# Best feed for weight gain



## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

I would like a little more condition on my horse. Currently have him on baileys ease and excel and alfabeet which has definitely improved his condition but just want that little bit extra.
Has two feeds a day and haylage. He isn't a big eater with his haylage He has a good size net at night as he will eat it all. Then he has a smaller morning net and same size lunch net as this is the only way he will eat up. Wastes a lot during the day otherwise.

Is there anything I could use to bulk up his feed. What he is on has really helped him, can be a nervous horse but seems to have really chilled him out.

Any advise would be fab.


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## tda (7 March 2018)

Micronised linseed, build up to a cup a day


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## Pinkvboots (7 March 2018)

micronised linseed mine are fed it all year and I just adjust it according to work and how they look both are looking rather to well coming out of winter so I have cut it right back, I would start with about 100g a day then slowly increase it over a few weeks you can feed up to a few mug fulls a day for an average sized horse until you get the desired effect, it also has other benefits it's good for the skin, coat, hooves and joints.


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## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

Ah fab is it a particular brand or is it a generic just one type of micronised linseed. I heard good things about it and there is a bit in this ease and excel which must be helping make a difference so will try giving a bit more of that will get him to ideal. Thank you for recommendations


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## ester (7 March 2018)

Get charnwoods (though they do repackage for others, like pure feeds too) they are the only company with the ability to infra red micronise in the UK rather than cooking it. 

I find a mug a day doesn't put weight on a good doer, have fed up to 3 mugs a day when in hard work quite happily (obv increased slowly. 

I am a big linseed fab but a lot of people also get on with equijewel/other rice bran products.

copra is always a possible too., though some can be fussy with it.


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## Bills (7 March 2018)

Does the linseed heat them up? 

My horse has had ulcers in the past so would it upset his tummy? 

Thanks


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## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

ester said:



			Get charnwoods (though they do repackage for others, like pure feeds too) they are the only company with the ability to infra red micronise in the UK rather than cooking it. 

I find a mug a day doesn't put weight on a good doer, have fed up to 3 mugs a day when in hard work quite happily (obv increased slowly. 

I am a big linseed fab but a lot of people also get on with equijewel/other rice bran products.

copra is always a possible too., though some can be fussy with it.
		
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Ah fab thank you. Will have a look into that one. Have heard some feed bran but wasn't sure as the horses were not in need of any weight. It is a minefield really to find what suits your horse.


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## ester (7 March 2018)

No linseed doesn't heat them up and is ok with ulcers (well lots of people on the ulcer groups feed it ) 

moodymare, not normal bran, rice bran  different things


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## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

Ahh worth having a look into that thank you


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## Mkw (7 March 2018)

My mate gets 400g of ricebran on top of her ordinary feed. Low starch and high energy and it works well for us.
I've tried her on linseed but she gets problems with her stomach on that.


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## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

Mkw said:



			My mate gets 400g of ricebran on top of her ordinary feed. Low starch and high energy and it works well for us.
I've tried her on linseed but she gets problems with her stomach on that.
		
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I don't really need the energy does it give quite a bit? 

What problems with her stomach did she have? Don't want to upset my horses stomach.


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## Mkw (7 March 2018)

Sorry, high calorie would be putting it better. My mare is a TB, we don't really need extra energy either 


Well, she didn't exactly get diarrhea, but she did have thin/loos stool. I've met others with the same problem, but a lot of horses do just fine on linseed, so I would just give it a go, as it's both easier to find and cheaper, at least where I live. If it doesn't work for you, you can always try something else


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## AFB (7 March 2018)

Another vote for linseed - my boys never wintered so well


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## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

Ah fab thank you everyone will give the linseed a go. He does not look poor in any means but I would like a little extra on him.


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## TGM (7 March 2018)

moodymare1987 said:



			I don't really need the energy does it give quite a bit?
		
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Calories and their horsey equivalent, mega joules, are a measure of energy.  If you want a high calorie diet to give extra condition, you will be feeding a diet high in energy.  However, that energy might be converted to extra condition or it might fuel more energetic behaviour - which is does depends on loads of factors, such as the horse's individual temperament and the form that extra energy (calories) are delivered in.  Generally, it is thought that high sugar, high starch feeds tend to make horses excitable or fizzy, whereas feeds where the energy comes from fibre and/or oil are less likely to have this effect.  So don't be scared of a 'high energy' food, just check the sugar/starch levels.


