What to feed a poor doer?

[CrimsonDivine]

I have an Arab x TB who is 4, turning 5 end of May. On a scale of 1-10 on a body score I'd say 4 maybe? perhaps even 5. Pretty much moderate, can't see his ribs but can veigely feel them, can't see any spine exposure, can just about make out the hook along the hind quarters etc, which I've read for light/medium horses this is pretty normal and ok compared to some other breeds. However, I have also been told he should ideally maintain a weight of around 380kg in Winter if possible. Full grown Arabs normally weigh 400kg but he has room to grow so he's not quite there. I've been advised on feed such as alfafa, beet and supplements for the lack of vitamins and minerals within these feeds, inwhich I feed him Allen & Page Calm and Condition as it diid wonders for my underweight pony back in the day and there seems to be plenty in it of what he needs. Needless to say my pony is fine now and doesn't get fed on grain anymore as she's quite a rolly polly and lives on thin air, as most ponies seem to.

It seems that despite my feed resume of 2-3 servings a day, which consists of 300- 400 grams of beet, 400 - 600 grams of Calm and Condition and around 1kg - 2kg of Alfa-A Molasses Free plus aproximately 4kg - 8kg of grass based hay, moderate condition, I honestly don't know what else to do?? Just before Winter I was extactic to find he was near 380kg, somewhere around 372kg I think.. and now he has dropped to around the 350 mark and not getting any higher. Needless to say I have spoken to vets, nutritionists, welfare groups, you name it. Even had similar troubles last year though that time I hadn't considered beet. Most of these people pretty much tell me the same thing which is "he's on an ideal diet, you are doing the best you can and it's his age and breed that prevents him from maintaining his weight" so I guess there's really nothing I can do?? I have tried adding fatty oil such as vegitable oil to his feed but he refuses to eat it, he's a very picky eater. He does not seem to like unusual strange or new things given to him.
Alot of people, both nutritionists and websites deddicated to horse care, tend to say beet is the "go to" feed base when it comes to horses who can't keep on their weight. However just the other day I spoke to Dengie regarding their Alfa-Beet product as I was thinking of switching to that since I currently give my him Alfa-A and Speedibeet. I figured buying a mix of the two would be ideal? kill two birds with one stone, that sort of thing? They said "do not feed him beet, he doesn't need it" and I'm like "WTF???" and when I demanded an explanation all she could say was "speak to my Senior" which to me was rather unhelpful. If she's claiming that he shouldn't be on beet I need to know why she said it. Needless to say I didn't want to speak to her Senior, it wasn't her Senior who made such claims therefor I don't feel a need to. Besides, every nutirionist, Senior or otherwise, that I've spoken to before seem to vouch for the use of beet. Seems rather odd and contridictiing to me that she even said it.

So anyway.. long story short; I am lost on a tether here and need some advice and guidance. So of course I am reaching out to those of you who do own this sort of breed and asking; what do you feed yours? what works well for your Arab x TB, or heck even an Arab Part bred something else or a Thoroughbred, whichever breed so long as it applies to my own, ie medium/light weight poor doer. If you think I am not doing it right feel free to say so, if you think he's got enough, or more than, again feel free to say so as that would be helpful feedback if nothing else. However if you're unsure or never had a medium or light weight horse and never had to deal with this issue, or had issue with another type of horse such as a cob maybe or clydesdale, draft, etc, as much as I appreciate your input; I am not interested. I have read so many articles about horse maintenance and feel I know a fair deal about it. I just want to know what others have tried with this sort of horse and what has worked for them. I am aware that even though it may be the same type or breed that it won't always work for all but I do also find other breeds have other maintenance requirements in comparison.

As mentioned; he looks fine at the moment but he's not the ideal weight so I just don't know what to do. He also came out of Winter last year looking rather scrawny, about body score of 3/10 but then he seems to bounce back after Summer and Autumn. Similar to when I bought him as I bought him near end of Spring and he looked scrawny then too but looked great near Autumn after a few months of 24/7 grazing through Summer. Maybe this is just normal? Perhaps I'm just worrying too much? I look forward to your response. Thanks in advance.

