In need of some feed advice please!

[xtagsx]

Having a bit of an issue at the moment with my pony and was wondering if anyone may be able to help at all? I have started turning my boy out on our summer fields but have done so slowly with limited turnout so he didn't just go out all day, eat as much as he can and go pop, however he is showing signs of an upset belly in the sense he is a bit more gassy and I can just tell he isn't 100% comfy. He has not had colic or in pain or I would get a vet, he would never, ever be denied of a vet if I felt he needed one, he just seems a bit 'to full' when he comes in, which of course he would be after a day out but as I said his limited so to me it isn't enough to make him feel like that but obviously some thing isn't agreeing with him? He is currently on Lo-Cal, high fiber and haylage as well as a joint supplement. I am changing him on to hay in case his just getting to much but his been on haylage for a year and its never bothered him before but want to try just in case. I had a few issues with him over winter where he showed signs again of being sensitive in the belly and on vets advice was treated as if he had ulcers and he did improve but has now seems to have gone back a bit but from what I understood ulcers flare when there's not enough to eat yet my boy has constant access to some type of food and with all the grass am I wrong in thinking it wouldn't make ulcers react if that is what he had? I changed him to fast fiber thinking a fiber diet is the best he could have but should I be looking into feeding some thing else or what supplement do people recommend with horses with sensitive belly? I need a feed that will keep him in show condition without making him fizzy and putting to much weight on, any ideas? Thank you x

 

[amy_b]

Hard to know without seeing him but some random suggestions to see if any might be worth trying

I *think* fast fibre has barley in it which a lot of horses react to in the same way people do to wheat/gluten, I know C&C does. try swapping fast fibre for Lucerne pellets, either Simple Systems Lucie nuts or Dengie Alfalfa pellets. Don't get mixed up with Alfa-A which is V High oil and not ideal for good doers! I mix it with Grass Chaff for my competition horses ( V high energy - like spring grass) or Alfalfa chaff for low level or convalescents. This mix adds a lot of bulk but keeps them level headed, really good for guts because goes through the dig. system v slowly. Cured my TB of ulcers.

As you said, try feeding hay and knock off haylage.

You say he isn't out all of the time - does he eat much when he comes in? Could he be gorging on grass while he has the chance? He might not have access to much or look like he has much but at this time of year grass is growing at a crazy rate so will still be getting stacks!

Try to get his feed back to as natural as possible, look into simple systems, I compete my horses and would have broken into a sweat taking away my mixes but now have a very high fibre (Lucerne based) feeds and the horses all look, act and perform brilliantly. Only one has Conditioning nuts added because he has alot of weight to put on and the rest have some nuts to make me feel better, they don't need them.

 

[amy_b]

Just to add - also try Protexin Acid ease or probiotic. I had really good results from them but you won't see a difference for three weeks.

 

[JustWilliam]

Fast Fibre is barley free.

 

[Justturnedfifty]

Have you considered Dengie Healthy Tummy, contains Protexin, very low in sugar and is a fibre feed. Specifically designed for ulcer prone horses and I used very successfully on a pony which got easily bloated from grass, very gassy and often coliced.

 

[xtagsx]

Thank you very much for replies I feed high fiber as believed it would give him a natural diet as possible and did think it was free from things like that but shall check again I did have him on alfa a but he dropped condition so wasn't the feed for him! I'm going to look into simple systems as that sounds interesting! Our grass is great, hence weaning hum on to the new field slowly but I would say he has only been going out for around an hour less then normal so not much diff and yes he gets unlimited haylage so always has some thing there for him to eat He is a hard one as he needs a feed that holds his condition but doesn't push him over the edge as he isn't a good doer or is he a bad one, his kind of stuck in the middle lol I had him on healthy tummy which vets advised to trial with him and he did improve but he became really fizzy on it, its a high calorie feed which is equiv to a comp type feed so it is explainable in that sense! I have thought of just putting him back on it or finding a supplement to try with him and see how it goes? Will be interesting to see what they hay does and if it makes a difference! It could well be new grass mixed with every thing else is to much but I don't know x