Feeding Veterans?

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nicnag

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Hello Folks!

Looking for some experiences/ advice from you lot!

I have a 17hh ISH who is rising 21 this year, very healthy in general but loses condition in winter. Most people looking at him just now would probably say he looks fine. He is still weigh taping at 650kg and in top condition in summer fit and in good condition he is around the 680 mark generally. He has had 6 weeks off now due to weather etc and I took his shoes off with the intention of bringing him back into work at the beginning of March, he had a REALLY busy year last season and we were competing most weekend which he thrived on but he can be a stresser! We moved yards in November and he seemed to take that in his stride. We keep 3 horses together in a loose housed system in a 30mx40m shed with a ring feeder so he truly has adlib good quality hay and is in no way bullied - quite the opposite! They are on rough but pretty good grazing for 12 hours a day ( trash field for winter but more grass there than anywhere else!) His teeth are done and he has no issues that way. He is pretty typically TB in build and has a high wither and steep rump! I think the main issue is probably that he has lost muscle tone as he tends to the minute he stops work!
Anyway, I have been pumping feeding into him since September, he's held it fairly well but only just. I spoke to a nutritionist at work who suggested taking him off D&H Build up nuts and giving him micronised Barley instead, I'm a bit concerned he might 'blow' on that! I have bought the barley and will start introducing it but he will be ontwo feeds a day consisting of 1 stubbs scoop Alfa A, 3/4 scoop Build up cubes, 1 scoop Sugar Beet, pink powder, Soya oil and as of this week an increasing amount of Barley and gradually decreasing the Build Up . I'm wary about moving to straights but nutritionist is a major advocate of them and dislikes compound feeds.
Anyway - anybody got any thoughts on it!?

Pic of him a week ago, crap but should give you a rough idea!
2010-12-29095803.jpg
 
I never see the need to feed veterans anything different tbh, only unless they have problems with their teeth or they are underweight. ( A & P new Vitality good for poor teeth )

My 20 year is out 24/7 on rough but plenty of grazing, no hay at all, Kwikbeet very watered down, a handful of molasses free hif fi chaff and daily quota of Spillers lite balancer, he looks fab on this and has held his weight well over the winter ( he's not clipped and only a rain sheet on )

If he's losing weight then I much prefer to feed oil based feed like Alfa A Oil or added oil to existing feed, or even add some cooked linseed.
 
I totally agree - my title should have been 'feeding an veteran who loses weight easily!' . I'm not swayed by veteran feeds as his previous owner fed him D&H 16+ 3 x a day and he was like a coat rack. Thats why I'm not being led so much by his age but by what he needs most. I couldn't get away with turning him out without hay, he is a true TB heritage and drops weight at the sight of a snowflake. He goes through feed at a rate of noughts hence why I spoke to the nutritionist as I feel that there must be an easier way of getting the weight on him without force feeding him. Tbh large feed buckets don't work for him, he's not fussy but he loses interest and is very easily distracted lol!

ETA he is already on Alfa A and soya oil
 
He looks in pretty much the same condition as my mare (at the moment) which to others I agree will probably be fine. However, if your horse is like mine, they were once in much better condition at this time of year.

I know of a few nutritionists who prefer straights and I do believe that cereals are more effective at increasing weight gain if you want a relatively quick result.

Things that I have recently learnt with my 27 year old pony is:

She DOES feel the cold (even when rugged well) and HATES wind, rain, snow etc and stresses at the sight of a drizzle of rain. So have reduced her turn out. She is much happier with this routine.

I provide her with 2 small feeds a day similar to yours (Alfa, Build up Mix and Lo Cal)

She has adlib hay and a tub trug of Readi Grass.

Introducing a small amount of mix (1 round scoop between the 2 feeds) and Readigrass, as well as reducing her turn out has made all the difference to her and she seems much brighter in herself.

I do believe that once they begin to age, they become a bit like old people and need the warmth or a good rug when turned out and a nice bed when stabled. Lack of muscle does make them look far worse I agree but you know your horse and if you think your horse isnt doing as well as they usually would then you are right to look to change that.

I think pehaps, if you are unsure of feeding a straight cereal such as Barley then maybe changing from the Cubes to a mix will be enough to add condition.

I hope this helps :D
 
Thanks, he definately feels the cold more than he used to, I've known him for 14 years, owned him for 3 but when he was younger he'd come and basically beg for his rug to be taken off, not so much these days! The loose housing helps a bit I think as there is plenty of room to move around and on really horrible days he can stay in without me worrying he is going to stiffen up too much. The mix and cubes work out at the same 12.5 MJ digestible energy but £2/bag cheaper so I'd gone with the cubes due to the amount he was getting through. I have a feeling I'm going to find it hard to let go of the compound feed! lol
 
The cubes and Mix will be very similar in terms of calories, oil, fibre and protein but the ingredients will differ slightly. The mix will be higher in cereal starch whcih is because of the higher cereal content (usually barley).

Here are some pictures of my pony.

This picture was taken on 29th January this year when she was receiving 1 feed a day of Alfa and lo cal and was turned out 24/7 in a heavy weight rug and with access to shelter.

29-1-11.jpg


This picture was taken today after the changes made to her routine as mentioned before (Her feet look long in the pic but this is just camera angle as she has not long been shod).

6thFeb2011.jpg
 
Wow, she looks great! I'd say he isn't quite as well looking as your second photo, he did look pretty well covered in late December but had spent a lot more time inside during the heavy snow so maybe reducing his turnout should help a bit. He used to box walk and crib in a small stable but since the move and the big loose housing he's been much happier. The front of the shed opens out looking onto a village and the local school so I think he has quite enjoyed the activity and never felt bored. He's got one of those super busy active brains that never stops!
 
He does sound very similar to my pony. She also used to box walk. A stable mirror helped lots! Your set up sounds ideal, you are very lucky. Perhaps another layer on him in the evenings for during the night will help?

My pony has a 450g turnout rug which was the heaviest I could find and she was still coming in looking poor and tucked up. They can be such a worry!

Are you able to pop a couple of tub trugs out over night with some grass chop or soaked grass nuts in?
 
He's wearing a Mark Todd HW stable 420g overnight and I add a fleece or liner when necessary. He's in a Premier Equine HW turnout on colder days and Arion MW at the moment while it's milder. I've only felt him a bit colder last week when we had all that sleety rain. I'm trying to judge him as accurately as possible, glad I didn't clip when I thought about it!
Yeah could probably put a few buckets of soaked grass nuts overnight, the other two in the stable won't come to any harm if they get access to it too, even better I can get grass nuts through work!
 
My pony is in a Premier Equine Heavy Weight at the mo. It was her Xmas pressie. They are lovely rugs! Great for the oldies.

I reckon, a couple of buckets of grass nuts over the next few weeks and he will look fab again...then fingers crossed, we have some real grass out there for them :D

Keep me posted ;)
 
I'm a lover of Spillers high fibre cubes, I use them on my 32 year old who had lami few years back so have to watch his weight. I increase and decrease depending on grazing in the summer. In the winter he has them with Alfa A lite and speedybeet.

You could also add up to a mug of oil, I use sunflower, as with the cubes I increase and decrease as necessary, at the mo he's on hardly any as he looks fine. The oil is calories without fizz.

He has to only sniff some mix and he's a nutter, although he can't have it now anyway !

Years ago my friends horse lost loads of weight, I told her to give her HFC and she improved in a few weeks, worth a try

You could also switch to alfa a oil
 
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