Skin and bones

[Ashleigh02]

So its come to the time of year where i start preparing my 18 year old thoroughbred for winter. Hes at a good ish weight at the moment however usually drops horrendously from December to February. Last year he was on ad lib haylage and 2 feeds a day of fast fibre mash, micronised linseed and conditioning nuts. He also had equine america muscle up or whatever its called. He still lost the weight.

This year hes on dengie performance fibre, conditioning nuts, alfa beet, omega rice, linseed oil. twice a day and ad lib haylage. Will this be enough? He seems to be in better condition than this time last year and i have a stable i can use at night for shelter which he does have access to in the day. Would you advise to keep him in at night starting at end of November when he usually looses his weight?

Hes also in a sheet at the minute because of the rain and in the middle of winter has about 300/350g on

It seems to me the weight is going on his belly... he came to me with no topline at all which looks better now but i still feel like he looks like a camel upside down. He has very high withers so think this makes him look worse.

 

[Ashleigh02]

Oh hes also 17'1 so eats A LOT OF FOOD

 

[Barton Bounty]

If i were you I would try a base feed that is quite good and fattening like copra, I would also give three feeds a day rather than just two, you didnt say how much he gets of each food type? At his size he will need a substantial scoop or twos worth. There is a mix called build up, i used to feed that to my old boy through winter ?

 

[KittenInTheTree]

I find rolled oats are great for helping keep weight on over winter.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Add another rug. Keep him toasty toasty warm.

 

[Clodagh]

My non tb who really didn’t hold weight always had a rug far warmer than anyone else. She used to feel blissfully warm under it.

 

[SantaVera]

I find rolled oats are great for helping keep weight on over winter.

I second this, it find them to be an excellent food, there's a study somewhere that shows the horse gets 25percent more out of hay/grass when fed oats, sorry don't have link, maybe someone else can find it,oats linseed and alfalfa really keep weight and initially put weight on my oldie.

 

[ycbm]

Vitamin E. Most horses get low in it by the end of December.

My current horse lost weight badly last winter until I put him on Vitamin E. I was able to reduce his bucket food by over a kilo of grass nuts.
.

 

[meleeka]

I had great success with Allen & Page Soothe and Gain for a big horse. The results were pretty amazing and my feed bill actually reduced as winter progressed.

 

[Northern Hare]

I tried lots of different feeds for my TBxWB over the years - he did best on the Topspec Balancer with conditioning cubes and soya oil.

But the biggest difference was when his feeds were split into three feeds a day, rather than two.

 

[Polos Mum]

Some great advice above - I would add to look at the quality / heating - calories of this haylage.

My fatties have haylage - it's late season meadow and tested to be lower energy than hay.

I would make sure you're is getting the opposite - the highest calories per mouthful. If you're using local "no idea what's in it haylage" maybe look at swapping some for the stuff that's tested to be high energy.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I would give him 3 feeds a day, I would also give a balancer and simplify the feeds a bit. Too much bulk other then fibre and oil is just pooped out and nothing taken from it. My poor doer got the best from high oil and fibre feeds over multiple sittings.

For my old guy I used to soak a halleys Blox and mix that into a big trug of soaked sugar beet pellets and leave in his stable and he would nibble away at that over a couple of days.