HELP ME PLEASE!!

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rachiianne

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17 April 2008
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i desperately need help.
i have a 14.2 welsh section d he is 17 years old and i am having problems keeping weight on him. His health and teeth have been recently checked and are in tip top condition so its not that thats the problem.
at the moment he is stabled everyday and night with as much haylage as he can eat. twice a day he gets a feed containing a large pan scoop of hi-fi original, 3 cup fulls of endurance mix and a large pan scoop of sugabeet, and although he is not losing weight he is not gaining any weight. he is not currently being ridden so he is not using up calories/energy.
i have been researching what are the best things to give him to gain condition, weight and energy and i there are so many options i dont know what is best. does anybody have any experience with topspec senior/blue chip/copra meal etc. or any supplements that are good for this sort of thing? i'm not sure wether i am simply not feeding enough but his feeds are already quite large.
any ideas, suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated.
thanks
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We use equijewel which is a saracen feed and we swear by it. Haven't used any of the others but know this one works for my horse. My friends dressage trainer has her PSG horse on it to and rates it very very highly and I know she had previously used everything available but this was the only one that worked for her too. Hope this helps
 
1 scoop Alfa Oil, half scoop D&H Build up Cubes/ mix and 1 scoop Alfa Beet twice a day (if you can spread it out to 3 that's even better). Works for me... I swear by it every time!
 
Is there any chance you could turn him out during the day? The spring grass is coming through now and it would give him a bit more gentle exercise being out and possibly make him feel better mentally.

I have recently started feeding Bailey's No 4 to my mare who has lost condition over winter and so far the results have been amazing.
 
instant linseed is meant to be good to put weight on or as ravenwood baileys no 4 is excellent stuff i saw a big difference in 2 weeks with my horse
 
he wormed on sunday. his droppings are a good colour and texture and he had the vet yesterday so the problem isnt his health, obviously just what i am feeding him. but knowing what to feed him is the problem. thanks alot
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at the moment he is currently stabled due to lameness which occured last week.
the problem with his weight has been on going for a long time before this lameness so i doubt this is the source of the problem.
he is usually out every single day for about 10 hours. but is also good in the stable and doesnt mind being inside.
 
ok so the weight problem has been going on for a lot longer than he has been stabled for, what you are feeding maybe too high in starch for him causing a metabolic problem take a look here just so you can rule it out before feeding anymore starch/sugar feeds, you only need to see a couple of the symptoms to be a serious consideration. An important point is that despite even vets still thinking it can be tested with a blood test, this is NOT SO it has to be a muscle biopsy.

It would not hurt to try the diet anyway as the oil would be high in calories and a lot of people use it for weight gain

www.ruralheritage.com
 
That is quite a lot of feed, and would be better used by being split ovef 3 meals - a good deal of it won't be digested properly at the moment.

I would consider something fairly simple like NAF pink powder added to the feed, it does seem to have a tonic effect, and if he can stand it, some very gentle walking in hand, just to help with the digestive processes, or lead him out for 20 minutes to graze in hand
 
Reading through the post and after the first couple of posts it looked to me like he couldn't be digesting his food properly but Mother Hen beat me to it with the NAF Pink Powder.

Fabulous stuff.

As is Baileys No 4.

For Arthritis try Green Lipped Muscle tablets!!!
 
cracklinrosie - where could i get hold of some green lipped muscle tablets?
also is it an actual tablet or a supplement for example crushed? is it easy for them to digest?
 
Just coming back to tell you not to get a horsey one, they cost a fortune.

Just get a normal one from a herbal shop or online.

My friend used feed her mare 8 a day(I think) and they fit nicely into the middle of a polo mint!!

Worked a treat.
 
was trying to find out about Myler bits and came across your post and had to join just to reply to you. That is dedication for you. I have a 18 y.o TB who can lose weight easily and I have a couple of ideas
Did you know feeding more than the equivilent of 3lb dried sugar beet (obvious weighs more when wet) to an average horse reduces the nutrient uptake and can cause runny poo. so I suggest feeding one scoop a day 1/2 in each feed. Course mix was designed by feed companies to make us owners feel better, pony nuts have much more in them and are better for chewing. I feed Peguses non heating pony nuts in content they compare better than the costly "brand names". They are high in digestable fibre and fairly good on oil. I would gradually repace the same quaintity of course mix with a high fibre pony nut with peguses being the best I have found (and cheaper too). The Hi Fi is very low in calories and could mean the pony is eating less haylage as he is getting his chewing neds from the hifi. If you want to feed large scoops of chaff the alfa a oil would be better as it has more calories than haylage not less as in HI Fi. Finally if my mare begins to look a bit tucked up I have found Top Spec works best for us but I know all the feed balencers are good. I just found on equilibrium she got rather fizzy and blue chip is so expensive. Using the feeds I have suggested has kept my old girl looking fab with a great top line, I also rug her up extra the moment the temp drops below 5C. My mare is in light work stabled most of the time but out for 4 hours a day and the grass has just started to come through where I am. I ride the mare 1-3 times a week and she goes hacking and galloping on the beach and still looks good on the cheap pony nuts and haylage. Sorry if I sound lectury but wanted to share what has worked for me
 
dont be sorry!
thanks so much!! im just trying to gather all the info i can and then decide what is best to do. i think from what everybody and yourself has said then it would definately be a good idea to take him off the mix and put him on nuts or cubes, and also to swap the hi fi for alfa a.
any more ideas, just send them my way! =D
 
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