Is it true that TBs cost more to feed?

[Horsey person23]

Hi all,

One of my favourite horses is for sale at my coaches and my friend is going to have a look at him. I told my dad and dad was shocked, he said “she’s crazy buying a TB, stock and quarters can just be put in a paddock but TBs need so much extra food!”

All the TBs that my friends own have the same feed as all their other horses in work and just pasture when spelling, we even had a TB that did just fine on pasture 6 or 7 years ago.

So is it true that TBs need so much more care or not? When I was looking for my own horse ages ago most of the affordable hood horses were TBs but my dad turned them all down and I was only allowed to get a stock or quarter horse.

Anyway,
Thanks XD

 

[Jessey]

Yes, as a general rule TB do take a bit more keeping.
My quarter gets fat on fresh air, a TB I used to have got buckets and buckets of conditioning feed on top of the same pasture and free access to hay and he was still a bit too slim, he probably cost me an extra £80 a month just in bucket feed compared to the quarter.
Not all TB are hard keepers, but it’s much more common to see a hard keeping TB than quarter.

 

[Horsey person23]

Yes, as a general rule TB do take a bit more keeping.
My quarter gets fat on fresh air, a TB I used to have got buckets and buckets of conditioning feed on top of the same pasture and free access to hay and he was still a bit too slim, he probably cost me an extra £80 a month just in bucket feed compared to the quarter.
Not all TB are hard keepers, but it’s much more common to see a hard keeping TB than quarter.

Interesting, thanks!

 

[Doodle92]

Yes I had an ex racer. He would drop weight quickly and take ages to go back on again. I moved yards and he gave himself ulcers and lost 80kg in 6 weeks. After that he was on 3 large feeds a day. If the bay was even slightly not up to his standard he would refuse it and drop quickly. His feet were not great and he would loose shoes a lot (however I do wonder if my now farrier would have managed better). Any little
Cuts or scrapes would get infected and swell easily. I used to have to put an over the top bandage on for a few days to stop it getting bad. He felt the cold easily and would get upset if I tried to leave him out overnight (in the summer). He eventually ripped his foot off in a fence and after a long battle we had to pts.

 

[carthorse]

As @Doodle92 has pointed out it's not just the feed bill, they tend to be high maintenance all round. And if they've come out of racing you'll have to retrain which is often more complex than starting with a clean slate. There are reasons off track tbs are cheap.

 

[lauren123]

I know of a few tb who are hardy. But not loads. Bit they are out that.
Saying that His Lordship takes it to a whole new level with high maintance! He used to be a poor doer and he would get adlib and high calorie feed and still not look great. Now he is older we have it right and he looks fab! It took a while but i would say he Costs me 60 quid a month hard feed.

 

[Ellie Equestrian]

TB horses are amazing aren't they, but they do need extra care. (Especially in winter) my advice is to not let them get underweight in the first place as it can then be harder to "cure" if you like. just start feeding them extra mineral and nutrition food before the harshness of winter kicks in then it usually does the trick. in summer just a nice pasture is all they need really.
also TB horses are quite good at injuring there legs/feet. so you shouldn't really do hard work on slopes or muddy places as they can very easily sprain themselves.
HOWEVER i think that they are definitely amazing horses and i think you should go for it. if there is an arena/menage that you can use then that will be better for his legs.
One last thing...(you probably already know this LOL) if he doesn't have much muscle then (TB horses especially) you NEED to build it up with flatwork before you focus on any other discipline.
thats all my advice really. hope i could help. (btw... they can make fab show jumpers)