anyones horse losing condition..?

[oliviacharley]

Is anyones horse losing condition at the moment..?
I am finding it hard to keep my boy happy at the moment with the cold weather, warm weather and then wet weather...
My gelding seems to have lost weight and shine from his coat.
I have tried to feed him chaff with cod liver oil, clop vits and mins and garlic powder but he does not seem to want to eat it and just leaves it...he seems quite happy eatting his grass..I want him to put on some weight but also worry about the dampness of the days and the sun shine which is encouraging the grass to shoot up at the mo which can cause lami probs...so do not want to feed him a rich diet....does linseed cause any weight gain and if so is it good stuff to use compared to cod liver...can you use both...? do you think apple chaff might be a better choice..?
Also he has an old injury on his side and I am wondering if anyone knows of an old wives tails which encourages hair growth - hopefully not white hair as he is a palomino and I want to show him....
any thoughts welcome...

 

[OrangeEmpire]

Try an Alfalfa based chaff - should help him keep condition on better. I find my horses won't eat oils in the summer, so try cutting that out and seeing if he;ll eat then!

Alternatively Spillers Fibre cubes are what my fragile horse is thriving on at the moment - literally only a handful a day is enough for him.
Hope this helps!

 

[Tinkerbee]

sadly no...all ours are HUGE atm
the ponies are huge...well they are ponies...all on restricte grazing the buggers
the cobs..well...when arent they huge

Dions huge cos shes on box rest but wont take bute etc without feed..
dee is on boxrest too
argh

 

[SSM]

Mine is looking great, still a bl**dy slow donkey though -and I swear her winter coat is coming through - does not suprise me, she had hers early last year and with the weather we have had

 

[dixie]

Well mine are getting too fat, too much warm weather and lots of rain. I've had to start keeping them in by day.

However, I have noticed that they are losing their shine a bit and one of is actually moulting ???

if you want to put condition on and make sure that he gets all his vit and mins etc you could consider a feed balancer such as Top Spec, which is quite palatable too. Or maybe try ringing their helpline and see what they say.

 

[bellaM]

My little pony is, she is old and her teeth aren't great, she has regular dental check ups and wintered well, she's been looking really tucked up lately even though I had her on fairly good grass, she is having blood tests this week as she is a native and should be doing well!!!

 

[reddie]

Not a chance, he's as round as a barrel despite plenty of exercise. His coat does seem to have thickened up a little though.

 

[oliviacharley]

thanks everyone - its great to get an idea about what is going on in the other parts of the country..
I am due to collect a bag of Top spec tomorrow and some apple chaff to make it more yummy to chew on...fingers crossed it works as it is costing me an arm and leg!
My little old pony too is also little tucked up- think it might just be a little chilly for them...I am ruggin my old girl at night and trying to feed her vits and min in the mornings and evenings but again she too is more interested in the grass so dont know how much she really is getting into her...I also have bought a lick for the field which they seem to love which has loads of vits and mins so that should help out too...
thanks everyone - lets hope summer does arrive some time in the future..sick of riding in the rain....

 

[Lill]

ahem no ours are all a little on the fat side!!

 

[SirenaXVI]

Mine are the opposite I'm afraid, at the moment all they are getting is Topspec and Applechaff - the applechaff because it is very low in sugar (which came as a bit of a surprise) you may be better feeding something like Graze-on with the balancer if you want to put condition on.

 

[Angua2]

Mine are still getting 2 meals a day in addition to the grass to stop them dropping too much. I can't cope with this unpredicatable weather..... one minute too hot the next too cold and when that happens they drop weight

 

[shellonabeach]

I am also in the South East and my boy has also lost condition. He is thinner now than coming out of the winter (15kgs less)

I think the problem for mine is with the wet weather the field got totally waterlogged, a bit churned up, and now it looks like a starvation paddock - we are not allowed to put out hay because a couple of owners want their horses to lose weight.

I have been stabling mine for 5-6 hours a day to have hay and feeding winter time rations of hard feed - inc speedibeet & soaked oats. This week I am sending him to a friends for a week as she has 1/2 acre which is totally ungrazed. I'm hoping this well help sort him out. We too have been rugging at night as my boy has been cold.

 

[SirenaXVI]

Ahh yes, I am really lucky as my fields are really well drained and even with the torrential rain they have not become waterlogged - I have so much grass at the moment we are topping the unused fields as soon as they dry off

Am a little worried about the hay/haylage situation this winter, everyone I have spoken to has not been able to cut any yet

 

[Puppy]

Yes

One of mine, my older girl (not the other one, she's still a podge

) has dropped condition with the weather we've had. It's a nightmare though as she overheats in her shower sheet, and then gets tucked up, so keeping the rain off her isn't the answer. Like SSM said, she's also changing coats - which she always does early compared to the rest, but in JULY?

Have started feeding her up a bit and she's picking up fine but it's depressing. Usually in this field, and this time of year I would be working the weight off of her