Wintering out a poor doer Thoroughbred

Saxon_Jasmine

Saxon_Jasmine

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Hi,

I have decided to winter out my TB mare (until it starts snowing) and I was wondering what the best way of doing this is, in terms of rugs, feeding, keeping weight on, etc.

She is 15.1hh, 9 years old and in lean condition. I currently feed her (split into 2 feeds) 5 scoops of Alfa A Oil, 3/4 scoop (dry) of Alfa Beet and NAF GP suppliment.

She gets some hay and haylage when she's in her stable waiting for me to take up, etc. From October she will also have ad lib haylage in the field with her (and 3 other horses). The grass in her field is very good.

She is a poor doer so I really don't want her to lose weight. What rugs are best for the day and night? Do you think she'll lose weight? Is there anything else I need to do/know?

Thank you.
 
Well, it can be done. Your regime sounds fine, but I'd up to speedibeet.

Having seen my girl lose weight in only 9 days with a mw, rather than a hw rug and a lack of ad lib hay, I wouldn't personally try it again, though.
 
Rotchana -- what does speedibeet have in it that alfa beet doesn't?

McNaughty -- I've recently spoken to the majority of the feed companies and I decided to go with Dengie as their feeds are perfect for what my horse needs.

Thank you :)
 
Afla Beet is also very good, my TB x was on it last winter and he looked fab come February and usually he looks very poor that time of year. I would highly recommend it.
 
Saxon_Jasmine said:
Rotchana -- what does speedibeet have in it that alfa beet doesn't?
Click to expand...

Have replied to your other post, but Speedibeet is pure unmollassed beet whereas Alfa Beet is a mixture of alfalfa and beet. Beet is higher in calories than alfalfa, but alfalfa is higher in protein than beet. However, you are already feeding one alfalfa product (which will supply plenty of protein), so you are better to maximise the calories by feeding Speedibeet (which has 12.4 MJDE/kg) alongside the AlfaA Oil than AlfaBeet (which has 10.5 MJDE/kg).

Was it Dengie that suggested feeding the combination of Alfa A Oil and AlfaBeet? I have heard they do this a lot, and presume this is because they don't do a pure beet product, so they suggest you buy their AlfaBeet instead of an unmolassed beet product which may be more suitable if you are trying to maximise calories in the diet.
 
TGM -- Thank you, I've read both your posts. I was origionaly going to use Speedi Beet or British horse feeds' new feed Fibre Beet but my local feed store had run out which is why I got the Alfa Beet. I'm going to switch to SpeediBeet or FibreBeet when it runs out. Which is best?

Thanks
 
This is what I feed, she's rugged to death and comes in when its really wet, cold and windy at night.

Mollichop calmer with speedibeet, linseed oil and a bit of readigrass twice per day, plus 1 or 2 apples/carrots
Three quarters of a bale of hay per day.
The grass in her field is quite limited, when it really gets cold she'll get a 3rd feed in middle of day
 
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