Thunderbrook Gentle Gain 15kg – Forage-Based Conditioning Pellets for Horses & Ponies

Thunderbrook Gentle Gain – 15kg

Gentle Gain is Thunderbrook's conditioning pellet, and the unusual thing about it is where the calories come from. Sainfoin makes up 58.5% and stabilised rice bran 32%, with linseed, a yeast product, monocalcium phosphate and magnesium oxide making up the remainder — no cereals, no alfalfa, no molasses and no synthetic additives.

That combination gives 15.1% protein and 8.7% fat at 10.5 MJ/kg, with sugar at 4.5% and starch at 10.7%. It is a way of putting condition on a horse that cannot take a cereal-based conditioning mix, and Thunderbrook recommend it for lean or underweight horses, veterans, horses recovering from illness, and horses with metabolic conditions including laminitis, EMS and gastric issues.

Performance & Benefits

• Sainfoin at 58.5% — a legume forage carrying natural tannins, used here instead of alfalfa.
• Stabilised rice bran at 32% for calories and oil without cereal starch.
• Linseed for omega oils, and a yeast product for the hindgut.
• 15.1% crude protein and 8.7% crude fat at 10.5 MJ/kg digestible energy.
• Sugar 4.5% and starch 10.7%, about 15% between them.
• Fed dry or soaked, so it suits a horse with poor teeth as readily as a good chewer.

Suitable For

• Lean or underweight horses and ponies that need to gain condition.
• Veterans needing help to hold weight through a winter.
• Horses recovering from illness or a hard season.
• Horses Thunderbrook describe as metabolically sensitive, including those with laminitis, EMS and gastric issues.
• Not a balanced ration on its own — a horse fed Gentle Gain still needs a balancer such as Thunderbrook Daily Essentials alongside it.

Feeding

• Pony around 300kg: 0.5–1.2kg a day, depending on condition.
• Horse around 500kg: 1–2.4kg a day, depending on condition.
• Split into two or more feeds rather than one large bucket.
• To soak: one part Gentle Gain to two parts warm water for about ten minutes.
• Introduce gradually over a week or more.
• Fresh water at all times.

Composition & Analysis

• Composition: sainfoin 58.5%, rice bran 32%, linseed, yeast product (4%), monocalcium phosphate, magnesium oxide.
• Thunderbrook's analysis: crude protein 15.1%, crude fat 8.7%, crude fibre 21.2%, sugar 4.5%, starch 10.7%, DE 10.5 MJ/kg.
• No cereals, alfalfa, molasses or synthetic additives.
• Sugar and starch together come to about 15%, which is the figure Thunderbrook quote when describing it as suitable for metabolically sensitive horses.
• Thunderbrook currently publish Gentle Gain in a 20kg bag and a 2.5kg trial pack; 15kg is not a bag weight they list, so check the sack on delivery.