what to feed????

[fizz-tally]

ok roo is a 16.1hh tb,aged 13 years.
he hasnt done much work in the last 4 years so when he arrives he will be hacking out for the rest of this year & starting to do a bit more next year.
he will be stabled at night with ad lib hay,out on grass during the day, when fit he will be hacking 6 days a week for 1-3 hours at a time.
he is a ex racer, only been out of racing 5 years .
what do you think would be good to feed him to help keep weight on & have enough energy for our hacks which will be around the pentland hills

 

[Irishcobs]

I'm guessing you want condition but not too much energy? So I would try some sugarbeet as its slow release energy but helps to keep weight on, soaked oats are good for condition without the heat. Also Allen and Page do calm and condition with is good for horses that hot up but need condtioning.

 

[fizz-tally]

when you say oats,would tiger oats be ok??
he will get speedi beet as we feed that already,he is on pony cubes & chaff untill i get him august 17th

 

[Irishcobs]

I don't no, I've never feed oats, soaked or not. Druid, Tiaribbon, SimplyNutty and others have feed soaked oats so I would ask them.

 

[so03]

I'd suggest you continue feeding ad lib hay.

Personally i'd feed a high fibre diet, definately not oats.

Remember to change his diet gradually so when he first arrives you want to continue to feed what he is on at the moment.

I'd feed each feed morning and evening which would consist of 2½lbs Alfa A and 1½lb of Alfa Easy (this can be changed to Alfa Extra if the horse loses weight or needs more energy). Half a mug of vegetable oil. Plus general supplement.

I'd feed sugarbeet if he still doesn't maintain his weight. I feed my tb above and she does very well on it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Theresa_F]

Delia was 16 when I got her and an ex broodmare and Breeze was 23 and a rescue case. I fed my TB mares as much hay as they would eat, plus high fibre cubes, denghi chaff and 16 + veteren mix. I also feed sugar beet in winter (no speedibeet available then).

Delia was prone to weight loss and I found giving her equimins pro-bio made a huge difference - to the extent that it saved money as I was able to halve her hard feed but keep more weight on. They also had benevit and garlic and in later days cortaflex.

I now have cobs and feed the same but no mix and they do extremely well on it. My WB mare competed on a pure fibre diet of hi-fi lite and Baileys economy cubes and no sugar beet and she had plenty of energy.

For just hacking I would try a pure fibre diet similar to what I have listed above, using speedibeet rather than sugar beet and pro-bio.

My girls were ridden most days for at least an hour, lightly competed and hunted, with Breeze still hunting and competing at 29 until she was fatally kicked. Both had energy to spare. In summer they had only a handful of mix and chaff for their supplements as they were on good grazing and living out.

 

[holly_and_ria]

We feed our ponies and horse mollichop sugarbeet coarse mix and carrots...this keeps them plenty lively for the hacks that we take them on, these are also up to 3 hrs! xx