 

[milliepops]

I'm feeding my TB home-made alfabeet at the moment as it's pretty cheap, i was offered some discounted Lucie Nuts which are Simple System's version of alfalfa pellets and I soak them together with the sugarbeet. horse eats it up well. he is now retired but is a poor doer, he thinks this is tasty which is half of the battle with him.
Ideally I'd like to pick his condition up a bit and normally I would just add a cup of linseed to each feed but he doesn't like it, i think this is unusual because all my others eat micronised linseed readily.

When he was in work I fed him Equijewel or Omega rice (rice bran + linseed) which is fairly expensive but you don't need a great deal to top-dress their normal feed and he ate it well.

i wonder if the nutritionist was referring to the calm and condition when they said you didn't need to add sugar beet. It's one of the main ingredients of C&C, that's why you are supposed to soak it.

 

[paddi22]

equerry conditioning mash is brilliant.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

equerry conditioning mash is brilliant.

Ok, thank you, I will look into this I see it also contains beet, that's interesting to know. Cheers.

 

[Steerpike]

Can you up the amount of calm and condition he receives, I must say the majority of my Arabs weigh over 400kg! I use micronised linseed, Alfa pro and speedibeet for the majority or mine in various quantities over winter until they are in more than light work where I add extra feed.

 

[P.forpony]

My vet once said he’d rather see a rib than a roll.
Have to say I agree so I wouldn’t be unduly concerned about his weight by your description.
Also don’t forget it’s completely natural for them to drop off over winter, if they don’t, when the grass comes through in spring you may have the opposite problem.

The only thing with his current feed is 400-600grams of calm and condition may not be quite enough to meet his vit min needs, it’s also bulked out with wheat feed and nutritionally improved straw.

All of mine start with a high spec balancer then with alfalfa/beet product/micronised linseed added as needed.
My older mare who doesn’t hold weight in winter and is currently turned away is on a cup of performance balancer, a cup of pink mash (was kwikbeet but the digestive additives make a big difference to her) a scoop of molasses free Alfa a and a cup of linseed.
She’s out during the day with hay available and in with ad-lib hay or haylage overnight.
She’s shiny and healthy and lean. I’d score her a 4-5 too. Definitely don’t want any more condition coming into the spring because I know by may she’ll have gained significantly.

 

[milliepops]

The only thing with his current feed is 400-600grams of calm and condition may not be quite enough to meet his vit min needs, it’s also bulked out with wheat feed and nutritionally improved straw.

i read it as that per feed, but I could be wrong. and have a feeling I may be on UI anyway

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I have pure bred Arabs they are now good doers but one when he was young struggled with weight gain, I found feeding as much hay as he would eat worked pretty well, and in the past I have fed him Equijewel, Copra and linseed with a grass chaff he can't have alfalfa or molasses they send him nuts.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Can you up the amount of calm and condition he receives, I must say the majority of my Arabs weigh over 400kg! I use micronised linseed, Alfa pro and speedibeet for the majority or mine in various quantities over winter until they are in more than light work where I add extra feed.

I can certainly consider it. I just didn't give him more as I don't wish to overfeed him due to all the other feeds he's getting? Seems a bit much for one horse if you ask me considering the recommendations normally don't take into account that you're feeding a horse other feeds. But yes, I can certainly try it at least. Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say. Though my other concern is if he doesn't show signs of improvement then what? And thus I'd have wasted good feed for nothing. Ideally I want to use A&P purely for the vitamins and minerals and the rest of his feeds to bulk him up. Honestly don't think he has a vitamin and mineral problem. Again it's something to consider though as I know feed recomendation does state for a 300kg equine in light work 0.25 – 0.8kg medium 1.0 – 1.5kg and hard 1.5 – 2.5kg. For a 400kg horse its light work 0.5 – 1.25kg medium 1.25 – 2.0kg and hard 2.0 – 3.0kg. So yeah, perhaps give him minimum of 600 - 800g and not 400g? Considering he's somewhere inbetween 300 and 400kg I thought this may be an ideal point? By the way I forgot to mention he's in light work. Also yeah, full grown arabs should be aproximately 400kg but I was told for a 4 year old 380kg was fine as he's still growing. However, at the moment that's not the case and again I have to wonder whether that's just the way it is due to Winter. Can I ask what do your horses weigh during the Winter months on average? and how old are they? Just curious to know so I can compare.

