what's the best non-heating feed for weight-gain?

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htobago

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For a 3yo stallion, somewhat fizzy/high-strung. Need to get lots of weight on him before the stud season cos he drops weight during the season.

At the moment he's on Bailey's Outshine (they said it was the highest-calorie non-heating feed) plus a non-heating mix plus sugar-beet and ad-lib hay, and he is gradually putting on some weight, but the season is getting nearer and I really want to build him up so he has some 'reserves' to draw on.

(We tried Bailey's Topline - also supposed to be non-heating - but he goes loopy on that.
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He's in beautiful condition - dazzlingly shiny, coat like silk, bright-eyed and bouncy - but just needs more weight on going into another busy season...

What about that pink powder stuff? Is that any good?
 
I use pink powders on my TB mare, they have been excellent on her.
We use to use Blue Chip Dynamic on the Stallions.
I know he is only 3 but have you tried 16+ mix, it worked for Romeo, I feed it to all the stallions except Helios who is fussy and gets competition mix despite being almost 24 and retired (but his old rider did say he had never looked so well, when she was over a couple of weeks ago
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and was impressed with the amount of weight I can get him to hold)
 
Top Spec feed balancer, and lots of boiled linseed. (prefer to boil it myself and the cooked stuff costs a bomb)

Sarcens EquiJewel I've heard is super..

I think adlib good quality hay or haylage on its own works wonders
 
Have you thought about Bailey's No.1? With what you are feeding it could be ideal. Their Stud Cubes are also very good for weight gain too. You could always add some Barley Rings soaked, they should help a lot and my youngsters don't go loopy on any of those feeds! As someone else said, Blue Chip usually works a treat and doesn't Tullis like the stallions to be on Dynamic before they go there - or is that just publicity hype?!
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Triple Crown Full Energy Plus - Don't panic at the name of it, looks like breadcrumbs, you can get a big (feed bag size) for about £25. It puts weight on and it doesn't fry their brains. You only need a cupful in each feed, no soaking or boiling of anything. We use it on our stallion coming through the end of the winter to keep the weight on before he starts his duties.
 
I've found Outshine works really well - how much are you feeding him?

You could try Top Spec Feed Balancer or Top Spec Calm & Conditioning Cubes - neither of those are heating
 
Gosh - thanks everyone! Lots of food for thought there LOL!

Cazza - 'Full Energy Plus' could be Tobago's middle name!! He's got so much excess energy we could plug him in and run the national power grid off him! I will have to reassure the stud manager that this stuff does NOT do what it says on the tin LOL!

I'll check with Tullis about Dynamic - he hasn't mentioned it, but it sounds good. (Again, I'll have to reassure them about the name! )

Good point about hay/haylage - he really is getting plenty of this. The manager even feeds him three different types of top-quality hay and haylage, as she found he is more inclined to eat it if they alternate between different types - he gets bored if he has the same type all the time, and starts chucking it about instead of eating it.

Off to research all the feeds you've recommended - thanks again!
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and doesn't Tullis like the stallions to be on Dynamic before they go there - or is that just publicity hype?!
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He does and I took mine off of it and when they went back the following year he asked if they were getting their dynamic, I said yes
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coz I didn't want to get a telling off
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and apparently their semen was better than ever
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don't worry htobago it's actually a repackaged version of the old baileys No.7 (I think - can't remember which number it was in baileys they used to do it back in the 80's but stopped it) then triple crown took it on. It is a slow energy release as opposed to a heating feed. My friend recommended it to one of her endurance clients who's on the GB team and her horse has never looked so well and it has not changed the horses attitude at all (it's a pure bred arab). You usually will see a difference in the horse after 2 weeks, other bonus it smells like horlicks! mmmmm
 
LOL - sounds yummy Cazza - maybe I can eat it and put some weight on too, sounds a lot nicer than the horrible yukky nutrition-drinks I have to force down every day!

Kind hubby took me to see Tobago on our way from London to Oxford today. My dear little adrenalin-junkie was having a sponge-bath cos he'd got himself all drenched in sweat hooning around the paddock at 100mph, as usual - burning off all the calories from the Outshine. Grrrrr.

He was happily ignoring his nice full haynet and playing some daft new game with his lead-rope, flinging the end of the rope about and trying to catch it - like a kitten with a ball of string. *sigh*

Thanks again everyone for the good advice - I'll look up all these feeds and see which would be best.
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If you are just literally looking to put some extra weight onto your boy I would try adding some of the Bailey's No1 Cereal meal to his regular feed. It is essentially calories in a bag without any fizz at all and so is easily added into a normal feed regime. Alternatively you could feed something know as 'Midlings' or Wheat feed which is exactly the same composition as Bailey's No 1, except half the price. This is essentially what the No1 is but midlings is a generic straight feed and therefore doesn't have the expensive brand name price tag. I used it earlier this year with great success on a broodmare who's foal had seriously run her down - she bounced back beautifully.
 
And I was going to suggest adding corn oil & sugar beet, the article below was found when a pony we had on loan found it hard to keep weight on because he whittled it away.

Switch to a high-fat feed or add a high-fat supplement. Fat contains 2.25 times more calories than the same amount of carbohydrate or protein. Select a feed or a supplement with more fat for your hard keeper so you can feed less grain to minimize the risk of colic and maintain body condition. Legends horse feeds contain 6% fat, and most Triple Crown horse feeds are formulated with 8% fat. Triple Crown also has three high-fat supplements available: Rice Bran (20% fat), Conditioning Chaff (10% fat), and Rice Bran Oil Plus (100% fat).
 
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