What do you feed your thoroughbred?

[Apricot]

What do you feed your tb to gain condition but not send them mad?

My boy is a little ribby at the moment, his skin and coat are in good condition and shiny, but his work has been upped and he has dropped a bit of weight. He's has hay ad lib at night and is out all day on a sparse (but not horrendous) field. He has two scoops of Alfa A, one scoop plain chaff and half a scoop pony nuts (high fibre cubes?) for breakfast, and the same in the evening but with carrots, a full scoop of pony nuts and various supplements. He gets worked lightly first thing in the morning (20 - 45 mins, lunging or light hacking) and then proper work in the afternoon (schooling/lesson/jumping/fast hack), he's a lovely honest horse so I don't worry if he gets a bit more fizzy, but is already quite sharp off the leg and I don't want to send him over the edge!!

Does anyone know any improvements I could make to his diet, or recommend any supplements? (though he is stuffed full of supplements at the moment, got a bit carried away ordering stuff online )

Thankyou!

 

[Jesster]

I'm pretty lucky, my ex racer youngster runs perfectly well on just grass at the moment. I have a slender advanced dressage horse that has heaps of energy but runs up light, and I feed him on Saracen Equijewel. It's oil based so no whizz from cereal.

If it was my horse I'd do Alfa-a with oil, Equijewel, Sugar beet, balancer. Make sure your haylage is top quality....and of course, give him a bloody good worm.....it's tapeworm time!

 

[sidesaddlegirl]

I find what works best for Hattie to keep weight on without blowing her mind, is making sure that her feed has high fibre only without any molasses, sugar or starch in it. Sugar Beet makes her wappy!!!

I give her Happy Hoof as a chaff plus Fast Fibre in the winter (although I'm struggling to find this now so switched over to Bailey's High Fibre cubes which contain nothing else but fibre and some oil). Plus Redi Grass for extra taste to hide the taste of biotin but this gets adjusted depending on the time of year (more in winter, WAY less in the middle of summer).

 

[Angelbones]

Along with as much good hay as they want, mine are fed on Dodson & Horrell Build Up cubes (1 x stubbs scoop twice a day) along with 1 x stubbs scoop Alfa A. They have speedibeet on top, with a mash of soaked grass nuts / Fast Fibre, and some ReadyMash if they need it. Supplements if needed are micronised linseed, joint formula. If they are off their food and aren't eating all the chaff then I add Ultimate Balancer to ensure they get all the nutrients they need in a small feed.

They all look good on this, including the aged veterans, and have enough energy to hunter trial, hunt, school etc, and are not fizzy on it. If one drops a bit then I add more linseed or corn oil. I really rate Build Up cubes.

Your horse does quite a lot of work by the sounds of it so he is going to need the calories - more than he gets from chaff and pony nuts I think. Ring the helpline at one of the feed companies and ask their advice, they generally are very good. They may suggest a feed with slow release energy.

Ps it does seem you are feeding huge amounts at one time if your scoops are stubbs scoops? Horses stomachs are comparable in size to a rugby ball and too much at once isn't good for them. Would it be possible for you to split the feed into 3 meals? I suspect once the paddock gets some good grass through your boy will pick up - it can be a funny time of year for condition so don't worry too much. If your worming is up to date, his teeth are good etc and he doesn't improve over the next 6 weeks or so it may be worth speaking to your vet if you are concerned.

 

[Holly Hocks]

My skinny Tb mare gets a full scoop of Spillers horse and pony cube, a full scoop of Mollichaff calmer and speedibeet morning and night and is nice and slowly putting weight on without the fizz....she won't eat mixes, she will only eat nuts, so I'm a bit stuck!
My elderly TB gelding appears to live on fresh air - he looks like a TB X ID. But he gets D&H 16+ mix, alfa A original and speedibeet twice a day. Both are supplemented with cod liver oil, and joint supplement.

 

[Lynz25]

I've got 2 TB's a 10yr old ex racer and 7/8ths 22yr old TB. This is my feeding regime which keeps their weight on all year round. They live out 24:7 with a field shelter. I only feed once a day.

Through winter they get given 2 large hayledge nets stuffed full of hay and some hay on the floor in the evening. I start them on sugar beet (2 scoops) around autumn half term and usually stop around March when the grass starts to come through. 1 large round scoop of apple chaff and a small scoop of Allen & Page herbal quiet mix. 22 yr old has Feedmarks extra flex, clarity (low doses) and recharge when he needs it. 10 yr old on garlic granules. Both on 1/4 scoop formula 4 feet.

