What to feed a tb

[Podgelover]

Hi there. Could anyone give me any recommendations on what to feed my 21 year old tb. I was told pasture cubes with alfalfa but it's made him much too lively. He needs a hard feed as he is on bute daily and struggles to keep weight on

Many thanks

 

[ThoroughbredStar]

Hi there. Could anyone give me any recommendations on what to feed my 21 year old tb. I was told pasture cubes with alfalfa but it's made him much too lively. He needs a hard feed as he is on bute daily and struggles to keep weight on

Many thanks

Hi Podgelover, I have a TB that isn't particularly a good doer and suffers from a sensitive gut. However, now flourishes on the following diet:

Alfa A - really good for neutralising the stomach and high in protein. I feed a cheaper brand but you can get molasses free.
Alfalfa Pellets - again high in protein, free from sugar and fizz and high in digestible fibre.
Speedy Beat - molasses free, high in easily digestible fibre and great for weight gain (soaks in 10 minutes so great for disorganised soakers!)
Cooked Micronised Linseed - excellent source of omega 3, excellent for adding the calories and is an anti-inflammatory, unlike other oils such as soya or vegetable.

And ablib second season haylage.

Take a look at Simple System horse feeds, they are pretty awesome

 

[ljohnsonsj]

Best pic i could find on my fb whilst at work off my tbs shape!

She is now fed on 1 x scoop calm and condition and 1 x scoop Dengie Alfa-A Oil Chaff- however i believe the original one is molasses free which could help with him being to lively, morning and night and she was having speedy beet however she is now on Ad lib haylage so found she didn't need it.

When i first got her and she wa awfully thin i found feeding coolstance worked really well- But i find the diet she is on now works really well for her.

 

[milos]

Alfa a and Alfa oil use to make my tb goe nuts. I fed one mug micronised linseed. Brewers yeast. Spillers conditioning fibre either speedy beat or fast fibre with a small scoop of conditioning cubes. You can also add a small amount of magnesium re hyper. Basically your looking to do high fibre low sugar

 

[wench]

the options are almost limitless. Depends on your budget, and what feed your horse will tolerate... for "cheapy" feeding, Pegasus nuts and sugarbeet (the molassed 24 hour soak stuff is normally cheapest).

Or more expensive stuff... Baileys No 4 conditioning cubes; topspec senior balancer and cool condition cubes, or maybe Pure Feeds conditioning.

 

[Primitive Pony]

I'd also suggest Simple Systems. I feed their grass nuts along with a handful of chaff and ground linseed. Horse looks brilliant on it and is keeping his weight very nicely.

 

[Girlracer]

I am only going by my personal experience of feeding a not great doer TB that gets incredibly hot off a lot of feeds. I've had him 5 years and generally although not underweight he drops condition over the winter. I've tried so many different things (I would seriously advise against Baileys No.4 if yours is sensitive to feed, it made mine VERY hot) but finally this year after lot's of recommendations I have put him onto Saracen's feed. I rang their helpline, and they're incredibly helpful. Due to his sensitivity to feed I was advised against the condition pencils they do and was told to use Re-Leve and if I felt he needed more to add Equijewel.

He has been on Re-Leve since October and he is looking amazing! I am feeding slightly less than what they recommended and he is on adlib hay. He gets 2 feeds a day, 1 and a half scoops of Re-Leve spread between the two and he has 2 scoops mollichaff spread between the two and a biotin supplement. It works for me, and I can only recommend what I have experience of. This is him this winter, he's in a decent amount of work, I exercise him most days (and not just pottering - properly!).