Feed advice for a old pony

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Sandstone1

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Does anyone have any advice for getting some weight on a old pony please.
currantly on fast fibre and spillers conditioning mix but really needs to gain some weight. teeth worming etc all up to date but is looking quite poor at the moment. Any ideas please.
 
I feed my 43yr old

4 scoops ready mash

3 scoops sugar (not speedi) beet

cod liver oil

vegetable oil

split into 6/7 buckets and put in the stable throughout the day. She will also have a couple of handfuls of mollichop veteran chucked in and a trug of it over night as well as as lib hay all day (in large holed nets)
 
The above sounds pretty good. I would add at least one scoop of Bailey's No 4 Top Line Conditioner. It's like pony nuts so you can soak them to make them easier for oldies to eat.
 
How big is the pony? How old? Does it live in or out? Does it have ad lib hay and approx how much hay does it eat a day? Any history of laminitis or Cushings or any other health problems?

What quantities of Fast Fibre and Conditioning Mix are you feeding? I must say that Fast Fibre is a low calorie food, so might not be the best choice in the circumstances.
 
Pony is about 30, 14hh and welshx. out all day in o/n ad lib hay 2 sccops fast fibre 2 scops conditioning mix in two feeds rugged up am going to cange to vetern vitality as have heard thats better than fast fibre. ( scoops are the large round ones)
 
If you are limited to feeding twice a day (so need to maximise calories in each feed), then might be better to change the Fast Fibre to unmolassed beet (ie Speedibeet), as that is higher in calories than both FF and VV (FF 8 MJDE/kg, VV 11 MJDE/kg, Speedibeet 12.4 MJDE/kg). You could also change the Spiller's Mix to Baileys Topline Cubes, as suggested above, as again it is higher in calories than the mix you are currently using.

You could also give him a large tub of soaked grass nuts alongside his haynet every night, as older ponies usually chew hay quite slowly, so a soaked source of fibre helps them to maximise their forage intake.
 
Mine is 26yr 14.2 Arab, he gets two feeds per day and in that he gets a half scoop of dengie alpha beet, full scoop of Dengie alpha-oil and 200g of Topspec Senior balancer. He also gets adlib hay and a bucket over night with 2-3 scoops of Dengie Senior in it.

I struggled with his weight for a while and have found this to be my best solution so far x
 
Out of interest why is only speedi-beet non-molassed? All the beet I buy in France is non-molassed I never buy speedi-beet as it would be much too expensive for my whole yard.

Bailey's no 1 is excellent for veterans as is D&H 16+, which is what I feed my 32 year old horse.

For those that need help to keep weight on in the winter I feed cooked barley and 'good quality oil' soya or linseed.
 
Our oldies get Leighs Senior http://www.equineandpetfeed.co.uk/?page_id=2 if you scroll down, its on there somewhere. Its like a really good quality chop type stuff, ours can't eat hayledge anymore so they get as much of this stuff as they can eat and touch wood they're holding their weight well this year. They also get maize and were on baileys no.1 but for some reason wont eat that anymore.
 
I feed my old boy:
Alfalfa pellets (forage replacer)
Speedibeet (foreage replacer)
Wheat feed (weight gain)
Micronised linseed (weight, coat, gut muculage, joints)
Carob kibble (vits and gut balance)
Brewers yeast (gut function and vitamins)
2000iu Vitamin E (2 capsules squeezed out) (replace lost vit E from lack of forage for immune system)
Oats (energy and conditioning)
Readigrass (to chew on and slow feeding down)
Mixture of dried herbs (clivers, garlic, marigold, chamomile, dandelion, burdock, meadowsweet, mint, nettle, don quai, yarrow, hawthorn, kotu ola, buckwheat etc)
'Magic Powder' (turmeric, cat's claw, limestone flour, salt, milk thistle seeds, yea-sacc)
Handful of rosehips.

It seems like alot, but I find it cheaper to mix my own than feed a commercial mix and I prefer to have absolute control over what I feed. I dislike paying for fillers or straw with a molassed topping;)

I have heard good reports from Ready Mash Extra too for older horses.
http://www.rowenbarbary.co.uk/horse_feed_products/seniors/16

Fast Fibre is basically just straw. Veteren Vitality is a step in right direction from the feed companies - but it's a little higher in starch for my liking.