In summer 1/2 scoop chaff and cool mix. Start to give them fly formula last year which is even better than garlic.

 

[JoJ]

i have a 10yr old ex racer, spent ages when i first got him trying different feeds that worked well with putting his weight on but keeping him sane.

ended up on winergy equilibrium low energy, along with a milk pellet supplement called equivite body builder.

the milk pellet is great, creates no added fizz and he looked better in as little as 2 weeks!

i also realy like the equilibrium, however it is expensive and only comes in 15kg bags so get through it quick!

 

[Apricot]

Thanks guys I have some Allan and Page cool and condition mix, but my friend fed it to her tb and he went a bit insane, but then he's a little bit more of a handful than mine.

"Ps it does seem you are feeding huge amounts at one time if your scoops are stubbs scoops?"

Not sure what a stubbs scoop is? The scoop I use is like a small blue shovel, comparable to a large handful? He's not overly food orientated, he eats a bit and then wanders round/goes to sleep and then eats a bit more, so I'm not too worried about him having too much, but splitting it into three is a good idea, I'll have to see if I can feed him at lunchtime at work.

His hay's not great quality, but he seems to like it! He was on haylage for a while and went really peculiar, so I'm avoiding giving him that! He's moving into a rested field soon, so hopefully more grass with fatten him up

I'll put up a picture of him (he has no muscle atm though is improving, was a hireling that no-body wanted!) but the only one I can find makes him look fatter than he actually is!

 

[kirinsam]

Mine has gone now but was v thin when I first got her. Fed her hay hay and hay then in the winter she had chaff , sugar beet and midlings ( v cheap wheat mash stuff that smells yummy recommended by old guy who really knew his stuff) She left here in the most amazing form at the end of last winter which was very hard but was the most sane we had had her.

 

[Lynz25]

Only use a stubbs scoop for chaff, small scoop sugar beet / cool mix. Manufacturers scoops for feedmark stuff / formula doe feet

 

[JoBird]

Swap the pony nuts for a weight gain mix or cubes. I use Saracens Show Improver, Alfa-A, oil (and sugar beet is good too). When the grass comes through forget the plain chaff is it is just bulk, nothing more and wont add weight but useful for keeping the stomach working if the grass is sparse at present.

 

[TheEquineOak]

Wow, your horsie eats a lot!!

When mine was poor, he was on 1 x Alfa-A with oil, 1 x Baileys No. 4 cubes, 1/2 Build up mix and 2 big spoons of sugerbeet. Usually he was out eating grass and had up to 3 big haylage nets in 24hrs

Now he is up to weight and maintaining it... he is on 1/2 Alfa-A with ooi, 3/8 topline, 1 heaped spoon of sugerbeet and Garlic He grazes for 4 hrs a day and has a medium net in the morning and a large at night time.

 

[tallyho!]

Chiken and ham pizza, diet coke and donuts.

He only gets apples on diet days.

 

[rab7225]

I feed mine: 1 Scoop Alfa-a oil, 100 grams approx speedibeet, 1 & 1/2 scoops Dodson and Horrell build up conditioning mix, 200 grams approx Dodson and Horrell Build & Glow and 200 grams Baileys no10 racehorse mix. I also add a scoop of garlic powder and around 200ml of vegtable oil.

I feed this 3 times a day and mine is gradually filling out and building muscle. He is 17.2 hands, so depending on your horses height you may need to adjust the amounts.

I would definately use the Dodson and Horrell build up conditioning mix, Dodson and Horrell Build & Glow and the Alfa-a oil chaff. These combined are really good for putting weight on and are formulated to do so.

If he is not on a lot of hay or grass then I would recommend adding Baileys High Fibre nuggets, as these can be substituted for hay.

On the above diet, I saw improvments within the first week.

 

[StormyGale]

Mine has almost the same Molichaff calmer, speedibeet, and conditioning nuts also has a scoop of triple top up in his feed morning and evening - its powder balancer that encourages weight gain and its great as like your mare HollyHocks mine hate anything that isn;'t nut shaped!

 

[ghostie]

mine has ad lib hay all the time, a scoop of chaff 3 times a day with 1/2 scoop of pony nuts. He's gained weight really nicely on this without going mental - wouldn't dare put any more hard feed in him