Some really interesting feedback from you guys, thanks for all that. I actually found Copra the other day whilst searching the web but not seen it around here. Linseed is included in A&P as far as I know but I have been looking at micronised linseed to add to other feeds if necersary. Not heard of Equijewel but I'm going to look into that as well.

Also, I'd be most interested in your take on beet for bulking up horses more than anything since that was something I was debating over the other day. I think for now I may take into account what Steerpike said and see how he goes with more A&P. I will still keep other suggestions in mind though, just not eager to switch his feed right now as this can take time. Do keep your responses coming though, I am most interested in what other people use and their thoughts on what I've used so far. Thank you all.

 

[Steerpike]

My Arabs vary, my 6yr old 16.1h is 495kg, 15.2h 14yr old 445, 15.2 11yr old 425kg, 14h 8yr old 435kg he is like a tank the others are finer my retired ones I haven't weighed, I tend to go by eye, I don't think I have ever gone by the feed merchants recommended amount, over winter I tend to feed lots of fibre so a chaff and speedibeet with micronised linseed with a balancer, I know they are getting the right vitamins with the balancer. They also have ad lib haylage, I feed this through their walk work then change/add to it once they start trotting and cantering.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I had a poor doer for years, unfortunately he was also cereal intolerant so I had to keep starch levels below 12%, it was a pain. I went through nearly all low cereal/cereal free types of feed over the years.

A staple for me is that I mix a bag each of trident Beetpulp pellets, Dengie alfalfa nuts and Dengie grass nuts into a big feed bin. I soak a big round scoop of this in a big bucket. My youngster gets this currently along with his balancer over winter.

I soaked this into a mush and my boy got a big scoop of this, a cup of equerry condition mash, a measure of linseed and a scoop of chaff, I went between alfa a and readigrass. He would get between 2 and 4 meals a day of the above. If four the only two had the equerry mash as I had to keep the starch levels down.

Another one I found to get weight on was to soak a scoop of beet pulp and a scoop of barley together then once soaked add 2 mugs of oil and mix and leave in a trug in the stable overnight. I could only do this with my mare as she could have cereal. This was a fairly cheap way of getting weight on as a massive bag of barely was about £6 from the local farmer and the beet was about £10.

I never use Speedi/Kwik beet, prefer the full fat version lol ? Hoping this gives you an idea.

 

[PurBee]

My gelding 3/4 arab x welsh D at 4yrs of age was prone to being lightweight and not packing on the weight, especially in winter!
Same when 5yrs old. It was very frustrating!
He grew out of being scrawny looking between 6-7yrs old. Reached final height at that age of 15.3hh and weighs consistently 450kg.

When skinny i tried bagged feeds but they have such a mix of various grains/soya/alfalfa/mollasses that he became skittish on them. Theyre super high fast absorbed starch.
So i dumped that idea, and introduced unmollassed beet 500g, soaked, mixed in with 1kg nutritional balancer pellets, and ground up linseed. That seemed to really help. He was getting 10kg of great quality mixed grass hay or 10% sugar haylage at that time - i upped it from 8kg. So all in he was getting around 2.75% of bodyweight in feed per day.

He always looked best on grass in the summer in those skinny growing years, so maybe try just grass pellets soaked if your boy looks best in summer grazing grass too.

If his poops are inconsistent in texture, maybe try protexin probiotic. I resorted to using it due to another issue, and it seemed to help my gelding and his weight at the same time. Giving good bacteria for the gut enables the gut to absorb more nutrition from food.
Sounds like youre ploughing high energy food into him, so a surprise he’s not bulking up, so worth considering probiotic.

Good luck with him!

