Weight LOSS on speedi beet :(
I changed my boy to a diet consisting of just speedi beet (300g/.66 pounds dry + water twice a day) and a small scoop each of lucerne and oaten chaff (they're there, may as well use them up). Volume-wise, it's MUCH more than he was on pre-speedi beet. He also gets 1 - 2 biscuits of lucerne and/or grassy rhodes hay.
But he's losing weight.
I had a bad fall and, while he's enjoying a vacation while I heal, my trainer told my Mum to give him no more than a handful of a pre-mix horse feed I had (Mitavite X-Tra Cool, it's an Australian feed) + a handful of each chaff. Essentially the most ridiculous tiny pointless amount ever. By the time I was able to walk/do his feed again (broken pelvis) he'd starting to lose a bit of weight, so I topped him up to say 3 handfuls of hard feed. Nothing huge, but that plus the insanely amazing summer grass we have here seemed to be enough and he looked fine. Weird with no muscle as he's been out of work for 2.5 months since my fall, but not underweight.
So I'm stumped as to why, when he's getting more volume with the speedi-beet, is he losing so much more weight? I've heard it can be used to restrict their diet as it fills them up with water and they graze less. But would that be an issue on the amount of speedi beet he's receiving?
Also he's paddock cribber, and seems to have stepped that up a notch in the last few weeks. That said I think he gets antsy when not ridden enough. He still grazes for most of the time though. My trainer was riding him a little but seems to have stopped. I was actually looking into sending him to a pro trainer while I can't ride, so I'm letting my trainer's MIA status slide for the moment.
He lives out 24/7 with free access to a stable (which he loves, my princess doesn't 'do' rain) and while there are horses next door he's a bit of a hardass loner and prefers to ignore them. The grass is still more than abundant - if anything I should be worrying about laminitis, founder etc. Worming and teeth both up to date (the vet came out about 6 weeks ago to look after the latter, he had some nasty hooks up the back, ouch!).
Anyone have a similar story with speedi beet? I took him off the premix hard feed as my trainer advised that the barley was making him silly hence my dramatic fall - so they just gave him tiny amounts until the existing bag had been used up and then gradually transferred him to speedi beet.
Should I boost his feed with protein? FFS or Copra? More speedi-beet? Or is that the problem?
I know there are other factors to look into - ie is he cribbing all day while I'm at work instead of eating hence no weight gain; or is he stressed about being out of work (he gets a bit depressed if he's not busy); but I just thought to ask in case this is a known issue that I can resolve straight away.
But he's losing weight.
I had a bad fall and, while he's enjoying a vacation while I heal, my trainer told my Mum to give him no more than a handful of a pre-mix horse feed I had (Mitavite X-Tra Cool, it's an Australian feed) + a handful of each chaff. Essentially the most ridiculous tiny pointless amount ever. By the time I was able to walk/do his feed again (broken pelvis) he'd starting to lose a bit of weight, so I topped him up to say 3 handfuls of hard feed. Nothing huge, but that plus the insanely amazing summer grass we have here seemed to be enough and he looked fine. Weird with no muscle as he's been out of work for 2.5 months since my fall, but not underweight.
So I'm stumped as to why, when he's getting more volume with the speedi-beet, is he losing so much more weight? I've heard it can be used to restrict their diet as it fills them up with water and they graze less. But would that be an issue on the amount of speedi beet he's receiving?
Also he's paddock cribber, and seems to have stepped that up a notch in the last few weeks. That said I think he gets antsy when not ridden enough. He still grazes for most of the time though. My trainer was riding him a little but seems to have stopped. I was actually looking into sending him to a pro trainer while I can't ride, so I'm letting my trainer's MIA status slide for the moment.
He lives out 24/7 with free access to a stable (which he loves, my princess doesn't 'do' rain) and while there are horses next door he's a bit of a hardass loner and prefers to ignore them. The grass is still more than abundant - if anything I should be worrying about laminitis, founder etc. Worming and teeth both up to date (the vet came out about 6 weeks ago to look after the latter, he had some nasty hooks up the back, ouch!).
Anyone have a similar story with speedi beet? I took him off the premix hard feed as my trainer advised that the barley was making him silly hence my dramatic fall - so they just gave him tiny amounts until the existing bag had been used up and then gradually transferred him to speedi beet.
Should I boost his feed with protein? FFS or Copra? More speedi-beet? Or is that the problem?
I know there are other factors to look into - ie is he cribbing all day while I'm at work instead of eating hence no weight gain; or is he stressed about being out of work (he gets a bit depressed if he's not busy); but I just thought to ask in case this is a known issue that I can resolve straight away.