What to feed?

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Sci

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My new horse is a bit under weight and needs some topline/filling out.
Whats the best things to feed and how much of it?

When I had ponies 18+ years ago they just had bran and sugarbeet so Ive not got a clue what people feed now.
 
How old is your new horse/what type etc? What are you planning on doing with him/her?

There are lots of clever feeds available but sugarbeet will be a good start in many cases anyway
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What are you feeding at the moment? Is the horse living in or out? Is it getting ad lib good quality hay or haylage? Is it a fizzy, excitable sort?
 
Ive not got her yet, Im picking her up within the next fortnight.
Im not sure what she's getting fed at the minute.
Shes a 16.0hh Warmblood X, Im just going to be hacking and having fun with her really, maybe a bit on local jumping next year.
She will be out most of the day and in at night and will get ad lib hay.
Ive been and ridden her a few times and she isnt fizzy or excitable, she seem really laid back.
 
I have a Warmblood yearling who is on Top Spec Stud and Hi Fi Good Doer and is looking fantastic. Never seen such a shine without hours of grooming. I'm a great believer in Top Spec since it has all the necessary mins and vits in a small amount of feed so you don't overload the stomach. From my experience with my last Warmblood, he was terrible to keep weight on cos he stressed in the stable. I solved it with Magic Calmer (which hopefully you won't need) and Triple Crown feeds using the Equipower Base Feed and Triple Top Up which really puts weight on. Since this is a specialised feed and not sold in many stores, I would look at using Top Spec - the general use one - and they also do a conditioning cube which I used on our yearling in the winter when she needed help. Add grass nuts in the winter - I soak them overnight and you can mix them with sugarbeet. Sugarbeet will give slow release energy which helps with conditioning. You can feed a conditioning mix such as Allen & Page Calm and Condition, but remember that most people don't feed anywhere near the recommended amounts of mix and if you dont you won't get the correct balance of vits and mins. That's why I stick to Top Spec cos you're only feeding tiny amounts - approx 100g per 100kg of bodyweight - and you don't need to add any supplements.
 
You need to find out what she is getting at the moment in that case, because you shouldn't make any sudden changes in diet. Then you can decide whether you need to feed more of the same, or make a gradual change to something different.
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Agree with Milliepops that you really need to find out what she is on at the moment. If she is on a minimal amount of hard feed at the moment, it would be unwise to then put her straight onto full rations of a conditioning feed or mix, for example.
 
That's quite a good conditioning diet, so a little concerning that she is still lacking weight. When you get her I would get teeth checked and ensure she is properly wormed. Then I would make sure that she has top quality hay or preferably haylage available all the time she is in the stable. She should have enough overnight so there is a little left in the morning.

I would also check she is on the recommended amount of No 4 for her size and workload - check the bag or ring the manufacturer - and that this is divided into at least two feeds a day, or preferably three. I would leave her on this diet for a couple of weeks and monitor her condition to see if she is putting some weight on before opting to change it.
 
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