of pony cubes with chaff, plus vit/min supplement, salt and oil. This is for my cob who does schooling, 2-3 hour hacks and competitions.

If your horse needs to be on a diet I'd say you could cut out the hard feed completely (especially as she's in light work) and just feed her hi-fi with a vitamin supplement.
 
No idea I'm afraid - all I know is that he was brought over from Ireland and his previous owner got him from Lynne Russel (sp?).

Does she look anything like my boy? (In my sig)
 
My coloured cob who is in very light work (ridden twice a week at the moment) has 2 handfulls of dengie hi-fi lite, with a garlic and vit supplement and some carrots as a single feed. The grass is good where we are at the moment and he puts weight on breathing fresh air!

If he gets ridden any more then he has a cup of spillers high fibre cubes added as well.
 
I would cut out the hard feed TBH and just give her a small amount of chaff such as hifi light with a supplement/balancer.


My 15h HW cob is on a scoop of hi fi good doer and 500g of top spec anti lam and he's stayed relatively stable at 480kg for the last few months.
 
if you are on good grazing and she is only on light work i would give her a handfull of speedi beet and a handfull of hi fi light. when the grass drops off give her some hay at night and 2 meals a day in stead of one. if you look at a bag of speedi that is what it is used for you bulk them up on that so they dont go out and scoff them selfs like pigs. dont forget you vits/mins and salt! you want to stay away from oils starches sugars and mallases thats were you garlics will come from!
 
my cob who can gain weight very quickly gets one stubbs scoop of Dengi hi fi and half a scoop of pegasus cubes and a handful of speedi beet.. hes worked almost every day for about 45 mins to 1 hour and hacked out at weekends for approx 2 hours faster work.. he does however have adlib hay and restricted grazing.. he was skinny when we got him a year and half ago and i would love to know how they managed that!! lol..
 
Bailey's Lo-cal, a tablespoon of salt and a mug of Black Sunflower Seeds. Will probably add Happy Hoof and Speedibeet when it gets really cold and he starts losing weight.
 
What your horse needs is less grass and probably no hard feed at all. Just well soaked hay if in at night (to get the nutrition out of it) and of course lots of nice long 4 hour hacks at the weekends if you can't manage them in the week.
 
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artysteph, I completely adore your horse. Can I have him, please? I'll pay... I have some bourbon biscuits or some jaffa cakes - which would you prefer?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not for all the Jaffa cakes or bourbons in the world!
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isnt he smooshy!
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For goodness sake, cut out the hard feed. Give her half a scoop of chaff (such as HiFiLite)with a broad spectrum vit/min.
 
Echo others - get rid of the hard feed. It's not doing anything other than making her fat, since you're not feeding the reccomeneded amounts for all the vits and minerals. Mollifchaff is full of sugar too.

My lot get a handful of chaff with a general supplement in it and that's it! They are also on restricted grazing all summer. They are all a good weight, never going over more than a 3 (good to plump) in condition scoring. They are then allowed to drop weight over the winter to come out at 2 (slim) in the spring, giving weight gain leaway.
 
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