# What to feed my new thoroughbred gelding?



## Bekki-90 (18 December 2012)

Hey guys, I`m new to the site but need some help.

Just bought a Thoroughbred gelding 9yrs old 15.2 who is underweight plus needs his fitness and muscle built up. I have someone coming in Jan to look him over to see what dietary needs he has but I am unsure on what's best to feed him in the mean time.
I am in the lucky position that he used to be kept at my current yard and know people at the yard his leaving so have people that know the horse. They have all told me that simply having regular feeds/hay/grazing and exercise will really bring him on as his last owner didn't really exercise or feed him.

So I am unsure what diet to put him on..

But still I want to make sure we get him off to the best start, want to give him the love he deserves =)

Thank you


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## Roasted Chestnuts (18 December 2012)

i would try an unmolassed chaff like topspec alfalfa or spillers conditioning fibre or mollichaff high fibre alfalfa, a balancer (I like the spillers range as cheaper than some but just as good) and if needing extra calories something like linseed (charnwood or equimins) and/or beetpulp, nice and simple 

Lots of hay if needing condition as well 

Oh and pics are a must for new ponies


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## Bekki-90 (18 December 2012)

Thank you =D
I had been looking at them things so glad I am on the right track hehe

How much would you give of each/how many times a day?

He is coming at the weekend so shall post a picture of him then =) cant wait hehe


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## Roasted Chestnuts (18 December 2012)

Get yourself a round scoop as most feeds are based on this for approx weight (going by experience) Feed little and often to build up, balancer comes with a cup, its usually a cup twice a day for the balancer.

Not knowing your horse I couldnt really know but if it were mine and not in a great state I would give a scoop of chaff, the balancer, a cup/mug of linseed meal and maybe half a scoop/to a scoop of beet pulp twice a day and if possible a midday feed of everything else minus the balancer. Making the feed mostly fibre based and not too large and adlib hay at night when in, if in during the day I'd do the same. 

I used to give my TBxWB mare a scoop of conditioning cubes or alfalfa cubes in her treatball when she was in during her tendon recuperation as she stressed weight off and this helped her and gave her something to play with and trickle feed


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## maccachic (18 December 2012)

I think this explains things well (**** are ****** not sure why it puts stars in?)

7 Simple steps for putting weight on your horse
While many of us struggle to keep weight off our horses (and ourselves!) it seems a large number of horse owners have equal trouble when it comes to putting weight on their horses. Putting weight on, and keeping weight on a horse that is a "hard keeper" can sometimes be a frustrating task for the horse's owner. But, it needn't be a difficult thing to do.

The following are 7 simple steps you should take on the journey to putting weight on your horse:

Step 1: Worms
Make sure your horse is wormed with an effective wormer. If you are not sure which wormer to use ask your veterinarian and make sure that you are worming for Bots as well as Tapeworms at the appropriate times of year.

Step 2: Teeth
Have a qualified dentist correct any issues with your horse's teeth. If it is painful or difficult for your horse to chew he/she just physically won't be able to consume the amount of feed needed to gain weight.

Step 3: Health
Ask your veterinarian to carry out a full health check to make sure there is no underlying disease like gastric ulcers (which will be common in off the track or spelling thoroughbreds) that are going to prevent the horse from eating and gaining weight. If you do discover your horse has a problem with ulcers have them treated with appropriate medications. Likewise if any other disease conditions are found work with your veterinarian to resolve them.

Please note that if your horse is emaciated and has come from a starvation situation you should follow the guidelines published by the American Association of Equine Practitioners for caring for starved/emaciated horses. Introducing feeds too quickly into the diets of these horses can result in 'refeeding syndrome' and death. The guidelines can be found here: http://www.aaep.org/pdfs/rescue_retirement_guidelines.pdf.

Step 4: Free choice forage
Weight gain occurs when the amount of calories provided in the horse's diet exceeds the amount of calories the horse 'needs' on a daily basis - the excess calories are stored by the horse and thus contribute to weight gain. Many horses have problems gaining weight simply because they aren't being fed enough to gain weight.

After addressing worms, teeth and health, the most important feeding step when you want a horse to gain weight is to provide as much pasture or grass/meadow hay as the horse can eat. You can do this by either giving your horse 24 hour access to pasture or by feeding just enough hay that a little is left over each day. If you can devise a way to feed the hay at ground level without the horse walking all over it will mean the left over hay isn't wasted. If you can't find grass/meadow hay, oaten hay is a suitable substitute.