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## moodymare1987 (7 March 2018)

TGM said:



			Calories and their horsey equivalent, mega joules, are a measure of energy.  If you want a high calorie diet to give extra condition, you will be feeding a diet high in energy.  However, that energy might be converted to extra condition or it might fuel more energetic behaviour - which is does depends on loads of factors, such as the horse's individual temperament and the form that extra energy (calories) are delivered in.  Generally, it is thought that high sugar, high starch feeds tend to make horses excitable or fizzy, whereas feeds where the energy comes from fibre and/or oil are less likely to have this effect.  So don't be scared of a 'high energy' food, just check the sugar/starch levels.
		
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To be honest he does not really fizz up on feed. Which given he is quite lively. Not stupid mind you would think it would. Will have a look thank you very much. Do you have any feed ideas in mind?


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## Ruby's Mum (7 March 2018)

I would also highly recommend linseed, we always put our old boy onto it for winter.  I have also this year for the first time used just soaked grass nuts, speedibeet and linseed this year and he has never looked so good, he usually struggles to hold his weight in winter but is looking amazing (he's late twenties).  He is the sort to fizz up on feeds but he's far calmer on these than anything else we've fed.


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## supsup (8 March 2018)

I'd also consider swapping the alfabeet for a different feed that doesn't need soaking. It sounds like your horse doesn't have that great an appetite, and soaked feed is, by definition, partially water. Alfabeet is about 3/4 water (no calories) if soaked to instructions, so you are filling his stomach with quite a bit of water. If you fed something with a similar energy content (MJ/kg on the package) that can be fed dry, the meal would only be 1/4 the size, and he would likely be able to eat more of the dry feed, or would maybe have room to eat a bit more forage.
Soaked fibre feeds are great, but they are not very energy dense once soaked. As suggested above, you could try feeding linseed instead. Or if you want to stick with a similar fibre feed, you could try swapping the alfabeet for alfalfa and/or grass pellets. Unless you have a greedy eater or poor teeth, they can be fed dry (not unlike dry pony nuts), or if you'd rather not, they tend to take less water (but more time) to soften compared to sugarbeet. Still, you might end up with only half water, rather than 3/4.
Another option is to add vegetable oil to the diet. Fat is the most calorie dense energy source there is, vegetable oil is cheap, and doesn't add more bulk to the diet. However, normal vegetable oil doesn't have the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids that linseed does supply, and not all horses are keen on oil.


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## ihatework (8 March 2018)

I like omega rice for adding condition without fizzing them up, it&#8217;s a rice bran and linseed pellet with added Vit E and is very cost effective - I&#8217;ve been adding 1 litre a day, split across 3 feeds, to my horses diet.

I&#8217;d replace the Alfa beet with omega rice.

If you still need more then add in a 3rd feed.


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## moodymare1987 (9 March 2018)

supsup said:



			I'd also consider swapping the alfabeet for a different feed that doesn't need soaking. It sounds like your horse doesn't have that great an appetite, and soaked feed is, by definition, partially water. Alfabeet is about 3/4 water (no calories) if soaked to instructions, so you are filling his stomach with quite a bit of water. If you fed something with a similar energy content (MJ/kg on the package) that can be fed dry, the meal would only be 1/4 the size, and he would likely be able to eat more of the dry feed, or would maybe have room to eat a bit more forage.
Soaked fibre feeds are great, but they are not very energy dense once soaked. As suggested above, you could try feeding linseed instead. Or if you want to stick with a similar fibre feed, you could try swapping the alfabeet for alfalfa and/or grass pellets. Unless you have a greedy eater or poor teeth, they can be fed dry (not unlike dry pony nuts), or if you'd rather not, they tend to take less water (but more time) to soften compared to sugarbeet. Still, you might end up with only half water, rather than 3/4.
Another option is to add vegetable oil to the diet. Fat is the most calorie dense energy source there is, vegetable oil is cheap, and doesn't add more bulk to the diet. However, normal vegetable oil doesn't have the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids that linseed does supply, and not all horses are keen on oil.
		
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When he wasn't on the alfabeet he still would not eat much haylage. I never thought to change the alfabeet. How about a swap to SpeediBeet that has more slow release energy in it? I do find the beet works for him to some degree. But then maybe that is the ease and excel he is on. I am not sure what else dry he could be fed hence why i am swaying to speedibeet. I might add the grass nuts into his feed. Do you think would make any difference if I soak them with the alfa beet?


