# Which conditioning feed?



## JackDaniels1 (14 July 2009)

There are so many conditioning feeds on the market....

Which would you feed? 

Spillers Conditioning Cubes
D&amp;H Build Up Mix
Bailey's No 4 Topline cubes
Bailey's No 17 Conditioning Mix
Allen &amp; Page Weight gain
Equi Club Conditioning Cubes
Equi Club HiFibre Mix
D&amp;H HiFibre Mix

With what? 

Dengie Alpha A Oil
Equi Club Alfalfa 

With sugar beet or speedy beet?

As i've said before, she's in a small paddock, lives out, i would like a little more weight on her and improve her topline (i know this is mostly done by working them). She has 2 haynets a day and at the mo 2 feeds a day which is - Equi Club HiFibre Mix, Equi Club Alfalfa, sugar beet shreds and carrots. 

There are so many conditioning feeds on the market, could you advise which one to go for? and how much to feed her? (she's 16.2hh 11yo TBX)

Thanks.


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## china (14 July 2009)

i would start by swapping your sugar beet for alpha beet which is conditioning, and just lots of outline work for the top line


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## Hippona (14 July 2009)

Alfa A oil and Spillers Slow Release Cubes work a treat without sending my horse demented.

 I was advised to try this by a member of this forum and the results were well, not quite instant but almost!


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## Honeypots (14 July 2009)

Ad lib hay/haylage..speedibeet and Bailey's No.4 and Hi Fi Lite (scoop of each twice a day) saw my TB through winter living out.
He's now on Grass, a handful Hi Fi and half scoop Bailey's No.4.

Before winter






After winter






and this is with minimal exercise but his field is on a 5 acre slope


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## TGM (14 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
i would start by swapping your sugar beet for alpha beet which is conditioning, and just lots of outline work for the top line 

[/ QUOTE ] Actually AlfaBeet contains less calories than either sugar beet or Speedibeet:

AlfaBeet 10.5 MJDE/kg
Supabeet (molassed sugar beet): 12.5 MJDE/kg
Speedibeet: 12.4 MJDE/kg


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## kellyeaton (14 July 2009)

ready fibre mash or allen page calm and condition with alpha a oil if she likkes the test of it being dampened go for fibre beet!


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## maggiesmum (14 July 2009)

None of the above, I'd use Coolstance Copra. Its high in fibre &amp; oil but low in sugar &amp; starch so will put on condition without blowing brains. Its fantastic stuff.


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## spacefaer (14 July 2009)

allen &amp; page Calm and condition is basically sugar beet if you read the label.
The best conditioning mix I've come across is made by our local farmers store - Countrywide Farmers - it's brilliant and only £8.29/bag.  They will deliver a pallet at a time (40 bags) with a 10% discount....

I feed 17hh+ hunters which also show and it makes their coats gleam, puts topline on (not muscle obviously!) and much quicker than any of the branded (expensive) mixes/cubes.


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## TGM (14 July 2009)

At the end of the day, all horses are individuals and the conditioning feed that works wonders for one horse will not necessarily do the same for another.

First thing to take into account when looking at conditioning feeds is the 'calorie count' - in terms of horse feed this is expressed in MJDE/kg.  Look for this on the manufacturer's website or on the bag label - the higher the number, the more calories it contains.  For example, Baileys No 4 contains 13.5 MJDE/kg, so contains more calories than Spiller's Conditioning Cubes which contains 12 MJDE/kg.

However, you can't go by calorie count alone, as some horses react to certain ingredients or don't find certain ingredients palatable.  For example, some horses seem to get rather excitable on feeds containing barley, whilst others get fizzy on feeds containing ANY cereals (which include barley, oats, wheat and maize).  Just because a feed says it is 'non-heating' does not mean it is cereal-free, just as if they say it is oat-free, or barley-free doesn't mean it doesn't contain one of the other cereals, so do read the labels carefully if this is a concern for you.

Another thing to consider is appetite - some horses have small appetites and won't consume large amounts of hard feed, so a more concentrated feed might work here.  Oil is very dense in calories, so some owners find that high-oil feeds such as Bailey's Outshine, Saracen Equijewel, Copra, linseed etc work well for them.

Another reason horses may find it a problem to gain weight is if their gut bacteria has been comprised in some way, perhaps as a result of stress, illness, antibiotic treatment etc.  These horses may respond well to a product containing a prebiotic/probiotic to improve conditions in the gut - most balancers (ie TopSpec, NAF Pink Powder, Blue Chip etc) contain these and can be helpful in such cases.

Hope this helps a little!


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## Forget_Me_Not (14 July 2009)

I get the the best results from feeding Alfa-A Oil as my main conditioning feed with maintance nuts from local tack shop and Speedibeat. The Alfa will last a good few months and the nuts are £5.40 a bag which is alot cheaper then the brands with impressive names. 

I currently feed one of my skinnies,

1 scoop of Alfa-A Oil
1 and 1/2 scoops Maintance Nuts
1 or 2 cups of Eurobeat (Sugar bet without sugar I believe? I don't buy it!!)
1 scoop NAF oilovite balanacer supplement
25ml of NAF PROFEET
And decent shake of salt!!

Twice a day bar PROFEET : )

This is with my 'summer scoop' it's the size of half a normal round one. The horse is on good to over grown grazing.


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## TGM (14 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
1 or 2 cups of Eurobeat (Sugar bet without sugar I believe? I don't buy it!!)


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm presuming Eurobeet is unmollassed sugar beet.  The beet we feed horses is the waste product produced from the sugar beet root AFTER most of the sugar has been extracted for human consumption.  So although the sugar beet root in its natural state is full of sugar (hence its name), the waste product after sugar extraction contains much less sugar.  For example, an unmollassed equine sugar beet product such as Speedibeet is only 5% sugar.

However, molasses is often added to the beet after processing to aid palatability and this is the normal 'bog-standard' sugar beet you buy from the feed merchant, like Supabeet for example.  These molassed beet products are usually about 20% sugar.

I hope that makes things a little clearer.


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## Kenzo (14 July 2009)

Fibre and lots of it, I'd give ab-lib hay, do a worm count (just to double check) and bob your horse on pink powder, if the gut is not working correctly no amount of feed will make any difference.
Allen &amp; Page Weight Gain, Alfa A Oil and sugar beet along with an everyday vit and min supplement, some horses fiz up on Baileys No.4, not all but some do.


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## Coffee_Bean (14 July 2009)

Baileys no.4 + Alfa A oil + Speedibeet worked wonders for my mare.


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