 

[CrimsonDivine]

My Arabs vary, my 6yr old 16.1h is 495kg, 15.2h 14yr old 445, 15.2 11yr old 425kg, 14h 8yr old 435kg he is like a tank the others are finer my retired ones I haven't weighed, I tend to go by eye, I don't think I have ever gone by the feed merchants recommended amount, over winter I tend to feed lots of fibre so a chaff and speedibeet with micronised linseed with a balancer, I know they are getting the right vitamins with the balancer. They also have ad lib haylage, I feed this through their walk work then change/add to it once they start trotting and cantering.

Interesting. However do keep in mind that mine is crossed with a Thoroughbred, not pure bred Arab. Not trying to play devil's advocate and justify anything here cus yes I am a little concerned about his weight, though sometimes I think maybe I shouldn't be, but I do feel this does play a role in this as Thorougbhbred have been known to be lighter than Arabs, even when both stand at 15 hands. Anyway, thanks for letting me know, at least that gives me something to go on.

As for the going by eye when it comes to measuring feed; I have OSD issues and utterly refuse to do that myself. I know someone who does and don't think she feeds her horses correctly, infact I think she overfeeds them if I had to be honest. However her Arab x Appaloosa is looking good so... ehh? But then she insists on giving a New Forest Section D beet when she doesn't need it, infacts she hates the stuff and leaves any that isn't mixed in with her safe and sound or hi-fibre mix lol. Either way I simply refuse to do it this way, each to their own I guess. Again do appreciate the insight even if I may not completely agree here lol

I had a poor doer for years, unfortunately he was also cereal intolerant so I had to keep starch levels below 12%, it was a pain. I went through nearly all low cereal/cereal free types of feed over the years.

A staple for me is that I mix a bag each of trident Beetpulp pellets, Dengie alfalfa nuts and Dengie grass nuts into a big feed bin. I soak a big round scoop of this in a big bucket. My youngster gets this currently along with his balancer over winter.

I soaked this into a mush and my boy got a big scoop of this, a cup of equerry condition mash, a measure of linseed and a scoop of chaff, I went between alfa a and readigrass. He would get between 2 and 4 meals a day of the above. If four the only two had the equerry mash as I had to keep the starch levels down.

Another one I found to get weight on was to soak a scoop of beet pulp and a scoop of barley together then once soaked add 2 mugs of oil and mix and leave in a trug in the stable overnight. I could only do this with my mare as she could have cereal. This was a fairly cheap way of getting weight on as a massive bag of barely was about £6 from the local farmer and the beet was about £10.

I never use Speedi/Kwik beet, prefer the full fat version lol ? Hoping this gives you an idea.

Ok so that's two for the mash, thanks for letting me know. Also thanks for mentioning that you also use similar things, it is interesting and enlightening to know these things. Have to say you certainly got a bargain from that farmer. My bags tend to cost over £15 for each, so that's around £30 for beet and alfalfa which is normally 1.5 bags for the alfalfa and about 3 quarters when it comes to the Speedibeet per month at the very least. So I guess about £33.75 or something like that per month. Needless to say A&P costs around £12.50 or so as well. At the moment that lasts almost a month, about 24 days.. so I guess that's £15 per month if you count 30 days as a month. And that's without including hay cost. Needless to say it's alot per month lol x.x To be honest this is why I'm reluctant to increase feed ration and can't honestly see why it's not enough as it is :-/

My gelding 3/4 arab x welsh D at 4yrs of age was prone to being lightweight and not packing on the weight, especially in winter!
Same when 5yrs old. It was very frustrating!
He grew out of being scrawny looking between 6-7yrs old. Reached final height at that age of 15.3hh and weighs consistently 450kg.

When skinny i tried bagged feeds but they have such a mix of various grains/soya/alfalfa/mollasses that he became skittish on them. Theyre super high fast absorbed starch.
So i dumped that idea, and introduced unmollassed beet 500g, soaked, mixed in with 1kg nutritional balancer pellets, and ground up linseed. That seemed to really help. He was getting 10kg of great quality mixed grass hay or 10% sugar haylage at that time - i upped it from 8kg. So all in he was getting around 2.75% of bodyweight in feed per day.

