what do you feed your Irish Draft???

italylyns

italylyns

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Hi all,

I know all horses are different etc, etc but i bought my ID just over a year ago and he was ill from dec to march (tumour! benign we think/hope) and he was in poor condition.

I have struggled to keep him in good condition even with the advise of spillers who have helped me alot with his diet.

Hugo has 2 times a day

1 large scoop swpillers conditioning fibre
1 large scoop spillers slow release energy mix
vit & mineral supplement

2 crammed full haynets! (not twice a day)



Will attach a pic of him in summer this year.Thats his best friend with him! Would love to see your ID pics too so please attach them to your messages!!

Thanks!

picture.php
 
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In short we feed him tonnes!!

2 massive haynets (I can't tie them up unaided)

2 bucket feeds:

1x large scoop cooked barley, 2 x beet
1x molly, 2x chop
1x bran
Yesac, oils, 1 cup sunflower oil

We have added the cooked barley and sunflower oil in an attempt to get more weight on him. However he is only 4 and still growing (17.2 already at the moment :-0 )
 
taz doesnt actuallly get that much to be honest.
he gets breakfast and dinner, which consist of
1 x round scoop of hi fi lite,
1/2 x round scoop of speedi beet
1/4 x round scoop of economy mix
1/2 x round scoop of oats
farriers formula and codlivine supplement
and then as he is stabled over night he gets two haylage nets ( the ones with the small holes in them)

he's five standing just under 17hh and still growing!

kohlandtaz.jpg

thats taz (the grey) and kohl my friends old horse last year out common riding :)
 
Wow that sounds very expensive, my ID mare has scoop am & pm economy mix plus sugar beet Jan/ feb/march, hay ad lib, shes out 24/7, this is only november to april when she is hunting then she has only grass, my 3 year olds have 1 scoop ecomomny nuts a day plus ad lib hay jan & feb ish only. very cheap to keep !
 
Crikey mine must be the best ID doer on the planet!

Large heavy net at night plus one small to come in to, good grass during the day and two feeds a day of Pure Grass chaff (1 stubbs scoop), linseed, carrot ( note the singular) and a vit and min supp.

We do have good year round grazing which makes a big difference.

OP to be honest I think you need to supply a lot more grazing.
 
I've three pure draughts (2 yearlings and a 5yo) and three ID/TBs aged from 11 to 23 years. At the moment they are all on haylage (good quality, made on-farm) and nothing else. Two of them are doing quite a bit of work atm and are looking well on it. I don't believe in feeding excessive quantities of hard feed (can you tell?:))
 
Sadly no grazing now until spring. Fields totally flooded out, luckily the livery yard is extremely reasonable on feed. We bought him a few months ago and he was underweight so still playing catch up. Getting there now though!
 
Spaniel, I think my IDxTB puts your good doer to shame! He is out 24/7, and gets a handful of hi-fi lite once a day to make him think he's being fed. He competes all summer on this diet, and has just qualified for the dengie winter finals with his teenage rider. When we bought him he was hunting 3 times a week on a diet of alfa-a and grass/hay.
 
im sure you could try redigrass or something along the same lines as that, the horses at college got fed that due to the lack of grazing, also make sure he's getting all the minerals and vitamins that he needs if not NAF do alot of supplements to help with that
 
Murphy88 said:
Spaniel, I think my IDxTB puts your good doer to shame! He is out 24/7, and gets a handful of hi-fi lite once a day to make him think he's being fed. He competes all summer on this diet, and has just qualified for the dengie winter finals with his teenage rider. When we bought him he was hunting 3 times a week on a diet of alfa-a and grass/hay.
Click to expand...


Now thats what I like to read....a PROPER feed regime....fibre, fibre, fibre!!

Now do you reckon if I cut out the daily carrot that Jack might do a better test too???LOL
 
spaniel said:
Now thats what I like to read....a PROPER feed regime....fibre, fibre, fibre!!

Now do you reckon if I cut out the daily carrot that Jack might do a better test too???LOL
Click to expand...

Poor Jack!!! I feed mine 1/2 scoop safe and sound twice a day with spillers lite balancer, his supplements and carrots and parsnips (if I can get them), up until a few weeks ago he was getting 10 pounds of hay per night and out during the day - he is still a fatty!!
 
My IDxTB is in at night, out during the day on reasonable grazing... he has haylage overnight, not loads but he always has a bit left in the morning so is obviously getting enough. Feed wise he is currently getting 1 Stubbs scoop of Hifi and about 1/4 of the same scoop of D&H High Fibre Nuts, split between 2 feeds.

If I conquer my nerves and take him hunting again this season then I will up his hard feed a bit and add sugar beet.
 
Well he's IDx

Hay on a night, hay during the day on mornings in his field as he doesn't tend to eat up well when he's in, but quite happily decideds to eat better once he's out :rolleyes: but as much as he wants.

Bucket feed in the morning with his breakfast hay and on evenings, both consist of the same, Alfa A Oil, A&P Fast Fibre and Spedibeet Sugar beet with a scoop of Bailey No.6 Endurance Mix (low starch, slow release and adds a little condition) with his supplements and bobs your uncles sister's auntie, that's your lot! :D
 
spaniel said:
Now thats what I like to read....a PROPER feed regime....fibre, fibre, fibre!!

Now do you reckon if I cut out the daily carrot that Jack might do a better test too???LOL
Click to expand...

Well daughter beat me to it with her post, but as Murphs "carer" whilst she is at uni, I have to confess he actually has a daily carrot too, so don't think cutting Jacks carrot out will make a difference.:p
 
Friends very good doer and actually only 15.2 but gets a mug of Equilibrium 500 balancer, 1 mug of Tiger oats and a level stubs scoop of hi-fi lite all spilt between 2 feeds, is currently on ok-ish grazing so only gets 10lbs of hay at night which she rarely finishes, when the weather gets worse and the grass goes will get up to a max 14lbs at night, always soaked - She is is meduim work, 6 days a week and completes in local SJ and Dressage through the winter and unaf eventing in the summer, she is constantly fighting the flab!
 
Erm not a lot.....

Out from 8am till 7pm with muzzle on.- (STILL)

Haylage over night - med haynet which he finishes every night.

Have only just in last week given him a handfull of chaff to get some MSM supplenent into him as he has sacrioilliac injury and recovering slowly, however as only had 4 months never had hard feed.

Will get a balancer either spillers lite or baileys LoCal in next month or so just to ensure he gets all required vits and minerals during winter.


He goes well enough on fresh air and a very good doer!!!
 
3/4 scoop Dobson & Horrel's Pasture mix
1 scoop apple chaff
~ 6 sections of good hay (haylage when that runs out)
no carrots - blows his mind
no sugarbeet " " "

Daily turn out, in at night, restrict his summer grazing when necessary.

Supplement: biotin, garlic, and Gold probiotic.

Can just about keep on top of his weight-gain/excess fat. :)
 
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