Feeding oldies - advice sought!

Laura-Maybe-IV

Laura-Maybe-IV

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Hi all again, I have written a few posts about feeding but I have a 22 year old TB mare, she has been looking really well but recently I have noticed she is looking quiet tucked up especially after I turned her out after riding.

She is currently fed 1.0kg Alfa a original, 500g baileys lo cal and 0.25kg pasture mix. She also gets cider vinegar and Kentucky joint liquid with stroppy mare :rolleyes:
She is also 15.0hhs and a TB, she was in awful state 3 years ago when I got her, she is in good condition but is starting to tuck up and loosing condition.

She is fed hay out in the field as well as 10kg of haylage at night.

I was wondering about feeding her Dodson and Horrell 16+ she has had veteran vitality before but she wasn't overly keen on it.

Any replies are really appreciated :)
 
does she have one or two feeds a day? maybe just give her an extra if she's only on one? sounds like she's done really well on that feed so far this winter, which is good for a TB

I have my 28yr old good doer on Fast Fibre and Molasses free high fi! she's done really well on it this winter, with hardly any grass but adlib hay
 
16+ will defintaly put weight on ive used it before with sucess it has a higher protien level than the pasture mix, but this also means it can fizz them up too.
 
kerrieberry2 said:
does she have one or two feeds a day? maybe just give her an extra if she's only on one? sounds like she's done really well on that feed so far this winter, which is good for a TB

I have my 28yr old good doer on Fast Fibre and Molasses free high fi! she's done really well on it this winter, with hardly any grass but adlib hay
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Hi she has two feeds a day, she doesn't like much for breakfast and her bigger feed is her dinner :)
Thank you, she's just started tucking up, I had a look at the nashers today her front ones are starting to becoming quiet worn, we had the dentist out October time for a diastema but other than that her teeth are ok :)

Sounds like your 28yr old is doing fab :)
 
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zoelouisem said:
16+ will defintaly put weight on ive used it before with sucess it has a higher protien level than the pasture mix, but this also means it can fizz them up too.
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Thank you :), yeah she had it when I first got her And touch wood it didn't fix her up but I didn't feed the full recommended amounts, the main thing with her that fizzes her up is too much barley.
 
the only thing that worked for my oldie (40) is fast fibre and veteran vitality, but that clearly wont work for you, as you have tried the vv and she didn't like it.

Tego never put on any weight on build up, 16 + or any other concentrate/hard feed. I swear its down to the fibre that she has put on all the weight.

As of today she is on reduced rations- someone asked me if she was pregnant today! :eek: :o
 
yeh my 28yr olds front teeth are quite bad now, like little pegs, it happened really quickly, so I think she finds it harder to eat short grass, she tends to colic when she's on short grass, normally twice a year towards the end of the summer, so think its beacause theres not much grass left!

this is the old lady having fun in the mud on sunday hehe
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It doesnt always fizz them up. I have one at work on loads of the stuff and it doesnt make a blind bit of difference but all horses are different.
If your having to give her a large dinner because she wont take much breakfast it would be a good way of getting more calories into her but not having to try and get larger amounts in.
i dont find pasture mix great for weight gain. Im not sure if dodson and horrel do one but there is also conditoning mixes that may be worth looking into.
Or changing the alfa to alfa oil that has good weight gain but again can possibly fizz them up but not always.
 
Adding oil to the feed is good, and maybe an oilseed meal. Try and divide her feeds into as many as you can, horses can't tolerate a lot of starch in one feed.
 
She looks wonderful! For 28 she looks great you wouldn't know! Well done you! :)
Yeah she is started to lose the front ones very suddenly they have gotten short!
I haven't had any colicy type things just yet touch wood, I try and feed her a high fibre diet to prevent this! But I know you always can't I also suspect that she had stomach ulcers in the past, I've heard about certain behaviour that she has exhibited and it sounded like stomach ulcers. So I am very careful to keep An eye on her condition as well as feeding her as much fibre as possible :)
 
zoelouisem said:
It doesnt always fizz them up. I have one at work on loads of the stuff and it doesnt make a blind bit of difference but all horses are different.
If your having to give her a large dinner because she wont take much breakfast it would be a good way of getting more calories into her but not having to try and get larger amounts in.
i dont find pasture mix great for weight gain. Im not sure if dodson and horrel do one but there is also conditoning mixes that may be worth looking into.
Or changing the alfa to alfa oil that has good weight gain but again can possibly fizz them up but not always.
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Thank you :) yeah certain feeds fizz her up others don't. I might give 16+ a try again and see what happens. I can cut it down if she gets a bit fizzy. Yeah for her dinner I try not too feed more than 1.25kg but this is split into two tub trugs so she can pick the feed as she wants to she doesn't gorge her feed luckily!
I was going to try outshine but too much feed with oil in blows her head off unfortunately. Thank you though :)
 
Slightly Foxed said:
Adding oil to the feed is good, and maybe an oilseed meal. Try and divide her feeds into as many as you can, horses can't tolerate a lot of starch in one feed.
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Thank you we started feeding her oil last year, she gets really fizzy on to much it gives her a lot of stamina. We used to feed her it when she evened which was useful then, but now she's just having a quiet winter she would probably get silly on it. I may give oil seed a go though. Linseed blows her mind away! Yeah I split her feeds into three little feeds so it's more easily digested and she eats it all up :)
 
Laura-Maybe-IV said:
Hi there she definitely does not have cushings we have had her blood tested and she is all ok, her teeth are becoming quiet worn so I am ruling it down to her teeth becoming shorter and we don't have masses of grass at the moment, thank you though :)
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Brilliant :)

My 26 year old has dodgy teeth and Cushings. This winter I have had to up the feed to keep weight on him.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=593690&highlight=copra

He gets a tub of haylage at night (I don't make him struggle with nets with his dodgy teeth :o).