He always looked best on grass in the summer in those skinny growing years, so maybe try just grass pellets soaked if your boy looks best in summer grazing grass too.

If his poops are inconsistent in texture, maybe try protexin probiotic. I resorted to using it due to another issue, and it seemed to help my gelding and his weight at the same time. Giving good bacteria for the gut enables the gut to absorb more nutrition from food.
Sounds like youre ploughing high energy food into him, so a surprise he’s not bulking up, so worth considering probiotic.

Good luck with him!

Hmm, that's actually quite surprising. I would have thought being part welsh would have helped with the weight. I am curious to what brand your nutrition balancer is? I see you are also onboard with beet and linseed. Thanks for letting me know, this is very helpful and insightful.

He's a very picky eater and for some reason doesn't seem to like soaked grass pellets oddly enough. I tried that with him a couple of years ago, the dish ended up flying across the stall as he kicked it and snorted. Fortuantely he does enjoy his A&P, alfalfa and beet. Have to say it was a sigh of relief when he ate those. And yeah, my horse actually looks pretty good during Summer and Autumn but comes out of Witner into Spring looking kinda scrawny which turns a few heads and gets people talking in a not so good way :-/ Which is funny cus after Summer people can't help tell me how "beautiful" he looks lol.. Go figure. Sometimes all horses need is some good grass, as Mother Nature intended. However that's easier said than done when bad weather ruins the pasture eh?

To be honest , don't think he's having any manure problems. Whenever he's out he seems to have a poop in the same spot, at a bend on the bridle way lol.. so I can clock him on that and inspect when we walk by it on our way home, which is what I normally do. Sometimes he'll have a poop in the stall when left to have some hay in peace, again I inspect this to make sure it's what's to be considered normal. Back when I first had him I had noticed he had diarrhea for a while when introducing him to new feeds but that has died down now and hasn't had that problem in months. However this is a helpful incline as I hadn't thought much of it other than simply making sure he wasn't having bad poops lol.

Again thanks for al this feedback people, I really do appreciate it. Interesting how most are Arab owners and not Thoroughbred owners though lol. Again I have to wonder how much this plays a part in his overall exptected weight.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Horses are supposed to lose weight over winter. You say your horse looks well by the end of summer, are you not worried if he goes into spring looking well already that they’ll be overweight during summer?

Also youngsters do tend to look a bit poorer than their older counterparts whilst they go through growth spurts and development. As long as your horse isn’t too ribby and vet isn’t concerned then I wouldn’t give two hoots what other people thought re your horses weight in winter.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Horses are supposed to lose weight over winter. You say your horse looks well by the end of summer, are you not worried if he goes into spring looking well already that they’ll be overweight during summer?

Also youngsters do tend to look a bit poorer than their older counterparts whilst they go through growth spurts and development. As long as your horse isn’t too ribby and vet isn’t concerned then I wouldn’t give two hoots what other people thought re your horses weight in winter.

Although I do appreciate your view, and agree to a degree, I still wish to know what other people feed theirs and what they may think about my own feed platter since I am unsure whether I'm giving him enough or what he needs especially since he's not maintaining a recommended weight by most standards? But yes, in general, most of the time he looks fit and healthy. Winter is most certainly the real killer and I got some really nasty comments from the locals where I keep him last year during late Winter/early Spring. Pretty sure I may have even mentioned it on here before but gave up since some people weren't very helpful. So this time around I thought I'd just simply ask those who own similar horses "So what do you feed yours?" for some insight and enlightenment and perhaps even learn things I never knew about or thought of before. Especialyl since I got an odd response from a nutritionist after asking about their Alfa-Beet product. It's not that I expect them to tell me what I want to hear but when you've heard it from plenty of sources and one person contridicts what you've heard many times before then it becomes questionable.

 

[DabDab]

I have a poor-doer tbx, also quite slight in frame. To keep the weight on her I mainly feed shed-loads of hay/haylage.

Feed-wise she gets agrobs mash and linseed + vit/mins. I've topped up calories with omega rice pellets in previous winters when her condition has dropped off.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Trident sugarbeet pellets are cheaper and have more energy release due to being molassed. I find them better value for money.