Step 5: Lucerne (alfalfa)
Feed lucerne hay. Lucerne (known as alfalfa in North America) is a high energy forage and makes a valuable contribution to raising a horse's calorie intake above their daily requirement to encourage weight gain. Lucerne will also provide your horse with good quality protein which will facilitate muscle development. This is particularly important if your horse suffered muscle wastage at the time that weight loss occurred.

It is difficult to make a recommendation as to exactly how much lucerne should be fed as each horse's requirement will vary depending on the degree of weight gain required, their temperament (as occasionally lucerne hay will cause behavioural changes in some horses) and the quality of grass/meadow hay being fed. Between 0.5 kg and 1 kg of lucerne hay per 100 kg body weight per day is a good place to start.

Step 6: High energy feeds
Add high energy feedstuffs to your horse's diet. If the desired rate of weight gain is not achieved after implementing the steps above, your horse still requires additional calories over and above that provided by the pasture and hay being fed. To increase your horse's calorie intake even further you now have three high energy feed options to consider adding to your horse's diet. These are:

1.High energy fibres&#8212;including soybean hulls, copra meal and sugarbeet pulp. These feedstuffs are similar to pasture and hay, however the fibre they contain is more readily digested by the bacteria in the hindgut meaning they contain a similar amount of calories as cereal grains. These feeds are particularly well suited to horses that become excitable and hyperactive when fed grain based feeds.

2.Cereal grains and grain based feeds&#8212;cereal grains are well known as being high energy feeds and are useful in the diet of horses that need to gain weight. However some grains and grain based feeds are more suitable than others from a weight gain perspective. When selecting grains to feed to encourage weight gain it is critical that the starch within the grain (which is the high energy component) is digested in the small intestine.

Grains that are digested in the small intestine will provide your horse with more calories (and therefore more weight gain). Grains will also ensure your horse avoids problems with hindgut acidosis which can cause laminitis and will also reduce the amount of energy your horse can extract from its pasture and hay. To ensure the starch is digested in the small intestine, select grains or grain based feeds that have been cooked (such as via extrusion process Pryde's use).

Cereal grains should not be used in the diets of horses with Cushing's disease or those susceptible to laminitis.

3.High fat feeds or oils&#8212;high fat feeds and oils are the highest energy feedstuffs you can give a horse. Fats and oils hold two major advantages over high energy fibrous feeds and cereal grains. The first is they are energy dense - for example 1 cup of vegetable oil contains as many calories as 1.2 kg of oaten chaff. This has obvious advantages for finicky or small horses that won't eat large meals. The second advantage of high fat feeds and oils is they don't tend to make a horse as hyperactive as the same quantity of energy supplied in the form of cereal grains. In addition they do not carry the risks of digestive upsets that accompany cereal grains. High fat feeds include rice bran and rice bran based feeds, copra meal, and any of the full fat oilseeds such as soybean and sunflower.

The 'correct' balance of these feeds is going to depend on your individual horse.

Step 7: Balanced diet
Make sure the diet is balanced&#8212;if your horse's diet is unbalanced from a protein, vitamin and mineral perspective it is likely that this will prevent your horse from gaining weight, regardless of how much you are feeding it. Using the ****** nutrition software will make sure your horse's diet is balanced and that there are no deficiencies which may be preventing weight gain.

A warning about "Weight Gain" diets
Unfortunately when we start feeding our horses a well balanced diet with calories in excess of their requirements, they tend to try and find gainful employment for all their new found energy which often results in unruly, undisciplined and at times dangerous behaviour when we ride them.

The question then is, how do you feed your horse for weight gain without having them trying to kill you when you ride them? The answer to this million dollar question is ... you can't, unless your horse is well disciplined to begin with. If you own a horse that you can only just control when it is not being fed for weight gain, then you should not expect that you will be able to feed it gross amounts of feed to encourage weight gain AND still ride it safely, because it is just not going to happen. The golden rule is education first, feeding for weight gain second. The exception to this rule is when you have an emaciated horse that needs to be fed to gain weight before you can begin riding it.

