what wud u feed this pony?

[Firehorse]

13.3, 13 yrs old gelding. fine type, poss tb/arab/nf. fairly good doer. weighs 320kg at the mo. lives out 24/7, ab lib haylage from dec to march, plenty grazing throughout spring/summer sometimes it gets a bit bare in the heat of summer.

he is hacked out twice a week for hour and half at most, fast work usually. sometimes will go out more, in summer or school hols. lunged about once a week for half hour, sometimes over jumps for variety. sometimes plods round school with kids on board for half hour.

 

[PennywithHenry]

What's he on at the moment and is it doing its job?

 

[Scheherezade]

If it's ok at the moment not on anything, then maybe just one cup of balancer to ensure all vit/mineral needs are met.

 

[Firehorse]

mollichaff calmer. not sure its really made him any calmer, he gets fizzy at times, dont think anything will change that, its jst the way he is! after looking into feeds, become concerned about sugar leves in the mollichaff and thinking of changing but cant decide.

 

[Zippydoodles]

If you're worried about sugar levels maybe swap to something unmollassed like dengie hi-fi or hi-fi lite so he can still have fibre to bulk out his feed and add a balancer like top spec or blue chip to make sure he is getting all necessary vitamins etc.
If you're unsure its probably best to talk to your local feed merchant about him.

 

[imafluffybunny]

I would say something like safe and sound chaff and baileys low cal balancer.

They are both low in starch and high fibre, great for a good doer.

 

[AngieandBen]

The only chaffs that are umolassed are Alpha Oil and the Simple Systems range,
TBH I wouldn't bother, just give a balancer

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

[ QUOTE ]
mollichaff calmer. not sure its really made him any calmer, he gets fizzy at times, dont think anything will change that, its jst the way he is! after looking into feeds, become concerned about sugar leves in the mollichaff and thinking of changing but cant decide.

[/ QUOTE ]

I always think that 'Mollichaff calmer' is a contradiction in terms. The sugar is likely to negate any calming effect the additives might have. If the horse is holding his weight, or losing it slightly at this time of the year, I wouldn't give him any extra feed. If he does need something extra then I would go for a nonmollassed feed, probably grassnuts or fibre nuts.

 

[monkeybum13]

[ QUOTE ]
I would say something like safe and sound chaff and baileys low cal balancer.

They are both low in starch and high fibre, great for a good doer.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly what my 16.1 tbx is on and she's doing well however I've realised that feeding both together is a waste of money as the safe and sound already has the vitamins so this alone would be fine.

However my pony who was in harder work than yours had the balancer alone (no other hard feed) as this gave him the vitamins and minerals he needed and he looked very healthy

 

[CBFan]

I would if anything just feed something like a token amount of happy hoof... alternatively just give access to a vitamin and mineral tub all year round on top of the add lib hay when necessary. don't feed if you don't have to!! these types are often more than capable of looking after themselves...