Thoroughbreds and Weight Gain
- Melanie Store
- Oct 3, 2017
- 3 min read
As an instructor and yard owner, my winter revolved mainly around supplements and maintaining some of our horses weights. Over the years I have tried numerous combinations of concentrates, roughage and supplements.
Some combinations work, and some don't. I have quite a variety of horses at the yard, admittedly it's always the Thoroughbreds that keep me on my toes!
Currently I have four chestnut Thoroughbreds who have weight issues. I am not sure why these four have decided to conspire against me, maybe it was all the bending and transition work they were made to do in summer?
Anyway, we hear a lot about various supplements and weight gain fixes. When to feed, when not to feed, what to feed and what not to feed but I feel it's "each to his own". What works for you might not necessarily work for me. Good quality roughage and concentrates technically should provide your horse with enough nutrition, but does it really?
In winter our roughage quality takes a dip, as veld grass mature, the fibre content increases, while the leaves and protein content decreases. Veld grass then becomes unpalatable and at the same time forage intake and subsequently total energy intake declines. The same applies to baled grass, as winter progresses the baled grass loses its "greenness" and dries out and with that it loses a portion of its nutritional and mineral content. That's when the right supplements might just give them that little bit extra that they need.
Besides weight gain there are various other issues that might need supplementing, namely
1) Sensitive skin
2) Bad feet
3) Joints
We will stick to weight issues for this blog
Note:
I am not a vet or nutritional expert - this article is written out my own personal experiences
Here is a list of supplements that really worked well for the horses in my yard:
Trojan Fat (1kg)
Trojan Fat is a blend of energy and methionine for better utilization in the hindgut.
L-Lysine (1kg)
Lysine increases quality and the availability of protein in the horse's diet. (Super for competing horses, as it helps build muscle)
Bentonite (1kg)
Bentonite absorbs toxins, heavy metals and chemicals. It increases oxygen cell and boosts probiotics in the gut.
Bentonite can be fed to improve the gut or it can be applied as a paste, topically to reduce swelling or heal wounds
(One of my all time favourite supplements!)
Brewers Yeast (1kg)
Source of B-Complex vitamins, protein, amino-acids and minerals. Increases fibre digestion and promotes better feed efficiency.
(A must in every yard)
Eezi-Fibre/Speedi-Beet/Fibre-Beet
The above mentioned products has been formulated to replace a proportion of forage sources such as hay and grazing. It can also be used as a top dressing, or to replace hard feed.
(all the of the products mentioned above are great!)
Add-Ons
The following supplements are great to add on but it's not necessary
Garlic (1kg)
Natural Pest and Fly control and powerful immune booster.
Hoof and Hair Care (1kg)
Helps to build and maintain healthy tissue, hooves and hair. This product contains a natural collagen supplement.
(Perfect for horses with sensitive skins)
Okey, so that sounds like quite a lot of supplements and preparation. To make the grooms and my life easier, I pre-mix everything (except the Speedi-Beet) together in a 10kg bucket and each chestnut gets a 50 gram scoop each morning and evening. The Eezi-Fibre/Speedi-Beet/Fibre-Beet needs to soak for 10 min before being added to the feed.
The pre-mix lasts around four weeks for the four horses. The Eezi-Fibre/Speedi-Beet/Fibre-Beet lasts around 3 months depending on how many horses you want to supplement. It might sound like a lot of supplements and a lot of money! However it works out quite cheap and you have happy and healthy horses at the end of the day. Worth every penny!
You're probably wondering why we don't just increase concentrates? Besides the fact that increasing your concentrates without increasing your forage intake can lead to colic, you also run the risk of turning your Thoroughbred into a Horror-bred, making them unrideable and unmanageable, and with a riding school that is not advisable!
With the proper amount of concentrates, roughage and supplements my four chestnuts are looking and working like champs!
Note:
If you would like more information on the Brewers Yeast, Bentonite, Trojan Fat, Garlic, Hoof and Hair Care and L-Lysine feel free to leave me and email.
Feel free to comment with your own weight gain hit's and misses - we would all like to know what worked for you and what didn't.
Melanie
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