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feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred

WTA
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Dec 30, 2007, 12:13 PM

Post #1 of 7 (700 views)
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feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred	Can't Post

Please tell me if this is a good feeding program for a 13 YO thoroughbred that is now a working ranch horse.

Morning,
2 full scoops timothy/alfalfa chopped hay, 1 scoop dumore 12% pleasure horse sweet feed, 1 flake giant bermuda hay, 1 cup dumore weight builder supplement

noon,
2 full scoops timothy/alfalfa chopped hay, 1 scoop dumore 12% pleasure horse sweet feed, 1 flake giant bermuda hay,

Night,
2 full scoops timothy/alfalfa chopped hay, 1 scoop dumore 12% pleasure horse sweet feed, 1 flake giant bermuda hay, 1 cup dumore weight builder supplement

We've had this girl for about 2 years now. She used to be a race horse but for the last 7 years or so has been a working ranch horse. She was just a little skinny when she came here but not too bad. She wasn't being used much for a couple years before we got her because she lost her tongue in a riding accident.

My son has been riding her just fine in a nice hackamore with a leather nose band. It's an easy one on her.

She's getting used a lot more though and being taken on some really long rides in the canyons and working cattle so she is being very hard to keep weight on. She eats extremely slow too with the tongue but she gets it down fine. I'd just like to see here in top condition again and we're having some trouble.

Above is what we recently started feeding her. She was just on pasture and getting grain twice a day but we didn't have much rain last year for my grazing pasture. Hardly any at all actually. My big pasture was in full on hay production and being irrigated so I let her out there every now and then to get some green stuff. At least I was able to put up enough to get us through most of the winter.

I just started using this chopped hay that I found at tractor supply. It looks great and is fresh as can be. I hope it's good for her. She's besicly getting three different kinds of forage now. Alfalfa, bermuda and timothy. My other horses are all warm blood breeds and a quarter horse and they are staying fat and happy on just bermuda so this one is a challenge to me. Any advice on keeping her would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a picture of her below. I had to type in the image tags manually so I hope this works. I don't know why I have so many problems with this board.
The horse I'm having trouble keeping weight on is on the left.

The other two are mine also and are in perfect shape. The gray is a 7 YO American warmblood and the other is a 3 YO quarter horse.

Red-Roof-Ranch

(This post was edited by WTA on Dec 30, 2007, 12:29 PM)

roho
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Dec 31, 2007, 9:27 AM

Post #2 of 7 (687 views)
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Re: [WTA] feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hello WTA, when I 1st read U'r post I thought 2myself that you were feeding way to much then I re-read U'r post & have changed my mind...BTY, I'm NO EXPERT,just a horse owner too & YOU probably know more than I about feeding..... Anyway horses are like people & a t-bred by nature is long & lean & the other 2 breeds are more bulky & solid lookin(IMO) some horses are eaiser keepers than others & like people U have tall lean ones & short fat one & tall fat one & short skinny ones.... With his activity level I wouldn't worry to much bout his size, he probably burns it off.....
BTW by pic, ALL U'R HORSES LOOKED GREAT...& I know what U mean bout some complicated task on site and it's been real slow here for a while & I can't figure why...It seems like a great site for horse people. I've got 3, 2 paint/quarterhorse crosses & 1 QH that cropped out paint(stocking above his knews & a white splotch on his belly) the paints are mares & QH is a gelding...One mare stays way to fat & other 2 are tall lean ones... I feed them somewhere between 8/10 lbs grain mix & 2 bates hay & let out to pasture every day... I try to ride 2 to 3 times a week anywhere between 5 & 10 miles a ride. but w/xmas schedule It's been hard to do lately...