 

[ycbm]

CD I'm confused. I wouldn't call any horse where you "can't see his ribs but can vaguely feel them" a poor door.

I can't see my Spanish mare's ribs but I can vaguely feel them and I am intending to get more weight off her before spring.

Also, his actual weight, and especially if taken from a tape not a weighbridge, is irrelevant. It's the fat on the body that matters, the rest will vary with muscle mass and bone.

Are you comparing your horse with other horses which are too fat?

 

[twiggy2]

I would guess that the nutritionists etc are trying to get you to see that your horse does not need anymore weight.
A young horse of condition body 4 or 5 is perfect, how much he should weigh is irrelevant and you need to (as you have ) look and feel the horse in front of you and go from there.
Does he get turn out? Is he relaxed? Dies he eat up all his hay? Is the hay good quality? There is so much more to weight in horses than food especially bucket food.
For what its worth I dont feed horses any bucket feed unless they are losing weight or looking poor. If they need weight I feed sugar beet and micronised linseed along with appropriate supplements if needed but I would guess yours is not needing anymore.
Do you have a few photos?

 

[HashRouge]

CD I'm confused. I wouldn't call any horse where you "can't see his ribs but can vaguely feel them" a poor door.

I can't see my Spanish mare's ribs but I can vaguely feel them and I am intending to get more weight off her before spring.

Also, his actual weight, and especially if taken from a tape not a weighbridge, is irrelevant. It's the fat on the body that matters, the rest will vary with muscle mass and bone.

Are you comparing your horse with other horses which are too fat?

I agree with this. You seem very concerned about his weight, but I'm not clear on whether the horse actually looks poor or not? Could we see a photo OP?

My sister had a lot los trouble keeping weight on her TB and it turned out he had ulcers, but he was getting quite ribby and looked obviously poor when you looked at him. He put the weight on very slowly after his treatment so I will ask her what she fed/ feeds him as he looks really good now, so whatever it was obviously worked. But it would be interesting to find out whether your horse actually looks underweight, or whether he just doesn't weigh what you think he should. For what it's worth, I own an elderly Arab mare who's weight dropped off visibly about 18 months ago. No idea what she weighed or should have weighed, but I could clearly see that she looked poor. We upped her feed and she put the weight back on, and now she looks amazing at 28 and mostly living out. Still got no idea what she weighs though!

 

[Goldenstar]

He does not sound like his weight is really an issue .I kept all my home breds lean .
However for condition I would always give young horses micronised linseed I would give him three hundred grams a day .
I don’t feed any pre mixed foods here that’s not my thing however I never hesitate to give young horses some oats .
Its my experience that horses do very very well on oats .
I don’t get mixing mixes together it seems an expensive hit and miss way to feed horses .

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

One of my Arabs is really fussy he doesn't like really wet sloppy feeds and has recently turned his nose up at pink mash and sugar beet, I have recently started them on pure feeds easy, it's a grass and straw chaff with grass pellets with a balancer added so it's a complete feed, I just dampen it and so far his eating it all up so just hoping he doesn't go off it!

 

[CrimsonDivine]

I am concerned because, as I've already said; he's not at the recommended weight according to the tape, which of course most people will use as most of us don't have a scale for a horse on hand. His body drops to a point that looks bad by the time he comes out of Winter which brought me to the conclusion that if he maintained an ideal weight he wouldn't be that way. No I am not comparing him to overweight horses, unless you all think 400kg is overweight?? From what I know that's the average healthy weight for his breed. So of course this is why I asked here; to find out what others with similar horses do to help theirs. To me a poor doer is not an underweight horse, or pony, but one that cannot maintain a suitable weight and requires specific diet to help them.

He is turned out 24/7, medium weight rug, field shelter and open stalls so he can go indoors out of bad weather.

I will provide photos when I get the chance to do so.

 

[DabDab]

Is he in ridden work at the moment? If so what type of work and how much weight is he carrying approximately?

