Brabant cpl food advice

[white_tara]

Hi,

I'm after some food advice, we've got a 9yr old Brabant with CPL, we are all new to CPL so it's a learning curve! He is currently on thunderbrook herbal museli, herbal chaff and synergy powder but he is starting to lose weight and condition and we are finding it hard to find a food to get some weight back on him. My mum is on the CPL fb page and tried to ask on there for any recommendations and her post got declined with "feedback" of contact thunderbrook directly yourself ! We have emailed Thunderbrook and they haven't responded, I've started talking to Allen & page and they have been quite helpful and have asked for all his info to see if they can suggest any of their feeds to help. In 4 months he's gone from 802kg down the 726kg and we don't want him to lose anymore. Don't get me wrong he isn't ribby etc but could do with a bit more weight and definitely topline. He has just come back into work the last couple of weeks due to a long 3 month battle with abscesses in one of his front feet, his work is all road work and unfortunately dont have access to sand schools etc, will be ridden once to twice a week.

First time posting I hope I'm doing it right! Sorry if not .

Many thanks in advance

Tara

 

[Red-1]

Hi, my black cob has the start of this, it was getting worse so we had to look at it.

He had a detox with Trinity Consultants L94, followed by Marigold and Clevers and a plain diet, including soaked speedy beet and a fairly plain chaff. Pea protein has helped keep him a more pleasing shape.

When at its worst, I lightly bandaged or used magnetic stable wraps. That is no longer necessary. I also keep his feather clipped right back and skin in excellent condition (massage daily and clip/wash once a week). At first, he was against clipping as he was inflamed and sore, so it was a little done every day.

The best thing I have done though is to change the window in the back of his stable into a door, and make him some hardstanding outside. He has free access at all times, so his legs are always moving.

The creases he had are still there, but they are no longer progressing and he never has filled legs now. His were relatively minor though.

 

[SEL]

I lost my Belgian Ardennes last autumn to his arthritis but he had CPL.

I found 24:7 turnout, clipping his legs and regular mite treatment the biggest help.

Feed wise he would never have kept condition on what you're feeding. Ad lib hay in winter & he was my lawn mower in spring / summer. Kwik beet, copra and a decent balancer. Linseed works for many horses but made his legs itch more

Spillers veteran mix last summer (he was18) in the drought when there wasn't any grass and he did very well on it. Legs looked great and he had an incredible shine on his coat

They do need A LOT of hay though!!

 

[white_tara]

I lost my Belgian Ardennes last autumn to his arthritis but he had CPL.

I found 24:7 turnout, clipping his legs and regular mite treatment the biggest help.

Feed wise he would never have kept condition on what you're feeding. Ad lib hay in winter & he was my lawn mower in spring / summer. Kwik beet, copra and a decent balancer. Linseed works for many horses but made his legs itch more

Spillers veteran mix last summer (he was18) in the drought when there wasn't any grass and he did very well on it. Legs looked great and he had an incredible shine on his coat

They do need A LOT of hay though!!

He has is on 24/7 turnout with a big bale haylage which he eats as he wants, grazing with us is crap hence why they have haylage out all the time. His legs are clipped so we can keep track of how his legs are. I shall have a look for the foods you've suggested and maybe try them for him.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

My cob looked as if she was starting with it but the skin problems were actually caused by linseed. I don't know what the ingredients of your feed are but I would strip his diet right back to grass/grassnuts/haycobs and work from there. We used to keep weight on our oldies with soaked grassnuts and grass chaff, because it's fibre you can give them as much as they will eat, if you increase the amounts gradually. If he can tolerate Speedibeet that would be useful too. The cob cannot cope with sugar in her diet.