WTA
Member

Dec 31, 2007, 10:46 AM

Post #3 of 7 (687 views)
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Re: [roho] feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred [In reply to]	Can't Post

I have been wondering if you and I are the only ones on this site anymore ya know. It really has been slow.
I was getting worried about the thoroughbred because of a comment by her last owner that I heard second hand a few months ago. He told my neighbor that she was looking thinner. That was not very nice to hear. I think she looked thinner at first because she had come off pasture for almost 2 years and been put back to work.
We've been playing around with her feed a lot over the last couple months and trying to find just the right thing to give her for best performance and body condition. She hasn't been on this new schedule long enough to tell about her body condition but after a 5 hour ride we did yesterday I can say she is performing better than ever. My son was racing me on her and I couldn't keep up no matter what horse I was on. I rode that quarterhorse mare on the right side of the picture most of the day and let our exchange student ride my warmblood. It was the first day of having the QH in a curb bit and I am still training her so I didn't want him messing her up. That German boy can be pretty hard on their mouths sometimes. He's used to English riding. When he goes home next year though, he'll be wearing a 10 gallon hat, spurrs, and riding in a western saddle I bet. I'm training him too.

Anyway, Even on my gray warmblood, when my son took off on the TB I just could not keep up. She has such a long stride that she doesn't even look like she's working to quickly put distance between us. My gray can easily hold his fastest speed for hours though and that is his idvantage. TB's can do it for maybe a mile before they have to slow down. We sure had a good day though. We rode in the canyons and chased some coyotes and cows around. We rode up on the prairie too and let the horses get opened up and work up a sweat. All three horses had a great time. I can really tell the difference in the feed from the way the TB was performing. My son only has to gently squeeze now and she's gone. Before he would work up as much sweat trying to get her to run as she would.

You and I should plan a ride sometime when it warms up. I'm only up near Lubbock. Not that far really. Is there anywhere good to camp and ride between us?

Red-Roof-Ranch

twhsqurit
Member

Dec 31, 2007, 4:26 PM

Post #4 of 7 (686 views)
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Re: [WTA] feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred [In reply to]	Can't Post

Don't know if this will help but most TB's have extremely high metabolisms. So it is hard to keep weight on them. I had a saddlebred that was the same way (close relationship between the two breeds metabolick rates). We ended up adding a straight protein pellet to the feed to get weight on him without really changing the feed. Took it from a 12% to a 16%

roho
Member

Dec 31, 2007, 10:23 PM

Post #5 of 7 (684 views)
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Re: [WTA] feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred [In reply to]	Can't Post

Yeah site is slow but maybe WE can keep hittin the site & maybe it will pick up! Wifes aunt lives in Odessa for a few more days but has bought a place up close to Austin(Lago Vista???) & is in process of moving. Her life mates family are ranchers around Odessa & last name is Fitsgerld(MisSpelled & I Have never seen it in print so I don't know how it's spelled.) Anyway I rode a rope horse a couple of hrs 2day as horses owners son rode my blue eyed paint.. I hate riding an animal that's work schedule is less than 10 seconds... Charge full blast, stop & then bac UP...Oh we made it OK but it's like driving a log wagon..

WTA
Member

Jan 1, 2008, 12:04 PM

Post #6 of 7 (682 views)
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Re: [twhsqurit] feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred [In reply to]	Can't Post

I wonder if the protein pellets you use are the same as the weight builder stuff we just started using? I've never been a big believer in supplements and snake oils before but since my son is not scared of this horse then she is worth it I guess. Her condition is starting to look better already I think. I can definitely tell it in the way she performs.

Red-Roof-Ranch

twhsqurit
Member

Jan 1, 2008, 12:35 PM

Post #7 of 7 (681 views)
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Re: [WTA] feeding a hard keeper thoroughbred [In reply to]	Can't Post

Protein Pellets work better for me than the weight builders I have tried, being as they are not supplements but are in actuality straight protien. The protein pellets have a higher concentrate of protein and it allows the feeder to control how much the horse receives. Feed mills generally sell it by the 50 lb. bag. I am glad it is working out for you.
Dani

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