numpty question about weight

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indiat

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My elderly mare has dropped weight quite quickly this winter (she is living out at the mo). Her coat is still glossy, her eyes are bright and she is interested in what goes on around her but she has hollowed out by the hips. I have been quite worried about it, but my YM has said that elderly horses do drop weight in winter and no amount of food will put it back on again until spring. I am bringin her in for hay and she does get a feed of chaff and a veteran mix every day. Does anyone have verterans who do keep their weight on in the winter and if so, what do you feed them? Ta!
 
ad lib hay/haylage would be my suggestion
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Hi Mr Meldrew. I did suggest this as this is how she was fed in the field at the last yard we were on. I haven't had a chance to speak to the YO yet but I got the impression from another livery they are not keen to give ad lib hay as they don't think it is good land management and they are worried about the horses fighting. I have to stress, I don't know this is their POV for sure. She hasn't lost weight as fast as this before. A little over the winter, what you would expect. But its only November and I do feel worried.
 
Old horses do tend to drop weight easily during winter, our cob is dropping it now. It can be helped by more feed and, infact, with enough of the correct feed, she needn't drop any weight at all.
 
[ QUOTE ]
my YM has said that elderly horses do drop weight in winter and no amount of food will put it back on again until spring.

[/ QUOTE ] Rubbish! If managed properly the majority of old horses CAN maintain their condition well over winter.

One important factor is to get the teeth checked as poor dentition in older horses can make it harder and slower for them to eat hay or haylage, resulting in a reduced forage intake, and therefore a loss of weight. Obviously there are limits to what a dentist can do, so if the teeth are badly worn or there are many teeth missing you need to make up for reduced hay intake by feeding some sort of hay replacer - big tub trugs of dried grass chaff, Happy Hoof or HiFi Senior are suitable in this respect - the dried grass chaffs being highest in calories, with the Happy Hoof being suitable for laminitics. If even short chop feeds are hard to chew then soaked grass nuts or high fibre cubes can be given instead. Details of required quantities can be obtained from the various manufacturers such as Dengie, Spillers etc.

If the teeth are OK then it is important that your horse has as much hay or haylage as she can eat. If your YO is unhappy about putting hay out in the field, then either bring the mare in at night for adlib hay or see if there is another poor doer at the yard and see if they could share a separate paddock together (perhaps fenced off with electric tape) so you can put hay out for them.

I would get the forage situation sorted first and see how she goes. If she still needs extra calories then you will need to change the bucket feed as well. Unmollassed beet (such as Speedibeet) is a great source of fibre-based calories, contain as much (dry weight) as some conditioning feeds. Also, make sure you feed a high calorie chaff such as Alfa A Oil. If she still needs more weight then you can consider changing the veteran mix for a higher calorie conditioning cube. This should really be split into at least two feeds a day.
 
Her teeth have been checked and as this is the first year she has lost weight so quickly I really do feel that ad lib hay is the answer. She is a cob and a very good doer and when fed ad lib hay, we never had a problem. I think I need to gird my loins for a meeting tomorrow!
 
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