 

[ycbm]

CD there is NO recommended weight for any breed of horse and wherever you are getting your information from, that is wrong.

Arabs can range from pony size and slight to medium horse size and wide. There is no way that there is a "correct weight" for all of them.

Your horse's weight on a weight tape, or even on a weighbridge is absolutely irrelevant.

The only thing that matters is his condition score and the fat you can feel over his ribs, and from your description of that ("just about feel his ribs") there's nothing wrong with your horse at all.

 

[milliepops]

CD there is NO recommended weight for any breed of horse and wherever you are getting you're information from that there is is wrong.

Arabs can range from pony size and slight to medium horse size and wide. There is no way that there is a "correct weight" for all of them.

Your horse's weight on a weight tape, or even on a weighbridge is absolutely irrelevant.

The only thing that matters is his condition score and the fat you can feel over his ribs, and from your description of that ("just about feel his ribs") there's nothing wrong with your horse at all.

You'll be on UI next, for making such a sensible remark ?

 

[PurBee]

Interesting. However do keep in mind that mine is crossed with a Thoroughbred, not pure bred Arab. Not trying to play devil's advocate and justify anything here cus yes I am a little concerned about his weight, though sometimes I think maybe I shouldn't be, but I do feel this does play a role in this as Thorougbhbred have been known to be lighter than Arabs, even when both stand at 15 hands. Anyway, thanks for letting me know, at least that gives me something to go on.

As for the going by eye when it comes to measuring feed; I have OSD issues and utterly refuse to do that myself. I know someone who does and don't think she feeds her horses correctly, infact I think she overfeeds them if I had to be honest. However her Arab x Appaloosa is looking good so... ehh? But then she insists on giving a New Forest Section D beet when she doesn't need it, infacts she hates the stuff and leaves any that isn't mixed in with her safe and sound or hi-fibre mix lol. Either way I simply refuse to do it this way, each to their own I guess. Again do appreciate the insight even if I may not completely agree here lol



Ok so that's two for the mash, thanks for letting me know. Also thanks for mentioning that you also use similar things, it is interesting and enlightening to know these things. Have to say you certainly got a bargain from that farmer. My bags tend to cost over £15 for each, so that's around £30 for beet and alfalfa which is normally 1.5 bags for the alfalfa and about 3 quarters when it comes to the Speedibeet per month at the very least. So I guess about £33.75 or something like that per month. Needless to say A&P costs around £12.50 or so as well. At the moment that lasts almost a month, about 24 days.. so I guess that's £15 per month if you count 30 days as a month. And that's without including hay cost. Needless to say it's alot per month lol x.x To be honest this is why I'm reluctant to increase feed ration and can't honestly see why it's not enough as it is :-/



Hmm, that's actually quite surprising. I would have thought being part welsh would have helped with the weight. I am curious to what brand your nutrition balancer is? I see you are also onboard with beet and linseed. Thanks for letting me know, this is very helpful and insightful.

He's a very picky eater and for some reason doesn't seem to like soaked grass pellets oddly enough. I tried that with him a couple of years ago, the dish ended up flying across the stall as he kicked it and snorted. Fortuantely he does enjoy his A&P, alfalfa and beet. Have to say it was a sigh of relief when he ate those. And yeah, my horse actually looks pretty good during Summer and Autumn but comes out of Witner into Spring looking kinda scrawny which turns a few heads and gets people talking in a not so good way :-/ Which is funny cus after Summer people can't help tell me how "beautiful" he looks lol.. Go figure. Sometimes all horses need is some good grass, as Mother Nature intended. However that's easier said than done when bad weather ruins the pasture eh?

To be honest , don't think he's having any manure problems. Whenever he's out he seems to have a poop in the same spot, at a bend on the bridle way lol.. so I can clock him on that and inspect when we walk by it on our way home, which is what I normally do. Sometimes he'll have a poop in the stall when left to have some hay in peace, again I inspect this to make sure it's what's to be considered normal. Back when I first had him I had noticed he had diarrhea for a while when introducing him to new feeds but that has died down now and hasn't had that problem in months. However this is a helpful incline as I hadn't thought much of it other than simply making sure he wasn't having bad poops lol.

