Advice wanted on feeding linseed

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Ruftys mum

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My horse is kept at a local livery yard on full livery and at present out at grass 24/7. Usually they are moved regularly into a different field after haylage/ hay has been taken. This year they have had to stay put a bit longer because it has been too wet to get the hay in. The field is now getting grazed down and I was considering giving my 19 year old horse a bit extra to keep his weight up. He is quite a poor doer and you can always see his ribs. However he is well covered everywhere else . At present he has a scoop of high fibre cubes daily. The local farm shop is selling what look like linseed chips in kilo bags. I am considering adding these to his feed but am not sure how much to give him. If he improves his weight on these I will get a sack of micronised linseed. Again how much should I feed. I must add that he is very greedy and will eat as much as you give him.

I have to be very careful what I add to his feed as the YO gets upset if she feels that you are over riding her feeding arrangements. I think I could get away with lobbing linseed in rather than something more substantial
 
The chips are probably Linseed Lozenges, and the reason they stick together is because most of the oil has been pressed out. This means that they aren't as conditioning, and since you can feed (and I do on occasion) 500g a day of the Micronised then a 1kg sample bag isn't going to tell you a great deal about their effectiveness.

If you don't want a 20kg bag from Charnwood, who are the cheapest by a mile even with carriage, then I think both Equimins and possibly Hilton Herbs sell it in smaller amounts. But if he isn't a good doer then I'd say it was worth investing in 20kg right away as you can keep him on that over the winter.
 
I'd definitely go for the micronised linseed straight away. Generally advised to feed 25g per 100kg weight of horse. I have increased this slightly as my mare is milking at the moment.

I get mine from Simple Systems.
 
why dont you just put him on a feed designed for older horses?
if you just feed high fibre cubes (which are not designed for horses that are bad doers) and linseed he will not be getting the vitamins he needs.
i dont feed my 5yr old any hard feed but she is welsh type and kept on good grazing, my daughters 16yr old has a handful of conditioning cubes and hi fi no added sugar so she gets her supplements (oil, cider vinegar and joint supplement)
i feed high fibre cubes and hi fi no added sugar to the fatty strop box at work (9yrs) and the 6yr old live wire gets slow release energy cubes and hi fi no added sugar
my boss (as did one of her instructors) wanted to feed separate rations but i am never keen to do this as it unbalances the whole feed ration unless you really know what you are doing
 
not to throw the cat amongst the pidgeons?but here's a cat!

it's YOUR horse and in my mind you should be able to feed YOUR own horse whatever you like! am i wrong? on the last yard i was on YO didnt like you doing this either! bonkers if u ask me.....how are you able to gauge if you aren't feeding your own?
 
Thanks for all the replies. It is difficult for me to influence the feeding regime as my horse is on full livery ie the YO sees to everything. I do try and influence her gently and in the winter there is no real problem It is just at the moment when they are waiting to go on to better grazing . We are a very happy yard and she has a queue of owners wanting livery so I feel unable to upset the applecart. I would find it difficult to move to another yard so convenient and good for hacking I live abroad for several months of the year so I have to rely on her. I just want to make sure that he keeps his weight in the short term.

I will get the linseed and see how he goes.

I must say that if I thought that my horse was not being looked after properly I would certainly put my foot down
 
I feed my 17hh+ boy a heaped mugful of micronised linseed a day - a sack has lasted 4 months so far! He's looking beautiful on it :)

One thing I would say is that if there is no grass then he probably just needs more fibre... I know my boy needs to come in for hay when the grass gets low.
 
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