Bucket feed am

1 scoop Spiller's High Fibre Cubes (dry - he doesn't like them wet :rolleyes:)

am and pm feeds of

Speedibeet
Fast Fibre
Coolstance copra
coffee mug of Linseed
Pro Balance +

apple cider vinegar in the am feed.

yea-sacc, turmeric, sprinkle of oats, 1000iu Vit E in the pm feed.

You could look at Solution Mash for your girl too
http://www.rowenbarbary.co.uk/horse_feed_products/seniors/36
 
Oberon said:
Brilliant :)

My 26 year old has dodgy teeth and Cushings. This winter I have had to up the feed to keep weight on him.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=593690&highlight=copra

He gets a tub of haylage at night (I don't make him struggle with nets with his dodgy teeth :o).

Bucket feed am

1 scoop Spiller's High Fibre Cubes (dry - he doesn't like them wet :rolleyes:)

am and pm feeds of

Speedibeet
Fast Fibre
Coolstance copra
coffee mug of Linseed
Pro Balance +

apple cider vinegar in the am feed.

yea-sacc, turmeric, sprinkle of oats, 1000iu Vit E in the pm feed.

You could look at Solution Mash for your girl too
http://www.rowenbarbary.co.uk/horse_feed_products/seniors/36
Click to expand...

Thank you I saw the before and after photo's he looks amazing!
I may Have a look at giving solution mash a go :) I feed her haylage on the floor so that she doesn't struggle with pulling the haylage through nets either :)
Hahaha maybe doesn't like soaked cubes either she is particularly fussy too ;):rolleyes:
 
Laura-Maybe-IV said:
Thank you I saw the before and after photo's he looks amazing!
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Thank you :)

Laura-Maybe-IV said:
I may Have a look at giving solution mash a go :) I feed her haylage on the floor so that she doesn't struggle with pulling the haylage through nets either :)
Hahaha maybe doesn't like soaked cubes either she is particularly fussy too ;):rolleyes:
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They do get rather precious as they get older, don't they :rolleyes:

I tried Solution Mash (at £16 a bag, I was only willing to try it :eek:). Obi thought I was trying to poison him :rolleyes: while The Tank (who normally hates all bucket feeds) went mad for it. It gave him a lovely bloom to his coat.
 
Oberon said:
Thank you :)



They do get rather precious as they get older, don't they :rolleyes:

I tried Solution Mash (at £16 a bag, I was only willing to try it :eek:). Obi thought I was trying to poison him :rolleyes: while The Tank (who normally hates all bucket feeds) went mad for it. It gave him a lovely bloom to his coat.
Click to expand...


Yes she is getting to be more of a princess as she gets older bless her :rolleyes:
She always has been though but even more so haha!
Haha I will give it a try she's worth the money although she will probably think I a, trying to poison her too please, bloody horse! She can be so difficult to feed, I put easy breathing liquid in her feed to help her cough the look she gave me up was unreal you thought I'd given her cyanide, plus the feed protest after proved her point! :rolleyes:
 
Any kind of build up cube sends our oldie through the roof, high as a kite :eek:

I just stick to basic good fibre (FF) in an easily palatable mash and linseed. The results have been remarkable.
 
My older lad always had Alpha a in the winter but this year he seemed to be leaving some which is so not like him so i changed him onto a softer chaff (cant remember which but in a pale purple bag) and he has got on much better with that - i wonder if the Alpha is a bit 'stalky' (is that a word?!) as they get older? A bit like chomping your way through dry All Bran with no teeth!! I also have fed 16plus successfully, and currently he is on Baileys No 8 mix which he seems to really like. He also has Speedibeet which helps with absorption and hydration.
 
Our oldie who lost a lot of weight few years ago when she had a prolonged colic attack and then needed to be built up again gets soaked speedibeet, soaked grassnuts with grass chaff (Graze-on) and a dollop of molasses, as she has a sweet-tooth. She also has a spoonful of linseed oil, 2 capfuls of Aloe Vera juice and a tablespoon of Cider Vinegar. She is now maintaining her weight beautifully, aged 31.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Our oldie who lost a lot of weight few years ago when she had a prolonged colic attack and then needed to be built up again gets soaked speedibeet, soaked grassnuts with grass chaff (Graze-on) and a dollop of molasses, as she has a sweet-tooth. She also has a spoonful of linseed oil, 2 capfuls of Aloe Vera juice and a tablespoon of Cider Vinegar. She is now maintaining her weight beautifully, aged 31.
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Where do you get the Aloe Vera juice?
 
allen and page veteran vitality is good all the horses at my yard over 17 are on it and keep them in condition also helped my 17 year mare gain weight over the winter
 
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