Should I be worried? weight advice for oldies please.

_April_

_April_

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April is 22 - ridden at the weekends, is still very sound and fit (touch wood!).

She is just looking a little light in my opinion. Her hind quarters are fine but she is looking a bit ribby. Didn't have my mobile on me today so didn't get any pics but will try to tomorrow!

Should I be concerned?
I think she will be fine and she is improving but I though she would be looking a bit better by now, now that the grass is finally coming through - although it's still not great where we are.
She looks well otherwise with a good glossy neck etc.
She was the same last year and put on weight fine once the grass came in.

Rode her today and she is feeling fabulous to ride, very energetic and we had a lovely schooling session. Only did 30 mins though.

I have had lessons all winter and I have asked if she is looking ok and the instructors all say she is fine so I know she isn't really that bad but she looks better under saddle anyway.

She is regularly wormed, had the equine dentist in Novemeber and gets fed twice a day on - sugar beet, happy hoof chaff, Senior mix, High Fibre cubes and a NAF veteran supplement.
They are out now but also get haylege in the field as the grass is so poor
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sorry for the long post! I guess I just need reassurance that I am doing everything ok. xx
 
sure April is fine
i ride a 25 year old mare at the weekend and she is looking a bit ribby but is gradually putting on weight as the grass comes through. As April is out now, i'm sure she'll gain weight as and when your grass comes through
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Thanks Mosh
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I guess I know she is fine but I just like to check that it's ok for them to be a little light coming into May!!
 
Finnus is similar, was still looking a bit ribby last week so I put him on conditioning Mix (was actually aiming for cubes but they didnt have any so finished up with mix!).

1 week later and he looks much better
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Our grass is growing too though and he has had his muzzle off this week.

Anyway, consider changing fibre cubes to Baileys No 4 for a while and she will soon pick up
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I find this tends to happen with mine at the end of winter/beginning of spring. It soon rights itself when the grass comes through! It sounds like she is well in herself, and she's certainly getting well fed, so it's maybe just the seasonal transition with her too?
 
Bertie is now 28, he wasa looking a bit ropey about 3-4 wks ago but now hes been wormed, grass is coming through and hes having 16+ mix he looks fab.
Today he had his rug off and i was suprised how good he looked tbh.
 
The other month Breeze wasn't very well so I supplemented her grass (which is great BTW, but isn't natural pasture), with a pasture mix from CWG (she gets 4 handsfuls plus 2 of alpha light. Through a agnus castus tablet in and some hippy herbal mix which is supposed to help her muscles when she is in season and 1 week later she was flying everywhere
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I used to feed my old boy a supplement called 'Grow well' which contained probiotics to line his stomach and enable him to digest his food - I think they do suffer on the digestion as they get older. It improved his condition no end, I was then able to reduce his feeds a little AND I had less umm.... mucking out ... to do. This was combined with soaked beat, chaff and Allen and Page Ol'e Faithfull. He did so well on this that he lived to 43yrs old.

This was a few years ago so not sure if 'Grow well' still on the market - but there must be other supplements with probiotics in.

Should not worry though .... that grass will be here good and proper soon
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Thanks everyone for replying. It's good to know more people have this minor problem too!!

Finn - cheers will suggest that to her owners!
Lots of their horses are retired oldies (who have been rescued or saved in some way nawww) and all at a varying degree of condition and age so they are really good at handling their weights. April is the only oldie is still in full work though though so we keep an especial eye on her.

BBS and Herbert - Yes I am sure the grass will make a great difference! she was amazing all last summer on just grass after dropping a bit last winter.
I just was making sure that it was 'acceptable' and ok for them to be a tiny bit light at this time or if I needed to do more. I feel better now!! lol xx

Thanks BBF - definitely something else to try! We have had great sun AND rain this last week and I can definitely see a green tint coming through so I hope it'll sort itself soon.
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Herbie - One of the 'very oldies' has a probiotic but they haven't used it on April yet so might be worth thinking about thanks!
 
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