Keeping the weight on or off for that matter in winter

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Follychoppins

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My 19 year old new forest mare has lost weight and topline over the last 2 winters, - towards the end of the season - mid feb time which I believe will now be a pattern I have to manage. If not monitored she becomes weak and lethargic however with the inclusion of restore into her feeding regime as recommended this does not create an inability to work, in fact as a lightweight (as myself) she performs well and has plenty of energy. I rug her in a medium weight full neck with an under rug which suits her better weight and movement wise than a single heavy weight. She shares with gelding "porker" who can still have a crest in winter even though he is exercised as regularly as work commitments and dark evenings alow, including enlisting an additional jockey, he has a lightweight sheet which gets removed the minute the sun comes out :) ! They have good grazing, and hay. If I turn them out together even with several haynets because porker can eat so much quicker he will inevitably consume more than my mare as she can't eat as quickly and then gets shoved off. I would prefer not to separate them although I do where necessary to give skinny a more relaxing eating experience although after a couple of days she would elect to be with her friend. I have already had advice from the vet and back specialist but am always looking for helpful advice! Does anyone have any useful feeding or winter survival tips to help both equines remain in tip top health?
 
In order to keep them together, have you thought about a muzzle for Porker (love that nickname!) ? The crest is a risky sign for him so he would be safer as well as trimmer with it?
 
Don't rug the fatty!!! unless he is clipped/underweight, they simply do not need a rug. I have a 21 year old and a 19 year old who are not rugged at all, they do what they are supposed to do, and lose weight over winter.
 
Porker already has a muzzle! Skinny needs one in the summer too. He is un-rugged and has been since Sunday. It's more about keeping weight on the racing snake! Funnily enough we know 2 older horses who are turned out 24/7 without rugs, they do brilliantly and are in fine condition :) Thanks for the advice!
 
The Porker...or Fat Lad as I prefer to call him, is rugged late and naked early, and really only wears a rain sheet to keep the worst of the wind and rain off him.

This winter we have kept a pretty close eye on the pair of them, and the 'old girl' has kept her weight on well, with the 'fat lad' gently losing his crest (too rapid removal of weight makes him very lethargic and miserable). BUT (and his is a big butt), in the last week or possibly two, she has lost condition and he has begun the put the crest back on (whimper, after all that effort to get rid of it).

Currently they are separate (in adjacent paddocks) with the girlie on double hay rations, but as Follychoppins (my OH) said, we are always open to suggestions.

BTW: As soon as the grass starts growing in earnest, the fat lad gets a grazing muzzle, which he does not mind, provided the grass is not too short,
 
Slimgirl has mollichaff veteran mix, balancer, apple and carrot, cortafex for her arthritis and global herbs restore every day. This is on the advice of her back specialist and vet. It was exactly the same last year, hence this year I have a better understanding - she was really stiff and had difficulty moving, not because of her arthritis but lack of energy as she was not baically getting enough nutrition. Fat lad, no problems! Oh well :)
 
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