Rusty is in very good condition and holding his weight very well. I would not want him to hold any further weight but as your workload returns to normal this should help to maintain his weight and tone him up. He is lacking a little muscle over his topline particularly over his wither but again this is probably due to his lighter work regime over the last few weeks. To help develop this muscle in this area and help maintain this through lighter workloads I would recommend that we increase the balancer to boost the quality protein content of the diet. Protein is one of the major nutrients required by the horse to build muscle, thus elevating the quality protein of the diet should help develop Rusty’s topline.

Having made some enquiries on the cereal or starch content of the Top Spec Cool Condition Cubes I do not have an equivalent product that I feel is suitable to replace them with without increasing the starch content of the diet, which may negatively affect Rusty’s energy levels. However you could consider increasing the volume of sugar beet in the diet. Feeding an unmolassed sugar beet such as Speedi Beet minimises starch intake considerably but supplies the same level of calories/energy as the Top Spec Cool Condition Cubes. Therefore to further lower Rusty’s excitability you could consider replacing the Cool Condition Cubes with higher quantities of Speedi Beet whilst still able to maintain Rusty’s current weight and condition.

Alternatively if you are happy with Rusty’s current energy levels or do not feel he will eat elevated levels of Speedi Beet then I would suggest that you continue to feed the Cool Condition Cubes alongside the Baileys Outshine and replace the Top Spec Feed Balancer with the Baileys Performance Balancer.

I would also suggest that you consider trying Rusty on the Outshine with added spearmint to see if this helps tempt him to eat it more readily.

Feeding Recommendations for Rusty:

Moderate Work (up to 1 hour work/day)
8lbs (3.5kg) of Top Spec Cool Condition Cubes
2lbs (0.91kg/4 mugs) of Performance Balancer
0.5-1.5lbs (0.25-0.68kg/1-3 mugs) of Outshine per day.

Or

2.75lbs (1.25kg) of Speedi Beet (dry weight prior to soaking)
2lbs (0.91kg/4 mugs) of Performance Balancer
1.5lbs (0.68kg/3 mugs) of Outshine per day.

Both the above diets can be bulked out with the Dengie Alfa A Oil. I would recommend that you feed in the region 2lbs (0.91kg/2 round stub’s scoops) per day. If you find that Rusty will not eat this quantity I would suggest that the Performance Balancer is increased slightly by 0.5lb (0.25kg/1 mug) per day.
This will ensure that he is receiving the optimum requirements for protein to help support muscle development.

When introducing any new feed into the diet I would recommend that you do this gradually over a period of 7-10 days.

It may also be beneficial for you to supplement the diet with the Baileys Digest Plus prebiotic. As Rusty can drop weight or become tucked up at a competition or during travelling. This is often due to the bacterial population becoming disrupted through excitement or nerves. Supplementing with a prebiotic helps to maintain the bacterial population by feeding the beneficial bacteria and strengthening them. I would suggest that you feed 20g (2 of the enclosed scoops) per day.