Moving Yards

[Lauren&Oliver]

Hi guys, I've just moved my horse Oliver to a new stables, and wanted some advice and help!!

first things first, Oliver is a 13 year old 15.3hh TB, He is usually quite stocky and has a lovely coat on him, he has recently been stressing a lot and has been out of work for roughly 3 weeks, due to this he has dropped a lot of weight and condition. I have now moved him to a livery yard where he is on turn out 24/7 and was hoping for some advice on what rug to put on him overnight, as i'm unsure about the weather at the moment, he was in a rambo medium weight with not much filling overnight in his stable, but now he is out i don't know wether to change it, sorry if i'm rambling on...

and the main issue is his weight, I currently feed him a simple feed of chaff (ALFA A Original) and Pony nuts, I wondered if a completely different type of feed will help him gain weight and keep it on, also help him settle in better, i'm unsure of all these supplements and adding different oils etc you see, and I was hoping for a bit of advice from some more experienced TB owners, I want to try a completely different feed mix with maybe some supplements to help his weight, condition, and attitudes to keeping him a happy, not moody horse All feedback is well appreciated, Thanks xxx

 

[Dumbo]

My TB is out in a medium weight rug at night and naked in the day.. well had a light weight on while it's been raining!
Definitely consider micronized linseed to add to his feed (search it on here and you'll find hundreds of threads!) Helped keep my poor doer in good condition over the winter and I'll continue to feed it through summer, however as of next week mine will only be getting one feed a day

 

[Lauren&Oliver]

Thanks for your reply Dumbo, I think thats what i'll do with the rug situation, I'll have a look into that, I was doing some research and noticed a lot of people mention linseed, do you think i should just add that to his normal feed? I was looking at Baileys top line conditioning cubes, which seem to be good for the digestive system, good for muscle development and help with weight gain, and help keep good condition of the skin and coat. As soon as he's settled in I will begin working him again to help build up his muscle, I just want something to bulk him up in the meantime, as his ribs are starting to show. Thanks x

 

[Dumbo]

This is a comparison photo of my horse so you can see the linseed really does work! First photo was when I first met him-shows how skinny he was, lacking muscle and a dull coat (sorry, couldn't fit in full body!)
Second photo is a month of one cup of micronized linseed per day in an evening feed. Before he had the linseed, I was feeding Allen and Page Weight Gain Mix which he put on weight with but is very high in starch (hooves were in poor condition as a result) so I replaced it with the linseed and he's held the weight.
I feed the linseed with Fast Fibre and a scoop of chaff.




Sorry it's huge, don't know how to resize!

 

[Lauren&Oliver]

Wow!! What an amazing difference! I'm definately going to get some and try that! I'll let him settle in for a while and then introduce it to his feeds, he seems quite happy settled in bless him! Thankyou for the advice you've definately helped me because I wanted to try something that other people recommend, I've tried things that are so expensive and make no bloody difference!! X

 

[oscarwild]

I have a 14yr old 15.2tb who I moved recently as I moved house and area. She is currently out 24/7 since moving in a medium weight at night and weather depending a medium weight, rain sheet or naked during the day. Her field is high up in a hill valley so can get a bit of bad weather there.
Feed wise Im afraid I cant really offer much advise as she has liver issues so has to have a low protein diet but is also full of allergies which adds to my issue. So she at present for her liver and allergies can only have speedibeet and micronised barley. but I have to say she is looking the best she has since her liver issues started a couple years ago. Altho I have heard of lots of people having good results with linseed but I cant feed it to my mare, so cant say from experience.

 

[Lauren&Oliver]

Yeah I'm using the same rug scheme at the moment lol, sometimes adding a thin layer underneath his medium weight at night because it does seem to drop a bit here, and yeah I am going to try him on linseed soon I'll make sure to post the results x