Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a 9 year old thoroughbred gelding, 16.3hh. i have had him since May and since he has come off the field and into a stable for the Winter months I am really struggling in keeping the weight on him. He has two feeds a day that consist of the following: Build-up mix, garlic chop, Sugar beet, oil, garlic powder, carrots and apples. He also gets two massive haynets (one in the morning and one at night) and i put one in for him at lunch. Oh and he also gets a ball that has pony nuts in and he kicks it around the stable and eats the content as it falls out.

At the moment i am trying to put him onto haylage and he isnt taking to it at all, i was told that this would put weight on him but he just spits it out, i try and mix hay into it to try and start him on it but he isnt insterested..He has also weeing more through the day since i put him on this.

Lastly he is fully uptodate with being wormed.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME???

Thanks,

Kelly

i also have a thoroughbred that is a hard keeper. The biggest thing you can do for him is keep him grazing in the pasture through the winter months. It makes such a HUGE difference. If you don't feel like he should for some reason, this is going to be tricky. You want to feed him a diet that won't make him too energetic, but will fatten him up. I would talk with your vet for the right feed for him.
My horse eats a feed by BlueBonnett called Nature's Mix which consists of oats, corn, and some barley. I mix it with strategy to give him some extra protein and vitamins. Since he is a naturally skinny horse, i've been giving him a whole coffee can full. He gets 2 flakes hay in the morning and 2 at night with a flake of alfalfa also. Oil is a good supplement, it adds a lot of calories to their diet ans really makes their coat shine. You have to be careful with it though as it can give them some really bad diarrhea.
I honestly believe a horse stays happier and healthier if they are allowed turn out all year round. You will see tremendous improvements.

Thank you for getting back to me. Thats the only problem with where he is staying at the moment, the horses arnt able to go out and graze through the Winter months. Theres a huge indoor school that they can go in whilst mucking out the stable etc but the fields are out of bounds until the Summer. It's a brillant place he's at but the field issue is obviously a big part of his weight problem...March can't come quick enough! I'll be putting a picture on here shortly so if interested you can take a look and see what you think...Thanks again.