Feed advice for lazy veteran

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AGAGE

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Hi, I need some feeding advice. (sorry for the length of this post!!)

I have an 18 year old, 15hh chunky Thoroughbred gelding, that is a good doer and who can at times be incredibly lazy. I am currently in the process of getting him fitter after having 1 year off due to work commitments. He is currently doing 30-40 mins of schooling (just started canter work) 4 days a week and lunging twice a week for 25 mins. Unfortunately we are unable to hack at the moment due to problems with our lorry.

He had a cortisone injection in his hock over a year ago and can occassionally be stiff behind, and has in the past been on various supplements for his stiffness, that have not made any noticeable difference.

He is currently feed, pony nuts (feed merchants own brand), apple mollichop, sugar beet, soya oil, carrots and equivite. Ad lib hay, and turned out during the day on limited grass.

He is looking quiet good at the moment and is not overweight, however I would like him to have better muscle tone/top line(i know this will improve with fitness) and a bit of sparkle that he seems to be lacking. I would like to reduce, where possible the number/ variety of feeds that he is being fed and feed just one or two that include all of the vit and mins that he needs.

He has been fed oats and comp mixes in the past, however this made no difference at all. He was on blue chip pro about 3 years ago when he was competing upto medium level dressage and looked wonderful on this, but could still be lazy. I am currently thinking of feeding Blue chip pro, but I'm not sure if he will have enough energy on this and fibre alone.

Does anyone know of any cost effective balancers/feeds that are ideal for veterans, produce moderate energy and suitable good doers ? (I know I'm probably asking for the impossible !)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Sounds to me as though what you are getting now is what you are going to get. You have a veteran thoroughbred who is always laid back, doesnt respond when fed oats or competition mix and who hasnt got enough sparkle for you.

To be honest it sounds to me like you are trying to turn thehorse into something it isnt.

Sorry, I dont think there is much you can do but accept that your older horse cant do what you want to do.
 
Thanks for your advice. I'm aware that I probably never will get him to be sharper, as it's in his nature to be laid back unless he decides otherwise. (He can on occassion be very forward, although this is only when he wants to be)

I just want to ensure that I'm providing him with all nutrional support and energy that he requires for what we are currently doing and hope to do i.e. the occassional novice dressage and veteran showing class and hacking.

He is more than capable of doing his work load at present and I don't intend on doing anything that would be too much for him, as I love him to bits and wouldn't want to risk hurting him.

I will admit that I would love to see him as fit and conditioned as he was a few years ago when he was at his peak, but I'm aware that this isn't possible as I can't change time.

However, I want to ensure that I'm feeding him the best I can to promote his health and provide him with suffient energy, and wonder whether feeding something such as blue chip pro or a similar balancer/feed that is recommended for veterans , would be better for him than what he currently gets?
 
What about something like propell plus - concentrated vit/min and iron supplement, can often give them that extra edge
 
The things I found that perked up my veteran were Top Spec conditioning flakes and Red Cell. He didnt get silly or fizzy but did seem brighter in himself plus had a little more staying power than before.

Top Spec do do a vitamin and mineral supplement as opposed to a bagged forage and it may well do the trick and actually replace your balancer, it would be worth phoning them.

The other company I would phone is D+H, Ive always found them to be wonderfully impartial given they are working for one of the big feed manufacturers!
 
At the minute you are feeding a lot of sugar, mollichaff apple contains 17% sugar!! plus the sugar beet too! sugar is empty calories so I would cut them out.

Go for a high fibre high oil chaff like Dengie Alpha A oil, my 18 yr old is on this, plus either a balancer like Saracens Bi Life 2000 or Baileys low cal, or alternatively add a vitamin and mineral supplement.

As he gets fitter he should be more lively ( fingers crossed)
Good luck
 
Yawn.....here we go again......there is bugger all sugar in sugar beet......its US that eats that, the horses get the fibrous by product. Theres a heck of a lot more 'sugar' in field grass than there is in sugarbeet cubes.

Please dont just bandy the word sugar about without knowing which type you are talking about either.
 
A lot depends on the type of sugar beet you are talking about. Unmolassed sugar beet (ie brands like Speedibeet) are only 5% sugar - as Spaniel quite rightly says the beet we buy for our horses is the by-product of the sugar refining process, where they extract as much of the beet's sugar as possible for us to eat!

However, in molassed sugar beet (for example Supabeet) the manufacturers add extra molasses to the beet (presumably to aid palatability), and this means the sugar level of molassed beet is about 20%.
 
Not rude just exasperated. Dont take it personally, Id have said the same to anyone else. People see the word sugar on the bag and get hysterical.
 
smile.gif
ok I apologise
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Trouble is people say they feed sugar beet when they mean they feed the unmolassed beet like speedi beet and kwik beet
Everyone gets confused, most feeds contain sugar, I know that, but some are unnecessary high in it!
Instead of feeding a simple diet of fibre and a balancer or vit/min supplement , they mix and match with allsorts!
 
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