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LA&Murph

LA&Murph

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Hi, I joined up here as every time I run a horsey search, your forum comes up :)!

I own a lovely old (26yo) coloured cob, I had him on loan for 10 years and I finally got ownership last year which is when I moved him. He gets light exercise, a short walk 2 or 3 times a week max (about 30 minutes with frequent stops as the horses we ride out with are generally spooky or young/afraid of cows and he acts as their calming influence). He lost a bit of condition this year and muscle tone as he wasn't used at all last year (his owner at the time wanted to retire him and he's lost a lot of muscle tone and it was the worst decision to make for Murphy).

There's more grazing at the new yard, better shelter etc, his worming is up to date and he's always been a good doer and in 11 years has never been lame and isn't prone to anything I've ever noticed. He gets itchy at times, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Now you have a background we have managed to get a bit of weight put on him and he has more energy when out riding than he used to. He gets fed a scoop of barley, a scoop of sugar beet pulp, a scoop of Senior Conditioning Mix and a scoop of Alfa A Oil twice a day (with No Bute in the morning) but we need more weight put on before winter comes in as he can't be any thinner than he is now, especially if it's as bad as it has been. What do you recommend based on his age and your own experiences?
 
Strongly recommend veteran vitality and a feed balancer (top spec, blue chip etc) I would also just up the feed content, although it does sound like he has a lot anyway! Maybe some of that senior in the pink powder? I haven't tried it myself but I have heard very good reviews about it. Good luck :)
 
Also, for feed that won't make him too fizzy, I would definitely add some oil. I know you said he hS
as Alfa a with oils, but I personally don't like that stuff (fed my mare on it and don't like the hard stems and dusty grassy stuff) but I would add linseed ( sometimes known as flax) oil, if not you could maybe call up a feed specialist? Or ask advice from your local feed store :)
 
Thank you. I had been told about the V&V, nice to have another recommendation! I'm feeding the Alfa Oil as it has been what's put the weight on previously and what has done it again this year. He does get fed a lot already (more than any other horse bar the 18hh beast!), it will get almost doubled over winter but before I get there, I'd like him to be a little more "cobby"!!

Linseed Oil was something I'd heard of too and could add that easily.
 
I have a 20 year old Thoroughbred X and we struggle to keep the weight on him through the winter even though he is stabled. I highly recommend Blue Chip as it has made a huge difference to his condition in the colder weather. He also gets a scoop of pasture nuts, sugar beet and some oil twice daily plus ad lib hay.
 
Silly as it sounds, when I got my mare (5yo) I put her on VV. She was having a scoop calm and condition, scoop of VV. It worked wonders! Purely because VV is designed for horses to have extra oils and the correct balance of minerals while being not fizzy! Blue chip and VV I strongly reccomend :)
 
plenty of ad lib fibre!! he is being fed plenty of food what he needs to bulk up is lots of fibre.... hay/haylage/fast fibre/sugar beet. horses require long stem fibre to maintain weight. i would suggest a teeth check before winter. perhaps you could split his 2 feeds into 3 as they have small stomachs and this is better for weight gain. adding oil or linseed is good too.
 
I know one horse on the yard (she's about 30ish), who's on a saracen veteran mix, alfa a oil and alfabeet.

I'm planning on putting mine on veteran vitality this winter with Mollichaff Alfalfa Oil, and he gets pink powder senior aswell.
 
running some bloods is also a good idea to check on liver and kidney function, wbc/rbc counts too. then at least you have a good idea of whats going on inside. and a ball park figure to work from in the future.
 
At aged 26 the statistics are against your lad for Cushings. Approximately 80% of horses over the age of 25 will have Cushings. There are many Cushings symptoms apart from the long curly coat that many owners won't be aware of. I wasn't! Other symptoms include unexplained weight loss, saggy back/belly, confusion, mild ataxia, trouble maintaining body temperature, very sweaty and sweat smells like stinky old socks, coat shedding problems. Not all horses display all symptoms. I'd get your lad bloods tested for Cushings with the ACTH count. You can print a free lab test voucher off at talkaboutcushings.co.uk. My veteran's ACTH should have been about 35 but was 200. Eeeep! He's now on 2mg Pergolide daily and is back to his old self. Another reason for testing your horse is that Cushings goes hand in glove with an increased risk of laminitis so its well to understand this to prevent it. Sadly, the very fact of Cushings weight loss often prompts owners to turn their veterans out on lush grass and stuff with extra feed. But you'd do better aiming for a leaner look to be safe.
 
Wow, so many answers, you guys are so helpful!!

He gets lots of hay and there's a bale of haylage in the field for them to munch on too. V&V sounds good, linseed oil and will look into the pink powder too.

Cushings is something we had thought about, will get the test to be on the safe side. His teeth, well that's a strange one. When he's itchy, he scratches constantly with his teeth and as of now, his top teeth are almost level with his gums. Not great. He can still eat and hardly drops anything, can still eat away at the grass perfectly fine, and gets his teeth rasped so they get a quick check regularly as well.

By the sounds of it, old Murphy is going to be the most spoilt horse on the yard this winter (and he has some competition!)
 
I have a 21yr old TB gelding and use HI-FI seniour, calm and condition (1 bag lasts 2 months), pony nuts and Fibre beet. Fibre beet (again 1 bag lasts 2 months) is the best thing iv ever purchased for my old man.
 
I use soaked grass pellets, alfalfa pellets and mollased sugar beet. I prefer to feed fibre only, but will add in barley if I need to. My 30 year old hasn't been tested for cushings or had bloods done. I asked the vet but they said if horse seems well then there's no point.
 
Thanks Cactus, he hasn't changed since the day I started riding him, except a touch of arthritis/stiffness. I'll get the free cushings test, as it is something we've talked about previously but I tend to agree with not doing something just for the sake of doing it.

Will keep in mind the Calm & Condition too, but will go for VV and linseed oil as part of his mix to build around and see how we go
 
Hi there! Just to add my bit, soaked feeds seem to make a huge difference to skinny oldies - I've known 2 or 3 that have been rescued by soaked grass nuts or similar -Allen & Page Fast Fibre/Calm and Condition/VV or unmolassed sugar beet or alfalfa cubes are all good, (grass nuts are cheap but can be full of nitrates used to make the grass grow quickly). I'm sure that soaking the nuts back to the ground down ingredients that nuts are made of means that when it gets to the stomach it's as if it is pre-chewed and gets digested properly rather than going straight through! If he's 18hh! it might take some quantity though - perhaps it's worth giving Allen & Page a ring for advice and which they think would be best in your situation - I think all theirs can be soaked and are ready in a few minutes and if you make it sloppy they suck it up like soup! I think they recommend you soak some of them anyway - it'll say on the bag when you buy it.

My old boy (New Forest) is 'only' 21 but has passed his MOT this year with flying colours - he gets soaked Fast Fibre and Pink Powder (plus hay and/or grass) and the vet was really pleased with how well he is looking. I have just switched to Pink Powder Senior, not expecting to really see any difference as don't like to think I've fallen for the marketing hype but something has changed his rather lazy outlook on life lately to being a bit more enthusiastic about his work, although - thankfully - not loopy! He seems to be OK at the moment but I think once they get over 20, if they lose condition or muscle it is much more difficult getting it back again.

Good luck!:)
 
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