Birker2020
Well-Known Member
Sorry for long post.
Had a recent chit chat with the vet in respect of feeding my good doer who is 17.1hh WB gelding aged 19. He had splenic entrapment at the weekend so it was the ideal opportunity to discuss his feeding. Vet says has no idea what cause the splenic entrapment, says it could have been down to dehydration, gas from grass or one of those things. Says he doubts its the grass as he'd been on it six days by the time he had colic and over ten days from swapping him onto a mix.
He says Bailey should be receiving 1.5 % of his body weight in total forage (feed, hay and grass). Its hard to quantify grass - at present he's out for two hours a day but will be going overnight into a strip grazing system in a field at the start of June. He had been at the yard for the last two years, always held a bit of weight, but its tricky, you can see his ribs visually and feel them but he looks like he has a belly - I have put this down to his age (is 19) and the lack of stomach muscles (not been in FULL work since December due to injury). His worm tests have concluded no worms although I've always suspected he may have had a little redworm burden due to the repeated colics he was having, at one point prior to moving yards, but then ruled that out as the grass on the previous yard was very rich, and he's only had about four colics in the two years he's been at his new yard.
He started going out in the paddock on Monday for two hours a day to get his tummy used to the grass again. Before that since coming off the fields in November he was in a sandpit with access to a haynet for two hours a day. I was feeding him approx. 15lbs of hay (weighed before wetting) overnight split between two small holed nets and there was always a little wastage on the floor and bottom of nets the next day. Then when he came in after his two hours (9am ish) he was having approx. 6lbs of hay (weighed before wetting) and another net approx. 2pm (5lbs in weight before wetting).
He has literally a handful of chaff, a handful of mix, pink powder, joint supplement and Magic with a couple of carotts and/or an apple split between two feeds (a.m and p.m).
He's ridden about six hours a week, mostly hacking now the light nights, couple of days schooling -if you can it that -due to recovering injury which is doing fab according to the vet. So nothing intensive -30 mins tops, no lateral work or any jumping, bit of canter, mostly trot, pole work, etc.
I have reduced his nets to 10lb total dry weight per night and 8lb total dry weight during the day. Would you say this is an accurate amount to feed him?
Please no nasty comments.
Had a recent chit chat with the vet in respect of feeding my good doer who is 17.1hh WB gelding aged 19. He had splenic entrapment at the weekend so it was the ideal opportunity to discuss his feeding. Vet says has no idea what cause the splenic entrapment, says it could have been down to dehydration, gas from grass or one of those things. Says he doubts its the grass as he'd been on it six days by the time he had colic and over ten days from swapping him onto a mix.
He says Bailey should be receiving 1.5 % of his body weight in total forage (feed, hay and grass). Its hard to quantify grass - at present he's out for two hours a day but will be going overnight into a strip grazing system in a field at the start of June. He had been at the yard for the last two years, always held a bit of weight, but its tricky, you can see his ribs visually and feel them but he looks like he has a belly - I have put this down to his age (is 19) and the lack of stomach muscles (not been in FULL work since December due to injury). His worm tests have concluded no worms although I've always suspected he may have had a little redworm burden due to the repeated colics he was having, at one point prior to moving yards, but then ruled that out as the grass on the previous yard was very rich, and he's only had about four colics in the two years he's been at his new yard.
He started going out in the paddock on Monday for two hours a day to get his tummy used to the grass again. Before that since coming off the fields in November he was in a sandpit with access to a haynet for two hours a day. I was feeding him approx. 15lbs of hay (weighed before wetting) overnight split between two small holed nets and there was always a little wastage on the floor and bottom of nets the next day. Then when he came in after his two hours (9am ish) he was having approx. 6lbs of hay (weighed before wetting) and another net approx. 2pm (5lbs in weight before wetting).
He has literally a handful of chaff, a handful of mix, pink powder, joint supplement and Magic with a couple of carotts and/or an apple split between two feeds (a.m and p.m).
He's ridden about six hours a week, mostly hacking now the light nights, couple of days schooling -if you can it that -due to recovering injury which is doing fab according to the vet. So nothing intensive -30 mins tops, no lateral work or any jumping, bit of canter, mostly trot, pole work, etc.
I have reduced his nets to 10lb total dry weight per night and 8lb total dry weight during the day. Would you say this is an accurate amount to feed him?
Please no nasty comments.
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. Very smart. 
