What to feed my ex race horse?

[Chloe2000]

Hiya everyone, I’ve recently bought an OTTB, I’m currently trying to work out what the best feed is for her.

She is quite lean at the moment so wanting to build her up, however she is not in a great deal of work as I’ve not had her long and currently doing some ground work, however the feed she is currently on seems to be making her hot headed and hard to handle.
Any recommendations would be great, thank you in advance!

 

[milliepops]

How long has she been out of racing?
I got mine direct from the trainer and found he would only eat nuts for quite a while as that's probably what he had with them.

I started him on Spillers Digest+ conditioning cubes which at the time were the only thing he ate with any enthusiasm. Didn't seem to have any impact on his temperament. Gradually i weaned him onto Baileys Ease & Excel which he did really well on. They have since brought out a cube so if I had my time again i'd have tried that from the start. it had a positive effect on his appetite for forage, I always offered ad lib haylage but he didn't eat a great deal until i started on the E&E. It has lots of gut-friendly additives and it seemed to kick start him a bit.
Mine was quite a slow and deliberate eater so i never bulked his feeds up with chaff etc, though after a while he did come to enjoy a bucket of sugar beet separately

 

[Chloe2000]

Hiya! She was last raced at the end of last year, I got her from a lady who’s done some great work with her!
I’m currently feeding alfa a oil, Saracen conditioning cubes, and a little pasture mix. She’s fed this once a day as she is currently out 24 7 with access to hay and plenty of grass. I’m unsure if this mix of food is what is making her so excitable and energetic especially while she is doing very little ridden work.

 

[TPO]

Hiya! She was last raced at the end of last year, I got her from a lady who’s done some great work with her!
I’m currently feeding alfa a oil, Saracen conditioning cubes, and a little pasture mix. She’s fed this once a day as she is currently out 24 7 with access to hay and plenty of grass. I’m unsure if this mix of food is what is making her so excitable and energetic especially while she is doing very little ridden work.

Bin the pasture mix for starters.

Look at getting a good balancer/ vit & min supplement. Forage Plus and Progressive Earth are good start points.

Some horses get excited or irritated on alfa but if the previous owner fed it and you've seen no negative signs it might be fine.

Personally I like Keyflow Pink Mash and/or grass nuts as a carrier.

Like Milliepops I had a lot of success feeding Bailey's Ease and Excel no.21 the mix.

 

[Chloe2000]

Bin the pasture mix for starters.

Look at getting a good balancer/ vit & min supplement. Forage Plus and Progressive Earth are good start points.

Some horses get excited or irritated on alfa but if the previous owner fed it and you've seen no negative signs it might be fine.

Personally I like Keyflow Pink Mash and/or grass nuts as a carrier.

Like Milliepops I had a lot of success feeding Bailey's Ease and Excel no.21 the mix.

Great thank you! She was previously fed Alfa and she was super quiet, but she seems really on edge at the moment. I completely understand she is just getting used to her new surroundings so maybe this is why she seems to have changed. I’m sure this is a huge factor.Thank you for your help!

 

[AmyMay]

Is she adequately rugged?

 

[Chloe2000]

Is she adequately rugged?

Since we’ve had a little bit of sun she’s out in the day without, then in a mediumweight with neck during the night.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Agree on ditching the pasture mix. All mixes seem to be heavily molassed these days so full of sugar.

 

[MagicMelon]

Id feed Calm & Condition which Ive been impressed with this winter with mine, and Id add an all round vit & min supplement. Id try to keep it simple, nothing complicated.

 

[nagsrule]

Have you checked teeth and wormed? Ulcers?
It could be the alfalfa or the conditioning cubes as full of soy (mine reacts to soy) (check ingredients). Definitely ditch the mix!
I feed.. Equilibra balancer, handful of molichaff, (don't be afraid of a little sugar, people have become silly over molassed chaffs), speedibeet (winter only) and a global herbs calmer. Plenty of grass if you can. Try and avoid all the crap like wheatfeed, oatfeed, soy, barley, maize etc. some feeds you can't avoid it. Depending what your end goal is, your horse won't need a lot of hard feed, keep it simple, forage first (including chaffs, grass, alfala etc) then add simple things like speedibeet, linseed meal, copra meal.
Time off is crucial, let her be a field ornament for a few weeks. Cut it all out and start again.

GOOD LUCK!