Best feed for the oldies ... whats your opinion??

[Scranny_Ann]

Be interested to know what you're feeding your oldies??

I've got a 33yo 12.2hh Welsh x Arab currently fed on Hi-Fi and Baileys Senior Mix ... with mint and v-biotic. As the winter is fast approaching us does anyone have any tips on feeding to keep weight on? Annie is very fussy when it comes to eating

She's not a great lover of haylage or hay for that matter, she's not greedy in general. She is stabled by night (in winter months) and is fed twice a day, rugged well when turned out and when stabled.

She doesnt drop weight dramatically just think maybe she could do a little better...any ideas?

I have been told by the vet not to feed sugar beet as her digestion isn't the best and she did have a rough time with colic in Jan 2006

so i'm always extra cautious with what she's eating. Think maybe i worry too much about her but 16 years on she's more than part of the family!!

Sorry its so long guys

any ideas welcome

... x

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Hmmm. My 22/23yr old veteran is a mere baby compared with your girl! He's also a bit of a pig and though is picky with new foods, he can easily be tempted with apple juice splashed on ANYTHING lol! My boy has Mollichaff Veteran chaff which is truly brill and even the fussiest of eaters will stuff it down their gobs. It is mostly chopped oat straw (so safe for lamis) but herbs, mint, oil, nettles, vits and mins init too. It's the delicious minty smell that gets my lad! That does as the basic fibre feed and I add a mugful of D&H Pasture mix to this along with sloppy wet speedibeet to keep it all damp. The only supplement he has is occasional echinacea to boost his immune system. He has this bucket feed twice a day, plus ad lib haylage and winter grazing nibbles out during the day. He is ridden maybe once a week as the weather gets nasty and tbh (touches wood) he's doing very well onthis and is TOO fat! Occasionally he needs a bute for his eye problems and then he gets the apple juice (Tescos own,always cheap!) splashed on top of his dinner and he almost swoons with delight. Carrots, apples when I have them and a swede or cabbageon the floor to keep him busy (yeah, for 5 mins!). I guess with a fussy veteran, it's a question of finding something your girl swoons over too. Veteran chaff is very palatable and if your girl can't eat speedibeet, you coul dwet it down with apple juice. Have you tried fibre beet instead of speedibeet? It's higher in calories and is advertised as ideal for fussy feeders who need to put weight on. The veteran chaff you can use to replace the hay ration if she won't eat hay. It's a short chop so easy for her to chew. If all else fails, baby milk powder is easily digestible and piles the weight on my friend's TB! Good luck x

 

[snaffle]

my 28yr old has fast fibre (soaked) and Allen & Page old faithful, with some veteran molichaff. twice daily, 3times in winter. struggles with hay a bit now. my vet said you need get olduns well covered by end august as they wont put anything on after that.

 

[Heidi1]

My boy is young compared to yours, he's only 20, but has been retired 12 years, anyway he has A&P Calm & Condition and D&H Safe & Sound, apples, carrots and soya oil, he's well covered at the moment, in winter he is in at night, but goes out in the day, if its wet or icy, he has a couple of hours leg stretch and then comes back in, he's fed twice a day, but by December his feed is increased and has speedibeet. He's out with my three mares and he loves it, I'm sure they keep him youthful......

 

[Pink_Pampas]

My 27 year old has lost a bit over the last couple of weeks so he's having Alfa-a oil, sugarbeet and high fibre cubes twice a day while he's still living out. When he comes in (soon) he'll get a snack ball full of high fibre cubes, bucket of Dengie Healthy hooves, hay and carrots.

 

[kerilli]

Bailey's No 1 cooked cereal meal - i've always found that fussy feeders love this. it needs to be wetted down, it's quite "floury".
Graze On or Readigrass or similar (dried green grass, chopped up), soaked. Mine all love this. Haven't got any oldies at the moment but in the past mine loved both of these.
Bailey's Conditioning Cubes are very palatable too (I use them as treats) and put weight on very well.

 

[eekmon]

My oldie ( 31 ) has

16+ cubes
Mollichaff show shine
TopSpec balancer
sugarbeet and a good old glug of oil

Twice a day if hes out three times if in.

 

[jewel]

spillers senior conditioning is good to maintain weight but if you want something to put on weight i would use baileys topline conditioning cubes

 

[TGM]

I don't think there is one best feed for veterans - they are all different and need different diets to suit.

For example, my veteran does really well on adlib hay, AlfaBeet, veg oil and micronised barley - but that is not going to suit all horses.

With your mare I would consider changing to a higher calorie chaff, something like Spiller's Conditioning Fibre or one of the Alfa A range. You say she does not eat a lot of hay or haylage and at 33yo she is likely to have problems with her teeth, even if you have them attended to regularly. I would give her a tub of hay replacer in her stable overnight, alongside her hay, to make sure she is getting plenty of fibre - I've used Spiller's Happy Hoof for this purpose, which most horses seem to like. If the teeth are really bad, then you can soak fibre cubes to make an easily eaten mash.

If that is still not enough to keep her weight on then you could consider swapping the Senior Mix for a conditioning feed of some sort - veteran feeds are usually lower in calories than conditioning feeds. Alternatively, you could keep the senior mix and add some source of oil - either in the form of straight oil (vegetable, soya etc) or an oil-rich supplement such as EquiJewel or Bailey's Outshine.

Hope that helps.

 

[Scranny_Ann]

thanks for your replies everyone

, i'll sit down with Kibob soon and see if we can't figure something out for the old girl now i got all these top tips! Annie's very special she's gotta have nothing but the best in her golden years ...

Thanx again

xx