Beachbabe
Well-Known Member
As the title says really. I've a 26 year old Connie who until he was 20, always had a tendency to be a tad overweight during the summer. As he has aged, this has become less of a problem which is great. He's had laminitis in the past, 2012 was his last major attack and since then attacks have been averted, just! He's never had an attack when overweight which I know is a myth that needs busting, and generally they occur in the autumn.
However, this winter he had virtually no grass in his field and I was feeding them tons of hay as well as fast fibre and coolstance. He looked fine, not worked much, but looking good. As the spring has progressed he has dropped off a bit, not much, but I can see his ribs now, which I hate. I moved them onto grass livery and there's plenty of grass out there which is also natural and safe so no laminitis problems. It's a massive field, not flat anywhere so they are spending most of their time either climbing hills or going down, whereas their last field was a tiny square which I made into a track system to keep it more interesting for them.
However, despite the grass and not much work, he still isn't picking up. I'm still feeding him copra, but have increased it considerably without seeing any visible results. He is also getting as much hay as he can eat piled up in his field shelter where he can eat in peace. Given his age I am now wondering if micronised linseed would be better for him as I think it has a higher fat content than copra. But then copra has high protein which is also good for him. I know as they age we need to feed them as we would a youngster, but he's having more to eat now than he had during the winter months.
Those of us with our wonderful oldies, what do you feed?
However, this winter he had virtually no grass in his field and I was feeding them tons of hay as well as fast fibre and coolstance. He looked fine, not worked much, but looking good. As the spring has progressed he has dropped off a bit, not much, but I can see his ribs now, which I hate. I moved them onto grass livery and there's plenty of grass out there which is also natural and safe so no laminitis problems. It's a massive field, not flat anywhere so they are spending most of their time either climbing hills or going down, whereas their last field was a tiny square which I made into a track system to keep it more interesting for them.
However, despite the grass and not much work, he still isn't picking up. I'm still feeding him copra, but have increased it considerably without seeing any visible results. He is also getting as much hay as he can eat piled up in his field shelter where he can eat in peace. Given his age I am now wondering if micronised linseed would be better for him as I think it has a higher fat content than copra. But then copra has high protein which is also good for him. I know as they age we need to feed them as we would a youngster, but he's having more to eat now than he had during the winter months.
Those of us with our wonderful oldies, what do you feed?
