Tricky thoroughbred

QI recently took on a new Thoroughbred mare. She’s been turned out with no hard feed for the past two years. She has no muscle and her hooves are in a terrible state. Where do I start with her feed? Abbi Lawrence, Leicestershire

AThough grazing and forage in the UK can supply many horses with plenty of energy or calories to maintain their weight, it lacks certain trace minerals, including zinc, copper and selenium. For hoof condition, zinc is one trace mineral that’s particularly important. Research has also shown that supplementing the horse’s diet with the B vitamin, biotin, helps to improve hoof growth and quality when supplemented at 15mg per day for a 500kg horse. How well your horse maintains his weight will influence the type of feed that can supply these nutrients. If your horse is in light work and holds weight reasonably well on grazing, the required nutrients can be given in a low energy, complete fibre feed such as Dengie Healthy Hooves or Mollichaff Hoofkind. As with all feeds, they need to be fed at the recommended quantity for your horse to benefit. If you feed less, a balancer or supplement should be used. A lack of muscle tone is normal when horses haven’t been in work. The building blocks of muscle are amino acids, which are collectively referred to as protein. Feeding your horse the essential amino acids combined with more work will help to build his top line. Feeding an alfalfa fibre feed will provide good quality protein and a supplement or balancer can be fed alongside to help balance his diet.