Feeding an older, very buzzy horse

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Drzoidberg2

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I'm just looking for suggestions on how to keep my amazing loan horse in the best condition she can be.

She's 19, and a connemara x tb. She's buzzy and giddy, very kind, but needs a lid kept on her enthusiasm occasionally. She also bounces between a little fat and slightly underweight very fast, but doesn't go to extremes on either end of the scale.

At the moment she is out during the day and in at night, she gets a small haynet of haylage early before I go to work, then gets turned out later in the morning. She then comes in when I come home and gets a scoop (soaked) of speedibeet, 2 scoops of naff haylage balencer (I wasn't a believer but it was suggested by a friend and she's been more predictable since being on it), a glug of oil, a dash of acv, and a handfull of coolcubes just to get her to eat the feed. She also gets a big haylage net at night.

At the moment her weight is fine, and shes in good form, but I worry I should be giving her more at her age. She's enjoying life as a leisure horse, getting ridden 3 times a week on a tough week, so doesn't need the feed for work, but I'm just worried I might be missing vitamins/minerals needed for an older lady. I'd also love to figure out how to keep her consistently at a nice weight rather than fluctuating between slightly too fat or skinny.

Any suggestions appreciated!
 
The weight on all of us fluctuates from time to time - four legs or two! I wouldn't worry too much about that. The native in her is designed to get fatter across the summer, go into winter on the plump side and come out of winter on the leaner side. That sort of change is natural and helps guard against metabolic disorders as she gets older. The trick is to make sure she comes out of winter leaner - otherwise they just get fatter and fatter!

Generally with feeding I would say "If it aint broke don't fix it." If she is fine on what she has then she's fine. Leave it. You are feeding up to the recommended amount with the balancer so she will get all the vits and mins she needs from that. The cool cubes are probably unnecessary - but if she needs them to encourage her to eat the rest the fine. If you think she is dropping more weight than you are happy with increase the oil slightly.

If you use a weigh tape weekly it helps you get an impartial feel for her weight. If you do it by eye you can get too accustomed to what she looks like to see changes - and be influenced by those you see around you. Weigh tapes are not accurate - it isn't the answer that you want. It is how the answer changes every time you do it.
 
I have to say I do prefer micronised linseed too. My pet hate (well one of them anyway) is people who feed vegetable oil without thinking it through. There is nothing wrong with feeding oil if thats what suits for you. But micronised linseed is cheaper than linseed oil, keeps longer and is more palatable. Its also easier to increase and decrease. Not all horses will take liquid oil and there comes a point when you can't increase it because the feed becomes unpalatable.
 
Food for thought, I give the oil because I put a few cloves of garlic in the bottle and let it sit for a while. But I do that because I've always done it, because that's what was done in the yard I learned in, I've never been convinced about the fly repelling properties. I must do a bit of googling on micronised linseed!
 
Garlic is not good, it's antibacterial and kills the good gut bacteria. It's effectiveness as a fly repellent is questionable and it actually increases reaction to midge bites making horses more itchy.
 
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