Build up mix

[mysticforest]

My boy is on build up mix, but he seems to be allergic to putting weight on! LOL

He gets 3 feeds a day, of build up and fibergy. he gets turned out for 45 mins to stretch his legs nand he's in hard work. schooling, jumping and lots of road work.

He used to get barley, alfa A oil, fibrebeet, build up and calm and condition, 3 times a day but he didn't seem to put weight on with that so i cut him down during a light work period but i want his bottom rounder and a bit more weight on him for the winter!

I was feeding speedibeet but there's no sugar in it so thought it was a waste of time LOL

Any ideas without costing a fortune???

[bingbong]

speedi beet is ideal as its high in fiber the sugar doent actually make them put on weight as it is burned off too quickly fiber is digested in the large intestine slowly so this is actually better for them

how much of the feed are you giving him?
it sounds as tho you were giving him too many different things to be honest - keep it simple

i tried all the conditioning cubes available for argent and was going through a bag a week and at £13 a bag i was quickly becoming poor!!!!! none of them made much difference tbh

he is now on 1 1/2 scoop (dry) of speedi beet
4 scoops of alfa A oil
2 scoops of the cheepst brand of pony nuts i can find
biotin
seaweed
and oil
divided into 3 feeds
he also has ablib haylage in the field and stable and i think this is the most important factor
he is ridden 4-5 days a week for up to 2 hours and is a little to fit ha ha

so id defo recomment a high fibre diet with plenty oil

im actually gonna take him off the pony nuts and just get him top spec as i think it will work out cheaper

[mysticforest]

LOL he only gets build up and fibergy at the mo, that's his poor owner diet

I've still got some fibrebeet left so might shot him back on that, and switch back to alfa A oil.

He's getting 1 scoop of fibergy in each feed, 1 1/2 scoops of BU in AM feed, 1 in lunch time and 2 scoops in his night feed.
He gets as much haylage as he can eat too lol he was on global herbs mucsle up til a few weeks back, may put him back on that soon.

[bingbong]

WOW!!!! 4 and 1/2 scoops of nuts a day !!!!! you must be going through a bag a week as well the now IF that !!!! that will be costing you a fortune

what is the fibergy stuff is that dengie?

you should email a feed company i emailed D&H when i was using Build up too they said i should be feeding sugar beetand alfalfa as well as build up

also supermarket oil is great for adding on calories and doesnt cost as much as horsie stuff

[bingbong]

oh also the build up cubes are better than the mix you get more for your money

[ktsval]

IMO you are feeding too much BU in the big feeds assuming it is a round scoop or a large square scoop. I personally wouldn't be feeding any more than 1 round scoop at any 1 time of mix/nuts. I did feed the BU but she soon went off it and it didn't do a huge lot. I now feed 16+ mix as although she is not a veteran it helps with her condition and doesn't send her loopy. Oh and she likes it. I feed this along with alfa a and speedy beet.

She gets approximately 1kg of mix, 500gms a/a + 1 round scoop speedy beet 3 times a day plus supps. Small feeds often and plenty of hay etc suit their systems better.

Also is your worming, teeth etc up to date?

[mysticforest]

For a horse in the workload he has he's on the right amount of mix, worming, teeth etc are always up to date. i'm getting the best dentist in the region out in january, which is less than 6 months since his last visit (was advised to have the dentist out in 12 months!!) but will get him out and have him checked again although he doesn't show signs of worms or bad teeth.

His feeds are failry small compared to other horses on the yard, he gets as much haylage as he wants!

[bingbong]

yeh D&H told me to feed Argent 3-4kg of BU nuts a day too i think one scoop of nuts is 1kg but one scoop of mix is a bit less so your probably giving him the recommended amount

you shouldnt feed anymore than 2kg (dry weight) per feed as they cant digest anymore than that and it ends up going straight out the other end and they dont get the goodness from it

yeh i think your right i think you should put him back on the AlfaA oil and speedi beet or alfa beet and then just enough nuts to keep his vits and mineral levels right

i always had bother with my old horses weight in the winter esp when he was in work and i swore by allan and paige feeds he was on weight gain and competition extra mix - i loved that stuff - it was only just out then tho
but now i wont buy it cos its the most dearest brand there is - i just cant afford it

[liberationsquare]

why not try a feed balancer Mystic??

I had the same problem with pig and it wasnt untill he went on to the top spec feed balancer he started to look good.

He gets 1scoop alfa a oil and 1/2 scoop baileys topline twice a day plus adlib haylage

during the winter he get's speedi beet which is very good.

I used the dodson and horrell build up and it had no affect at all, try using a nut rather than a mix!
each hrose is different but please try and remember, that horses are built to eat klittle more than grass to feeding him masses of differents fedds will not have any effect.

try and stick to 2 or 3 feeeds and that would suffice, even if you give him it 4 times a daY!!!

[ktsval]

Just to clarify I wasn't saying you were feeding too much mix for his size and work load but that too much per feed given that they have pretty small tummys for their size i.e. 2 scoops in 1 feed could equate to 6lbs of mix in 1 go. A round stubbs holds roughly 4lb nuts 3lb mix.

What about filling a big tub trug with alfa oil for him over night and or a bucket of fibre beet. Both great fibre feeds

[mysticforest]

Eeehh! a big bucket of fibrebeet would blow his head lmao!

I'm gonna revise his feed after xmas, gonna give him a month off to keep him chilled then start the new year with a new approach

Thanks for the help guys xx

[lisah]

It is so hard to give advice on feeding as each horse does differently with the same feed

My 3 have, at times, been on totally different feeds as what works for one does not work for another and it can get pretty frustrating at times.

As we all know, winter is the hardest time of year to put on condition and sometimes to keep it on too!

I avoid sugar based feeds as I think it fizzes up my boys too much. At the moment Denzel is on plenty of haylage and he gets bruised barley and chaff for feed and is doing really well on it, In fact with him I have to be careful to keep the weight off

Rambo is on old faithful special blend and fibre beet with ad lib hay, he struggles to eat the haylage now he is older and gets really soft hay, loads of it.

Brian is still living out and doing really well. The field still has plenty of grass (but little feed value in it) so they get ad lib hay in the field and I have just started feeding him now that it is colder. He is getting bruised barley and chaff and doing really well, When he comes back into work though he will go back onto the top spec balancer and condition cubes as this is the only feed that keeps him semi sane to ride

So really it is trial and error to find what works best for your horse in terms of condition and temprament.

We are all different but that is good because somewhere along the line yu can piece together all the different advice and in there somewhere will be something that works for you.

LisaH xxxx