Wheat feed or "Thirds" is good for adding weight and very cheap, needs to be feed with imestone flour (also V cheap).

I personally wouldn't live without micronised linseed either, but then I wouldn't do without any of the bits I feed him:). He looks bloody good, so I'm happy:)
 
Rollin said:
Out of interest why is only speedi-beet non-molassed? All the beet I buy in France is non-molassed I never buy speedi-beet as it would be much too expensive for my whole yard.
Click to expand...
It is not the only unmollassed beet available, but it is probably the most commonly stocked (in my area anyway), which is why I gave it as an example. You can also get Kwikbeet and Easibeet, which are also unmolassed and quick soak. Trident make Equibeet which is unmolassed and slow soak, and I think Simple Systems do a slow soak, non molassed beet too.

However, I have found the majority of feedstores in our area just tend to stock Supabeet (long soak, molassed) and Speedibeet.
 
Oberon said:
I feed my old boy:
Alfalfa pellets (forage replacer)
Speedibeet (foreage replacer)
Wheat feed (weight gain)
Micronised linseed (weight, coat, gut muculage, joints)
Carob kibble (vits and gut balance)
Brewers yeast (gut function and vitamins)
2000iu Vitamin E (2 capsules squeezed out) (replace lost vit E from lack of forage for immune system)
Oats (energy and conditioning)
Readigrass (to chew on and slow feeding down)
Mixture of dried herbs (clivers, garlic, marigold, chamomile, dandelion, burdock, meadowsweet, mint, nettle, don quai, yarrow, hawthorn, kotu ola, buckwheat etc)
'Magic Powder' (turmeric, cat's claw, limestone flour, salt, milk thistle seeds, yea-sacc)
Handful of rosehips.

It seems like alot, but I find it cheaper to mix my own than feed a commercial mix and I prefer to have absolute control over what I feed. I dislike paying for fillers or straw with a molassed topping;)

I have heard good reports from Ready Mash Extra too for older horses.
http://www.rowenbarbary.co.uk/horse_feed_products/seniors/16

Fast Fibre is basically just straw. Veteren Vitality is a step in right direction from the feed companies - but it's a little higher in starch for my liking.

Wheat feed or "Thirds" is good for adding weight and very cheap, needs to be feed with imestone flour (also V cheap).

I personally wouldn't live without micronised linseed either, but then I wouldn't do without any of the bits I feed him:). He looks bloody good, so I'm happy:)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Is the ready mash the same as fast fibre or better?
Have never fed oats etc as always fed mixes etc, would oats help with condition. Do you buy the magic powder or mix it yourself. I have heard turmuric helps joints etc, is that right?
 
Fast fibre contains straw, beet and oat fibre with vits and mins and garlic. It's fine to be used as a foreage replacer or filler but it's not a conditioning feed and I would rather feed alfalfa pellets and speedibeet as it is cheaper.

The Ready Mash Extra is a whole bucket feed and foreage replacer. I won't feed it as it's full of molasses, which is no good for my horses feet and makes my old boy prone to infection. However I have heard many good things from people with veterens who use it.

I mix my own Magic Powder and herbal mix. I get a majority of stuff in bulk from Cotswold Health Products and measure out 2 week's worth in a tub.

The herbs represent what he would get if he were allowed to graze freely in the wild rather than the mixture of stressed grass from his livery field:)

I have used blends from Equinatural in the past until I got the hang of doing it myself. It smells DEVINE!

The Magic Powder has turmeric for joints, salt, fenugreek for taste and weight, rosehips for vit c and joints, milk thistle seeds for liver health, cat's claw for well being and immunity, limestone flour for calcium and to balance the Thirds I feed, yea-sacc for gut health.

As for oats - I was always afraid of them but they are a wonderful feed! They provide energy and condition for him. A bag is dirt cheap and lasts forever. You can buy whole and sprout them http://www.thunderbrook.co.uk/mature-organic-oats/
but I don't have the time so I feed rolled oats and soak the feeds the night before to reduce the starch - it's the starch that can make some horses giddy from oats.
I only need to feed 1/4 scoop a day. It works for him and he loves the taste.

Another thing to try is Rice Bran. It isn't as common in this country and so more expensive than Wheat feed or wheat bran, but it is very fattening and brill for oldies.

It is sold at Thunderbrooks and also Saracen feed's Equijewel.
 
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