Again thanks for al this feedback people, I really do appreciate it. Interesting how most are Arab owners and not Thoroughbred owners though lol. Again I have to wonder how much this plays a part in his overall exptected weight.

For 25 quid the protexin probiotic tub course of 25 days is a worthwhile cheap investment to repopulate healthy microbes, then you can know for sure youve got that base covered.

I turn to that with any poop/diet/weight issues because reviews of it were so positive all over the internet, im glad i gave it a try.

Its a surprise he didnt like grass pellets. Were they pure grass or hay pellets? They should be deep green if made from fresh grass. There’s a fair few suppliers in the uk now of hay and grass pellets. Emerald green feeds use fresh pure grass for their pellets - i had a discussion with the owner via email about the exact make up of pellets due to marketing obscurity with most pellets makers, as alot of them use hay and call them ‘grass pellets’.

Aside from diet, i dont know if already mentioned, how are his teeth? My gelding around age 4-5 started eating weird when starting on his hay net. He was eating well but winter weight loss slightly, and the dentist found some sharp areas, nothing drastic she said, rasped him, but then spring was here before i knew it and he was grazing and putting on weight. So he was eating weird to shove hay between teeth and gums, as padding. But sore gums or tooth infection etc can make them eat less, or not chew as much and therefore lose weight. Im sure youve already gone down this route, but mentioning just in case.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

CD there is NO recommended weight for any breed of horse and wherever you are getting your information from, that is wrong.

Arabs can range from pony size and slight to medium horse size and wide. There is no way that there is a "correct weight" for all of them.

Your horse's weight on a weight tape, or even on a weighbridge is absolutely irrelevant.

The only thing that matters is his condition score and the fat you can feel over his ribs, and from your description of that ("just about feel his ribs") there's nothing wrong with your horse at all.

If you say so. However, what I mean by recommended weight is that the vet recommended it to me. So in answer to your question; that is where I got it from Also singly Google it and you get similar statements.

For 25 quid the protexin probiotic tub course of 25 days is a worthwhile cheap investment to repopulate healthy microbes, then you can know for sure youve got that base covered.

I turn to that with any poop/diet/weight issues because reviews of it were so positive all over the internet, im glad i gave it a try.

Its a surprise he didnt like grass pellets. Were they pure grass or hay pellets? They should be deep green if made from fresh grass. There’s a fair few suppliers in the uk now of hay and grass pellets. Emerald green feeds use fresh pure grass for their pellets - i had a discussion with the owner via email about the exact make up of pellets due to marketing obscurity with most pellets makers, as alot of them use hay and call them ‘grass pellets’.

Aside from diet, i dont know if already mentioned, how are his teeth? My gelding around age 4-5 started eating weird when starting on his hay net. He was eating well but winter weight loss slightly, and the dentist found some sharp areas, nothing drastic she said, rasped him, but then spring was here before i knew it and he was grazing and putting on weight. So he was eating weird to shove hay between teeth and gums, as padding. But sore gums or tooth infection etc can make them eat less, or not chew as much and therefore lose weight. Im sure youve already gone down this route, but mentioning just in case.

Isn't the probiotic for if he needed it though? I appreciate your suggestion but not sure whether this is necessary for him.

It was Emerald Green that he did not like.

His teeth are fine and he's eating without trouble. Eats all his hay no problem.

 

[ycbm]

If you say so. However, what I mean by recommended weight is that the vet recommended it to me. So in answer to your question; that is where I got it from Also singly Google it and you get similar statements.

Does your vet think your horse is too thin?
.

 

[Bellaboo18]

If you say so. However, what I mean by recommended weight is that the vet recommended it to me. So in answer to your question; that is where I got it from Also singly Google it and you get similar statements

In my experience vets can be quite 'textbook'. I commented on my dogs weight at an appointment once, she got a little table out and said well she's a staffie, she should weigh between x and y... hmmm well she's crossed with a staffie, if she weighed that she'd be pretty obese!!!
Look at what's in front of you, not what's around you and not a figure on Google.