Please can you help

[dizzybee]

Advice please I need to put weight on a 15 2hh full feathered 12year old cob I have had his checked and he has been wormed he is a bit of a fussy old devil and advice would be great:):):):):)

[vivi]

What are you feeding at the moment and what is his regime and workload? For a quick answer - Blue Chip Balancer.

[dizzybee]

Spillers Senior and a very light workload

[Roofio]

my two have fibrebeet and absolutely love it - i never have to wash J's bowl cause he licks it spotlessly clean :cool:

keeps their weight on lovely - they were doing free sample packs on the website ages ago.

[vivi]

Obviously nutrition and quantities of forage and concentrates for horses is a huge subject - and not one I am qualified in. Mind you, my problem is always how to keep my cobs slim! Assuming you horse has ad lib/adequate hay or grass, is not ill, wormy, stressed, bad teeth etc I believe adding oil is another way to give a horse fattening food without bulk (there being only so much a horse's stomach can hold). I think there is a figure of 1.5% of the horse's bodyweight being the amount it should be fed in forage and concentrates. The ratio of forage to concentrates (short feeds etc) depends on workload, i.e lightwork more percentage of forage (haylage would be more fattening than hay cos of the higher sugar) than concentrates but adjust to more concentrates in your case of course.

I think there is a phrase about the best way to work out feed was the 'horsemasters eye' i.e. you just adjust, add, lessen feed and types till the horse looks good.

I have a friend by the way with a big cob who is hard to keep looking well covered so you are not alone.

[Razzledazzle]

My 16yr old clydesdale X cob lost weight over winter for 2yrs....this year I have had him on Spillers conditioning cubes and he looks great. Blue chip is a good idea too.

[Retty]

Max is a very good-doer so have the opposite problem with him, however, I did years ago have a TB X who was prone to being on the too slender side, after trying many different feeds etc I was recommended blue chip and have to say it was the absolute best of the lot by a mile! She put on some nice weight, super healthy shine and best of all it didn't hot her up! If anything she was more placid on it :D I did balk a little at the price but you dont need to use much and lasts for absolute ages so dont let that put you off ;)

[mogadoga]

Persoanly i wouldnt touch blue chip. Its expencive and doesnt contain as much vits and mins as the baileys/top spec balancers with are cheaper for the same amount. Also its not going to fix the problems. It will add the right amount of vits and mins adding a balancer but its more likley the feed needs more bulk.

Id go for a conditioning feed, personally no4 conditioning cubes by baileys. It has all the benefits of the mix but is more digestable. Its fully balanced and wont make the horse fizzy :)