Feed again - would this be suitable for a veteran?

[blood_magik]

Sorry for going on and on about feeding. Horsey is sound again so it's time to concentrate on getting his diet sorted.

I'm looking at feeding Dengie hi-fi senior and spillers slow release as he's not keeping weight on and feels a bit sluggish. Conditioning cubes didn't agree with him, although he did put on weight.

He's currently on a quarter scoop of pony nuts, chaff and the spillers comp mix and he gets approx 20kg of haylage if he's in.
I'm increasing the spillers to a half scoop twice to see if there's an improvement in his energy levels - if not, then I'll look for something else.

Thanks in advance

 

[BlackRider]

have you thought about Alfa beet - that's very good for helping add condition.

 

[blood_magik]

Another option to add to my ever-growing list.

The problem is trying to find something that doesn't turn him into a psycho, which the conditioning cubes did. I couldn't even touch him without him panicking

 

[BlackRider]

LOL - that shouldn't happen with this as its really low in sugar, it really helped my veteran to gain weight.

 

[blood_magik]

Oh good - it's always a bonus when you can touch your horse without him trying to flatten you

I'll pop down to the feed shop on Saturday and see how he gets on. Thanks

 

[team barney]

What about Coolstance, low NSC so should send him crazy.

I think Topspec CoolCondition Cubers are under 10% combined sugar/starch too so shouldn't send him crazy either and they have a D.E level of 12.5 (I think) so they should be good for weight gain.

Try and feed him a least two feeds a day, if you can get to him three or four times a day to feed all the better.

My veterans get a lot more than 3/4 of a scoop of feed a day, in my experience they need a lot of food to maintain their weight when the get old.

Your horse has on heck of an appetite if he can down 20kg of hay a night!

 

[blood_magik]

I was surprised as well about he amount of haylage he gets through - theres nothing left in each net so I guess that can't be a bad thing. the fields are bogs at the moment so turnout is pretty limited hence the massive amount of hay.
he usually gets three nets when he's out.

he's only just started having trouble maintaining weight so I'm having to try to work out what to give him. he gets two feeds a day at the moment plus lots of nibbles like a handfull of pony nuts as a treat.

I'll have a look at top spec again.
I've kind of gone off idea of cubes after the last ones turned him
into an idiot.

 

[emmaln]

I can't recommend Allen and page veteran vitality, it's superb for weight gain/maintenance and doesn't seem to fizz up my loopy tb! Good luck!

 

[emmaln]

Oops meant to say can't recommend it enough, duh!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Not knowing the age of yours i would be reluctant to give comp mix.

My 23 had this before her laminitis started, one of the livereis is 30 she gives it ( i think she mad\) older horses can digest it like young ones do, and all that happens is it goes straight through.

what about 16 plus?? or other veteran mixes designed for the older horses digestion.
There is allot of starch in comp mix.

I wouldn't go there again after what I am going through and have gone through over the last 6 months.

To many of these high protein foods look and smell nice with bits carrots when really they are way to full of starches etc. you can give energy and condition through oils and propell plus you can also add ready grass to bulk him up IMO