Birker2020
Well-Known Member
My 19 year old WB gelding has just moved yards from a yard he has been at for 2.5 years to the yard he was at previously for nearly ten years. At the previous yard the indoor yard was in a ‘U’ shape d and the main doors at both ends were shut ¾ of the way across on cold nights.
When it was above 6C at night at the old yard he was wearing just a Masta fleece, and below that rug very like a thermatex which is a decent thickness because I was told the doors being ¾ shut made it quite warm in the barn. He started dropping weight so I increased his hay and he maintained his weight steadily although you could see all his ribs.
Now at the new yard he is still 2nd stable from the end of the indoor barn but the main door is left open at night, so he is much more exposed to cold and wind. I plan to hand some rugs up from his stable down the outside to counteract a lot of the wind/cold and give him a bit of shelter, but based on previous experience the door will not be shut at night unless it is snowing which is fine as its better to have ventilation than none at all.
I think he is rather on the lean side, and three weeks ago when I questioned his weight with the vet I was told he was fine (667KG) and looked good. Last week he went on the Topspec weighbridge when they visited the new yard and he weighed 667KG again (he is 17.1hh M/W WB) – they said he looked fit. I thought you were meant to feel the ribs but not see them??
He has a vet reassessment on Thursday and he will be weighed again, and I will see if he’s lost any weight. I don’t have a recent photo of him but you can see all his ribs so I have gradually increased his hay, I am giving him high fibre nuts in his feed and in his snackaball and good door chaff and because the new yard has such good grazing, I am strip grazing his paddock although I have made it longer twice now in the space of a week. He’s having approx. 22lbs of hay a day – this is a large tub at lunch time when he comes in and a large net and a medium net at night. He's on Magic, Glucosamine and pink powder and carrots and the odd apple.
In light of recent comments on this forum about over rugging horses I am wondering what you guys are putting on your horses at night? Tomorrow in our area it will be 3c. I was wondering whether a medium weight stable rug with a neck or a light weight quilted rug without a neck would be the next thing up, so I can then move up to the m/w neck rug when it hits below freezing.
He is unclipped but has always been treated more or less as clipped due to his fine coat. He has no cat hairs but has a little more coat around his neck/belly than at this time in previous years. He has been turned out since about October in a light weight rug during the day.
When it was above 6C at night at the old yard he was wearing just a Masta fleece, and below that rug very like a thermatex which is a decent thickness because I was told the doors being ¾ shut made it quite warm in the barn. He started dropping weight so I increased his hay and he maintained his weight steadily although you could see all his ribs.
Now at the new yard he is still 2nd stable from the end of the indoor barn but the main door is left open at night, so he is much more exposed to cold and wind. I plan to hand some rugs up from his stable down the outside to counteract a lot of the wind/cold and give him a bit of shelter, but based on previous experience the door will not be shut at night unless it is snowing which is fine as its better to have ventilation than none at all.
I think he is rather on the lean side, and three weeks ago when I questioned his weight with the vet I was told he was fine (667KG) and looked good. Last week he went on the Topspec weighbridge when they visited the new yard and he weighed 667KG again (he is 17.1hh M/W WB) – they said he looked fit. I thought you were meant to feel the ribs but not see them??
He has a vet reassessment on Thursday and he will be weighed again, and I will see if he’s lost any weight. I don’t have a recent photo of him but you can see all his ribs so I have gradually increased his hay, I am giving him high fibre nuts in his feed and in his snackaball and good door chaff and because the new yard has such good grazing, I am strip grazing his paddock although I have made it longer twice now in the space of a week. He’s having approx. 22lbs of hay a day – this is a large tub at lunch time when he comes in and a large net and a medium net at night. He's on Magic, Glucosamine and pink powder and carrots and the odd apple.
In light of recent comments on this forum about over rugging horses I am wondering what you guys are putting on your horses at night? Tomorrow in our area it will be 3c. I was wondering whether a medium weight stable rug with a neck or a light weight quilted rug without a neck would be the next thing up, so I can then move up to the m/w neck rug when it hits below freezing.
He is unclipped but has always been treated more or less as clipped due to his fine coat. He has no cat hairs but has a little more coat around his neck/belly than at this time in previous years. He has been turned out since about October in a light weight rug during the day.
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