Re: what should i be feeding my 19 year old 15'2" heavyweight cob gelding?

I also have a heavy cob, a mare who is 22, who lives out 24/7.

By the sound of it, your boy is missing his turnout, especially if he has gone from full turnout to only 4 or 6 hours a day.

My old girl crib bit before we had her as she got bored and moody being in a stable, even if only over night, so we've always kept her out, and she's been absolutely fine. If ever she has had to be stabled, even for a couple of hours, she will kick the door, start weaving, and generally misbehave.

Rather than mess about with feed he probably doesn't need, I would ask if he can go back to 24/7 turnout, or if not then look for somewhere else where he can be out all the time - it's obviously what he needs, and the bad behaviour is his way of telling you he's not a happy chappie.

Good luck with him, and I hope you can sort it out.

Re: what should i be feeding my 19 year old 15'2" heavyweight cob gelding?

If going back to turnout is an option, I'd also say go for it!  My 19yo, (good doer)15.2 TBx mare has 22-24lb hay a night - that's about 10kg and she's in for about 15hrs.  She doesn't always eat it all but she doesn't often leave much!  Her "hard feed" is a low cal balancer and half a scoop of Dengie Alfa lite so not much at all!  If you're paying for hay in your livery cost, it sounds like your YO might be being a bit stingy.  That said if he's not eating at all in the field it's unlikely he is hungry (you may have to check you're not just catching him at his dozing time!)

I've just bought Meadowbrix from Simple System Horse feeds to give to my girls as a bit of a boredom buster if they have to be in for longer while the ground is so wet.  They're solid bricks of compressed grass and really take some gnawing.  One loves them and really goes for it - leaving her dinner in preference - the other one isn't at all fussed.