You may still find that a well educated horse becomes a little more difficult to handle when being fed a high energy weight gain diet. In this case, altering the types of feeds you are using may help. The high energy fibrous feeds and high fat feeds and oils tend to have the ability to promote weight gain without having as much effect on their behaviour. But this isn't always the case so you still need to be careful.

When will your horse start gaining weight?
You should not expect that your horse will instantly begin to gain weight once you have placed him on a 'weight gain diet'. Some horses and particularly those who have come from an emaciated state will have internal damage caused by weight loss that they must repair before visible weight gain will occur. Even if this is not the case visible weight gain may take weeks to appear. In short, make sure your horse is healthy, develop and feed a well balanced diet using your preferred ingredients, don't skimp on feeding hay and be patient.

© Copyright 2008-2011 ******, a joint project between Equilize Horse Nutrition Pty Ltd and X'Prime Pty Ltd. Please seek permission before reproducing.


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## jenni999 (18 December 2012)

I would go for a good quality alfalfa and either fast fibre or sugar beet at first with a balancer or vit/min supplement and see how you get on in terms of weight gain and temperament.  If you need a bit more energy, just add a cube.  I feed Spillers and find their feeds great for my fizzy TB/WB.


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## wench (18 December 2012)

Tricky time as we are coming up to xmas, then everything goes on hold. However, is he in at night? If so, if you can give him haylage this will help his weight.

As for feed, I would currently just put him on something like a "working", ie Baileys Nr 2 http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/whatproduct/general/no2.htm, alongsides a bit of sugar beet. This is a medium energy cube, and so should help put some weight on him if he's a good doer type (my old TB was). If it doesnt, then you know that their is either something wrong, or he needs a higher energy feed, such as Baileys Nr 4 http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/whatproduct/condition/no4.htm

Getting a worm count done is an excellent idea (although this will have to wait until after xmas now I would have thought, by the time you get the kit and send it off it will be over the holidays). Getting a dentist visit booked as well is also an excellent idea, but some of these can have a bit of a waiting list, so you need to get cracking!


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## MillionDollar (18 December 2012)

Make sure he has access to ad-lib hay 24/7. Then if you can feed 3 times a day, lots of fibre. I would highly recommend Dengie Alfa-A Molasses Free, Micronized Linseed, Speedibeet and 365 Complete


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## Silver (19 December 2012)

Mine does well on micronised linseed. Speedi beet and fast fibre.


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## Antw23uk (19 December 2012)

My mare is on Dengie hi fi molasses free/ Spillers cool mix and micronised linseed  and lots and lots of hay and daytime grazing


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## banksy2012 (22 December 2012)

hiya,  i havent read all your replies so sorry if someone has already replied with the same info. I have only ever worked with tb's and from my many years battling weigh gain with ex-racers just wanted to give my experiance. The best advice i have ever has is going onto fibre based diet. Because of the stress, training and/or over grained diet of racer they often suffer from stomch ulcers or at least excess acid; this is exacerbated by most cereal/grain/sugar/starch based feeds. I made the very difficult decision to strip my tb off all the high oil, promise based mixes/cubes onto a fibre only diet low in sugar and starch. but it was the best decision i ever made, my anxious, un happy horse quickly turned into a chilled out fat happy boy. He now just gets fed two fibre beet feeds and haylage through winter and doesnt need much through summer. And this was the tb who always looked skinny!!! not any more!!!I can really really reconmend fibre beet, in full winter he gets about a 3/4 a bucket morning and night with a vit n min supplement totalling cost about £6 per week (much cheaper than mixes/cubes) and about 2 huge haylage nets morning and night (in full winter). He look amazing and has just got better and better with time. Wishing you all the best x x x


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## banksy2012 (22 December 2012)

personally i avoid sugarbeet - avoid sugar and starch as they only exacerbate the problems in the gut when dealing with stomch ulcers/excess acid which in turn resluts in weight loss or inability to gain weight (i think the stat is something around 90% of race horses have some degree of stomach ulceration during training).


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## claracanter (22 December 2012)

Very good advice in the post above. Also if your new horse is a TB, be careful about giving him sugarbeet as it may fizz him up. My TB even gets silly on unmollassed sugar beet.