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## supsup (9 March 2018)

Maybe my post wasn't very clear. Your goal is to get more total calories (or energy, or MJ, same thing) into your horse. The first thing to try is to simply feed more. If you can add a calorie dense feed (such as linseed, or vegetable oil) to his current feed, and he'll eat it -- great! More calories going in.

But if you struggle to feed more because he's already full and simply doesn't have any appetite left, then it might be helpful to leave out some of the less energy dense feed (e.g. the soaked alfabeet) and replace it with something else that is more energy dense. The best way to get your head around that one is to weight the daily ration of each of your feeds (before soaking), and work out how many calories (or rather, megajoules, MJ) each of them contribute. For example: one flat scoop soaked alfabeet contains about 0.5kg dry alfabeet (according to Dengie webpage), which contains 5.25MJ of energy. If you swapped this out for one scoop of dry alfalfa pellets (1.6kg, at 10MJ/kg), you'd be feeding 16MJ of energy. Quite a bit more!

I don't think that swapping to Speedibeet would help. It does have slightly higher energy, but only when you think about the dry amount (12MJ/kg vs. 10.5MJ/kg in the alfabeet). It needs more water to soak though (5x the dry amount), so one flat scoop of soaked speedibeet would only contain around 350g of dry beet, which works out at around 4.2MJ -- actually less than a flat scoop of alfabeet.
I hope that makes more sense.


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## moodymare1987 (12 March 2018)

Ah yes that makes more sense. I will try either linseed or vegetable oil. I would imagine he would eat that as he clears all his hard feed up.


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## hopscotch bandit (12 March 2018)

moodymare1987 said:



			I would like a little more condition on my horse. Currently have him on baileys ease and excel and alfabeet which has definitely improved his condition but just want that little bit extra.
Has two feeds a day and haylage. He isn't a big eater with his haylage He has a good size net at night as he will eat it all. Then he has a smaller morning net and same size lunch net as this is the only way he will eat up. Wastes a lot during the day otherwise.

Is there anything I could use to bulk up his feed. What he is on has really helped him, can be a nervous horse but seems to have really chilled him out.

Any advise would be fab.
		
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Sorry haven't seen how old your horse is but veteran vitality by Allen & Page is very good for older horses. You can use it with hot water in the winter, just needs three minutes soaking.  Brilliant feed and gives them a lovely shiny coat thanks to the Linseed and its also VERY palatable.


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## sunleychops (13 March 2018)

ester said:



			Get charnwoods (though they do repackage for others, like pure feeds too) they are the only company with the ability to infra red micronise in the UK rather than cooking it. 

I find a mug a day doesn't put weight on a good doer, have fed up to 3 mugs a day when in hard work quite happily (obv increased slowly. 

I am a big linseed fab but a lot of people also get on with equijewel/other rice bran products.

copra is always a possible too., though some can be fussy with it.
		
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They aren't the only company who can Micronise. D&H were the first feed company to bring micronisation into the equine feed market


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## ester (13 March 2018)

I also didn't realise they had their own IR set up,  perhaps wasn't specific enough and should have said they are the only company in the UK that does produce infra red micronised linseed as I don't think D+H do . Other companies still use the term when they mean a different process- which does result in a different product which is why I point it out.


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## moodymare1987 (20 March 2018)

hopscotch bandit said:



			Sorry haven't seen how old your horse is but veteran vitality by Allen & Page is very good for older horses. You can use it with hot water in the winter, just needs three minutes soaking.  Brilliant feed and gives them a lovely shiny coat thanks to the Linseed and its also VERY palatable.
		
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Hi He is 11. I have been advised by Saracen to get him on Releve and Alfa a oil and sea salt. So going to give that a go for a couple of months to see if it does anything. They did say see what he looks like in about 4 weeks get back to them to give idea on if it is helping and then can readjust. Very helpful and want to keep in contact. So fingers crossed we might have it sussed. Time will tell. It is also meant to help chill him out, I have read a lot have had to feed an energy feed as it has chilled them out greatly which would be fab if it does help him then fab. As I think his worrying makes him lose the weight. Massively chilled out since I first got him but still a worrier.


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