Hello, I’m looking for suggestions for the best grain/ and or supplements for my gelding Buddy. I have owned him for three years and never had him on any grain or supplements. I’m looking to start him on some, I have been researching the past few hours about them but most articles are pretty broad, so I decided to see if there are any equestrians on here who are experienced with nutrition! Buddy is an approximately 15 year old grade appendix quarter horse. He is 16.2 HH and I have no idea how much he weighs but he is a ‘big boned’ or large framed horse. I would say he is a six on the body scale. He has not been regularly ridden the past three years. There were times were he would be ridden five days a week or sometimes none. He took probably half of last year off due to an abscess, a injury from the pasture (healed) and personal issues. He has been slowly being brought back into work over the past few weeks. I plan for him to be moderately worked 4-6 times a week. We do low level dressage and eventing. Also trail riding, cow work and barrel racing. My vet recommended that I start him on a joint supplements as she is starting to see a little wear and tear on him. He is on pasture during the day for around ten hours and in a stall at night. He is fed two flakes of grass hay a day (he gets one or none in the spring/ summer). He is naturally well muscled but I would like to see more muscle in his back/ top line. His skin seems a little dry, and his main and tail are on the thinner side. His energy levels are ok but he could use a little bit more energy.
hope I provided enough info for y’all to get an idea of what he needs! Please recommend feeds and supplements to me, also how much I should feed! Not looking to spend an arm and a leg. Also please if you are experienced and knowledgeable about horse nutrition! Thank you!!
A good place to start is to see what is available at your local feed store or TSC. Feed availability can vary widely from one location to another. Once you find the brands that are available, and list them here, then folks can chime in as to what they think might be best. It won’t do you any good for people to recommend feeds that you don’t have in your area. 
With that said, since your horse in on pasture/hay, a ration balancer would make sense. Most feeds list on their websites how much to feed in pounds (typically) based on the age/weight of the horse and the work the horse is performing. Then you adjust how much up/down based on the horses response to the feed over time.
I recommend the book Feed Your Horse Like a horse, by Juliet Getty. It explains current best practices in horse nutrition.
The best feed is good hay, and then if you need extra calories, a “grain” feed that often has little actual grain. If he is doing well on hay, you can feed him a ration balancer to make sure he gets all his minerals and vitamins.
BCS is good to know for sure. But you also need to know his weight for deworming. I would bet a big boned 16.2 horse weighs more than 1250lb, which is what many dewormers cover.
Here’s an easy formula to get pretty close - more reliable than weight tapes
Heart girth X heart girth X length, divided by 330, + 50 = weight.
http://www.cowboyway.com/HowTo/HorseWeight.htm
My vet recommended that I start him on a joint supplements as she is starting to see a little wear and tear on him.
Almost all the research shows that most joint supplements are wasted. Their ingredients are either not in amounts needed to be effective, or are such that they aren’t digestible in ways they need to be to get where they need to go. What is she seeing?
MSM is a good place to start - proven general anti-inflammatory properties. Something with 100mg or more of HA has potential. ActiFlex 4000 seems to provide good results for a lot of horses. Cosequin does have some science behind it, and it’s not as $$ as it seems for that 3lb container, as the serving size is relatively small.
He is on pasture during the day for around ten hours and in a stall at night. He is fed two flakes of grass hay a day (he gets one or none in the spring/ summer).
Even if you’re using large square bales, that sounds like too little hay. They’d have to be 10lb flakes for that to make sense for a horse that size. Is there hay in the pasture? Unless you’re somewhere in the South with good pasture even in Winter, or there was a well-stockpiled pasture somewhere else,I can’t imagine the pasture is providing anything but busy work.
He is naturally well muscled but I would like to see more muscle in his back/ top line.
Age and lack of work will do that. But so will a diet with too little protein, which may well be the case here
His skin seems a little dry, and his main and tail are on the thinner side.
All skin is “dry” this time of year. Lots of dead skin, trapped dirt and dust from rolling, air is dry, so unless you’re regularly grooming him very thoroughly, to help distribute oils, it’s likely just a product of the season.
Have his mane and tail always been thinner?
His energy levels are ok but he could use a little bit more energy.
What does this mean, exactly?
hope I provided enough info for y’all to get an idea of what he needs! Please recommend feeds and supplements to me, also how much I should feed! Not looking to spend an arm and a leg. Also please if you are experienced and knowledgeable about horse nutrition! Thank you!!
It sounds like he’d definitely benefit from at least a ration balancer, ie Triple Crown 30, Purina Enrich Plus, Seminole Equalizer. Almost every major brand has one, so we’d need to know what brands you have access to. That will provide high, quality nutrition, without a lot of calories.
He is very cute :yes: and his weight looks good, at least what I can tell with a saddle on 
