Planning winter feeds

[melissa1971]

I'm wanting to go next week to stock up on my winter feeds
I'm a bit unsure best to get
I have a 5 yr old cob in light work will be in over night out in day he will get small amount speedi beet micronised linseed & brewers yeast he did well on that last yr with a Rockies 5 star lick in his stable

My mare is 28 a welsh and looses weight in winter what would you recommend for her ??

Thanks

 

[apachediamond]

A TB cross i had on loan (although not as old, she was 17) lost weight through winter and was quite stressy, she did well on Linseed, brewers yeast, Alfa A, Speedibeet, spillers high fibre cubes and Baileys No 4, plus ad lib haylage. She was in work as well so this suggestion of feeds may not work for your situation.

Most feed companies are happy to talk you through options for her

 

[melissa1971]

Thanks I was wondering about either Alfa a or grass nuts along side speedi beet and linseed so I'm not having to buy loads of different bags in

 

[budley95]

As much fibre as she wants (either hay or haylage) interestingly I found you need to feed more haylage than (1.5x more) the other night at a vets talk as the dry matter content is 85-95% in hay and about 55% in haylage (I always thought it was the other way round because of the sugars and protein!).

A decent conditioning chaff, spillers do one and dengie do alfa a with oil and maybe a veteran balancer/supplement so you know she's getting everyting she needs? This is obviously assuming she has her teeth and they're all in good nick still, otherwise I'd be looking at readymash, fast fibre/chaff and sugarbeet mixed together to make a hay replacer - Saracens suggested a really good mixture for ponies with no teth but I can't remember it!

I've found Saracens, Spillers, Allen and Page and my vets the most helpful when managing weight with a horse that seems to be allergic to everything...

A thorough dental check and worm count before the cold snap hits and maybe rugging her to help conserve energy for warmth if she's struggling with her weight, normally I wouldn't bother rugging a native!

I'd give some companies a ring as feeding needn't be too complicated. My poor doer actually did really well last year on fast fibre, calm and condition and ad lib hay and I actually ended up cutting out the calm and condition as he then ended up a good weight and then over summer got a little too plump (first time ever!) This year he's already on fast fibre and a veteran balancer (but very small quantities of the fast fibre) and when he comes in mid October and when the weather turns he'll be back on ad lib hay, 2 scoops of fast fibre and the balancer. Then if he needs it, he'll get the calm and condition again.


Sorry for the essay!

 

[amandaco2]

My lad does well on
hay, lots of it, plus grazing
copra cool
soaked whole oats
grass nuts
pro balance
salt

he is looking fab.