Hi everyone,

Another little problem I need some advice on! As some of you may have seen on another thread I changed Star's feed to try and hype her up a bit. She is still on Allen and Page but I have changed it from Calm and Condition, to Power and Performance.
I know the grass isnt great right now but she is dropping weight again!! I want to fatten her up so she has it for winter when she will be prone to loosing weight but I am not quite sure the best way of doing this. I am going to give her some more feed in the evenings and probably start rugging at night again as it seems to be getting quite cold in evenings again.

Anyone have any good ideas that wont cost me a fortune?

Thanks, Mel

Ok.. How old is star and what Type.. Sorry I can't quite remember and how much work do you do a week as in what type and how long for... And do you use hay or Haylage.. And straw or shavings? x

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She is 13 this year and she is a 16.2hh Throrughbread. She is not quite lightweight as she is quite stocky.
Her work is varied, most weeks she does 5 days a week, varied between lunging work, free schooling on the flat or over jumps, riding in the school on the flat or hacking out. Usually half hour a time other than if we hack out.
She is on Hay at night and she is on shavings.
Her weight goes up rapidly on grass but the grass is running out which is what I think half the problem is.
Any ideas? xx

I get great results with my tb's with baileys no 4 i am feeding daily at the mo with the poor grass x

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Realises i was brought up by a pack of animals.........

My daughters having the same problem ,no grazing, had to up the feeds and also rugging.
Just waiting now for the owner of the yard to start charging owners extra money to lay hay on the field.
Pity she didnt take that into account when she became greedy and took on more liveries during the warmer months ,consumed all the grass aand so those on full liveries are now with out glazing,
Its only August and the hay bills will start to rocket...

Its terrible,its been a poor summer.i managed to secure my hay early so im praying i have enough to get through,i bet the prices will rocket later in the year.

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Realises i was brought up by a pack of animals.........

I am using Baileys number 1, What is Number 4? Sorry to sound dumb but only use Allen and Page normally! lol
The weather has been the worst for grazing, first of all such a rubbish winter to turn everything into a muddy mess and then a summer so hot its frying the grass, Just cant win!
I have upped her feed to around double what she normally has and it seems to be creeping back on but it is also costing me a fortune!!
At the mo I have her on 1 scoop of Allen and Page Power and Performance, half scoop Baileys Number 1 and 1 and half scoops of Chaff.
We are trying to decide what to do about hay as it is so short but also so expensive!! Star has actually started breaking out of the field most days to try and find better grass on the walk ways cheeky cow! lol

I think you always need to keep a field for winter use not to be touched in the summer, surely that is just common sense!

Have you tried Haylage aswell Instead of Hay... You dont need to feed as much as hay and sometimes it can make them a little fizzy... If you do try Haylage intro gradually with the hay... The Chestnut in the pic was a Sportshorse so more TB... I had her on Haylage three lots a day if not out to grass and 2 feeds a day dengi chaff with the oil in.. (haha not made a feed in two years ..lol) And Gibsons Condition and Bloom... In the winter a scoop of sugar beet.

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Well she was on haylage before and it didnt really make any difference, the hay worked better lol
Have put her on bran now and seems to be helping aswel, just need to fatten her up before winter really starts!! Have also given her a deeper bed and been rugging up at night and this seems to be working.
Why the hell did I buy such a difficult breed!! lol xx

hi boiled barley is fantastic for putting weight on also instead of mixing all these feeds together try equlibra it sounds very expensive but you only use small amounts so it lasts ages and really does do the job,i had the same problem your having with a veteran pony and tried loads of different feeds which cost a fortune this feed works out alot cheaper.