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## Firewell (23 December 2012)

I think (as the owner of a fat, happy TB) that the poster who put the stuff about teeth ect is on the right track.
I'd get his teeth checked first as if they are sore it doesn't matter what you feed! Worm and then get him checked by a vet to make sure he is physically fine, physio if neccessary and get tack that fits or he won't build up correct muscle.
Hay and Haylage is what works the best at putting on weight. Just tons and tons of good quality hay or haylage. I'd probably start with hay as haylage can sometimes be a bit rich for TB tummys. He'll need it ad lib.
I would start out on just fibre feed. You don't want him to get tense and excitable on high energy feed as he will just burn off the calories you are putting in and it's not nice for you to deal with an over the top horse!
I would put him on a low mollassed chaff, maybe Dengi mollases free hifi or something. Alfa a oil was a buit too high energy for my TB and with the hay he doesn't need it anyway. Then you could add a balancer or a low energy cube. You could add a splash or oil to his feed.
I'd start like this as you can always build up if necc. I think you are right though, with regular TLC you will probably find he fills out quite nicely.
My TB is on really good hay and his feed is just hifi and basic nuts. He events on this in the summer and he always looks and feels great and so calm and lovely to be around as well . I am super fussy about getting his teeth and back checked regularly and he is always worked properly.
Enjoy your new horse .


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## Luci07 (27 December 2012)

Put a weight tape around your boy to see what his weight is as well as photographs. Just remember that whatever you feed, don't make an overnight dramatic change from his current regime, even if it is wrong. You will have ever chance of causing your new horse to colic if you do that. You need to introduce the changes gradually, as in over introducing new feeds over 2 weeks to give your horses gut time to produce the new bacteria for the different feed. Also increase the feed gradually, again to prevent colic.  It will be tempting to do it quickly but that is not the best way for your boy. I would also suggest, if he is really underweight to see if you can split his feeds into 3 or even better 4 feeds while he is putting on weight. The specialist feed lines are also a great source of information as well.


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## Chestnutmare (27 December 2012)

When I got my tb mare she too was underweight and obviously had no muscle tone I stupidly put her onto sugarbeet baileys top line cond cubes barley rings and alpha a oil twice a day with ad lib hay but yep I didn't keep her on this as yes it made her fizz right up (new to tb ownership too) but she is now fed hi molasses free chaff and half scoop of high fibre cubes and ad lib hay and she is doing really well on this has chilled out a little again which is what I wanted she is looking like a horse again just to get her muscled up now


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## Bekki-90 (27 December 2012)

Hey guys, thank you so much for your replies.

I wormed up the day I got him, I put him on chaff and then added some speedy beat and ready grass.
I have just started to add a bit of low cal balancer and top line conditioning cubes. Plus a small amount of oil.
Plus he gets as much hay as he can eat and is out for 12hrs a day, although bring him in for some lunch (small meals throughout the day)

So proud of him he is already putting on weight!! I thought it was just me but other people are noticing it! His eyes are brighter and you can see he has so much energy now. Its amazing too watch =) Just thought I would let you know how its been going xxxx


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## Suzannebart (28 December 2012)

When I got my boy came from shared 24/7 turnout, which didn't agree with him, you are on the right tracks, sometimes TBs just need the finer things in life. Surprisingly he put a lot of weight on with the Coutrywide Farmers Value Horse and Pony nuts, which didn't fizz him up and are like £3-4 a bag or something silly. Unfortunately for me there isn't a countrywide in reasonable distance from college. 

When I first got him he just went on ad lib hay (moved onto haylage as hay didn't really agree with him) plain old own brand chaff with oil, and gradually upto his feed regime now, and the difference is amazing! Can't recommend NAF In The Pink Powder, and oil enough for helping with weight/condition, just makes sure they are getting all the goodness they can from their feed!

Good luck
Suzanne


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## Hunter93 (29 December 2012)

4 yro tb underweight: 
Dengi hifi
Veteran sugar beet soak
D&H conditioning cubes 
Horse mix
Works like a charm! Twice a day and in at night with 2 large hay nets he's also getting ridden everyday and twice at weekends xx


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## Busybusybusy (30 December 2012)

Hi, I now feed my skinny TB;
1 scoop unmollassed sugar beet
1 lg mug micronised linseed 
Couple of large handfulls of hifi molasses free
And Pro hoof twice a day plus adlib hay and I am starting to see a difference after 2 weeks


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