feed reccomendations for the older horse

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rubysmum

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Ruby is a 17hh 21 yr old HW hunter type - in regular work - ridden 5 times a week & does some low level competing [ dressage & showing] - she mostly lives out [ arthritic, so better when not stabled] but has [ in winter ] large hay net per day & hard feed but she is now struggling to hold her weight a bit - nothing terrible but came out of last winter looking poorer than i would wish - current winter feed is
basic veteran mix
chaff [ budget range]
low cal balancer
sugar beet
gloop of veg oil
so, reccomendation pls for feed to maintain weight without loopiness pls
many thanks
 
Our oldies get a cereal mix (wheat, barley and oats) which is crushed and cooked to aid digestion, a scoop of lucern, up to 200cl of good quality vegetable oil and minerals, salts and any supplements for joints etc added. The quantity we feed depends on the needs of the horse. Some of the real veterans get up to 8 kilos a day, divided into four feeds, as their digestive systems are no longer very effective at absorbing nutrients so alot of what is fed to them is 'wasted' by their digestive system. We also check their teeth regularly.

Hope this helps.
 
My horse is 32 and has decided he likes Dengie Alfalfa pellets, they are great as you can make them into a mash if you need to, my horses teeth are fine but he still likes them a bit soft.

You could give Alfa A Oil instead of the cheap chaff, the alfalfa has done wonders for my horses feet, they have improved really well compared to a few summers ago when they would crack, been great the last 3/4 years he's had alfalfa.

Make sure she has a good vit and min supplement too
 
For my 18 year old TB i now use simple system. Spent two winters on so many different feeds and nothing works like this. Its all natural and also allows them to 'graze' at their feed to. In winter i give him grass pellets at night to graze on to.
I find the team here brilliant and they are always at the end of the phone or email.
Also being no cereals etc you can ride ten minutes after feeding.

http://www.simplesystemhorsefeeds.co.uk/
 
Can you feed her twice a day? If so this should make a large difference.

Does she eat all of her hay net? If so, how about putting two out, and haylage instead of hay?

If you can only feed once a day, I would be feeding balancer, max amount of Baileys outshine (1.2kg), topped up to your 2kg feed allowance with sugar beet. The outshine has loads of calories in it from oil, and should help put weight on them.
 
thanks for all your inputs - lots of useful info there
sadly, i can only get to her once a day - its a 40 mile round trip to her - so she only gets hay & feed once a day & there is no real solution to that
will def look into the fed suggestions made here - thanks again:)
 
Last year my friends 17 year old gelding came out of winter looking really poor.

He was fed on
Veteran mix, Applechaff and speedi beet. )about 2 scoops of each a day split over 2 feeds. plus hay.

We changed him to Baileys topline conditioning cubes (about 1.5 scoops a day), spillers veteran balancer (2 cups a day)and he is now also fed alfa-a mollasses free instead of the apple chaff - about 2 scoops a day (which has an oil coating). The difference in him was AMAZING! literally within a week you could see the weight comming on.

I find generally Oldies do better on cubes rather than mixes. They are easier to digest - particularly if they are soaked. You also need to make sure you feed a broad spectrum of vits and mins... a balancer is ideal for this. Adding a good glug of oil (I have found sunflower to be the best) can help.

Could a friend / another livery pop another feed into her at the end of the day you can't get there? and or some more hay? Big horses take a lot of feeding (as I'm sure you are aware) and In my experience it is best to try and spread this out as much as possible..

Do get teeth checked if you haven't done so already.
 
My 20 year old started looking poor a couple of winters ago and I was recommended Topspec cool and condition cubes. Last year she looked great on them and I haven't had to feed her this spring/summer. I've just started her on them again. She has it with sugar beet, coarse mix, chaffa and supplements. Its about £11 a bag. Definatly worth a try for condition without the loopiness!!
 
My 18yr old came out of last winter looking quite poor after being on a yard with poor feeding. Since moving him changed him onto veteran vitality from allen and page and he has never looked better. Mix it with some unmolassed chaff and a balancer.
 
rubysmum said:
thanks for all your inputs - lots of useful info there
sadly, i can only get to her once a day - its a 40 mile round trip to her - so she only gets hay & feed once a day & there is no real solution to that
will def look into the fed suggestions made here - thanks again:)
Click to expand...

The key is to get lots of good quality forage into her - she really needs an ad-lib supply. Winter grazing is usually quite poor so really she should have top quality hay or haylage available in the field all the time. If she seems to eat hay/haylage slowly then her teeth may be deteriorating - obviously dental treatment is important but you can also start feeding soaked grass nuts as an easily eaten partial hay replacer.

If you can only get up once a day then investigate paying someone to come in and give her an extra feed.
 
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