feed advice for veteran!

luckyoldme

luckyoldme

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my 24/25 year old gelding lives out 24/7 rugged in the winter. Ive had him 7 years.
the last couple of months we have been out and about gentle hacking, he is doing well and seems to be enjoying his life.
Last winter he showed very slight signs of not doing as well as other years. Nothing serious but I feel he now needs a little more help with the winter.
He could be stabled if necessary, but this is most definately not what he wants..(he d much rather be out with his friends!) and i feel he would stiffen up kept in the stable overnight.
The horses are fed ad lib haylage from a ring feeder and come in to individual stables for a feed in the morning. In previous years he has had veteran mix with chaff and sugar beet. His teeth will be checked before winter kicks in and he has been tested for cushings just in case despite showing no symptoms and all is fine. Im trying to think of prevention rather than cure as he is doing well for his age. He did have cracked hoofs last year too, so could anyone tell me what they would reccomend?
 
I would feed micronised linseed for condition, but not molassed beet unless he won't eat, much better is non mol beet, and some soaked barley rings.
The mash feeds are also fattening, but best advice is to feed now, and feed ahead of his condition.
 
My old boy turned up his nose at veteran mix which was an expensive thing to find out. I ended up (after numerous attempts) with feeding him a convalescent mix to keep his weight on and that worked. As it was meant for horses on box rest, it was not heating.

I am in the research stage at the moment, but my friend who has my 29 year old retired mare has been feeding her herbs as well as her normal feed. Mare looks in amazing condition. She started her off with turmeric which I am now giving my dogs and I am researching other herbs with her.
 
We fed our 26 yr old mare on soaked grassnuts, grass chaff and Speedibeet with linseed oil, after she ahd a nasty bout of colic and lost a lot of condition. We retired her and maintained her weight with the same ingredients in smaller quantities. We kept her looking great until she was 31, when she developed signs of neurological issues and had to be pts.
 
ive been hearing tumeric mentioned a lot lately!
i used to give him the epensive stuff veterans mix but went on to the local feed merchants brand, years ago we used to boil linseed for the hunters when they got back home..loved the smell but thens it not all about me!ive heard about barley rings and it was suggested somewhere or other so i will look into that one.
He is looking great at the moment but i want to start stocking up for the winter\1
 
I have a 20yr old tbxwb. In December he was diagnosed with EOTRH and has had to have his incisor teeth removed so obviously he has no 'picking' teeth now. I feed him Allen and Page Veteran Vitality fully soaked and 2 cups of micronized linseed. He has handled the whole experience fantastically and looks great so thumbs up and highly recommended by me
 
I'd suggest make sure that the horse is rugged properly and loosing any condition that way.

I'm feeding the simple systems red bag grass nuts, which have a higher energy content, they're helped my chap, I added some oats too when he'd lost weight. I'd originally just been feeding the blue bag grass nuts when he dropped weight..
 
thankyou Apache!
the rugs are back from the cleaners and in the car awaiting me too have time to have a look over them to see if any need to be repaired!..He has a good selection! I usually patch and mend reproof them round about now and buy a new one if needs be!
he is carrying a little bit of extra weight at the moment, i think im going to see if i can get some of the veteran vitality and add some micronised linseed..and see how he goes. Next job today is to book a vet for his winter mot!
 
My 30 year old mare gets Allen and Page Veteran Vitality and ALlen and Page Calm and Condition. Both are complete feeds that have sugar beet and linseed already in them, and are fed soaked, so ideal for wobbly teeth!
The Calm and Condition has a higher energy value, so she gets that when she's looking a bit ribby.
She doesn't like most mixes, and picks out the bits she doesn't like; very expensive for her to leave most of it! She also didn't like extra linseed in her feed; again very expensive!
Good luck with him over the winter; I'm hoping it isn't too cold or too harsh.
 
I think we all hope for mild winters farcical!
I spoke to an advisor at Allen and Page this morning and I'm getting a little free sample of the vv to see if my lad will eat it.
I know he wont be here forever but I just want to give him the best chance, I have found my riding mojo the last couple of months and really enjoyed just having a walk/trot (very rare canter) and would love to think its not my last summer riding him.
its funny how they get fussy about feed, my lad would have eaten anything seven years ago when I first got him, but I have noticed he feels confident enough to turn his nose up at one or two things these days!
 
If his feet are looking a bit cracked he may not be utilising the minerals in his food as well as he did when younger - have you considered a vitamin and mineral supplement? Perhaps one of the more specialist ones such as those from Forageplus or Progressive Earth may help or a very high-spec broad spectrum one.

My oldies did well on micronised linseed and soaked grassnuts with a few oats for the ones who did well on them. these feeds have good quality protein so even small amounts will help even if they don't want to eat large feeds. He's already getting ad-lib hay so the feed is for the extras he needs rather than 'fill'. The nice thing about using straights with a vit&min mix is that you can alter the ingredients to his taste more easily than a complete feed
 
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