Suggestions on a good OAP feed

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Cannon2571

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Hi All

My mare is a 23 year old fully retired OAP and she is starting to struggle holding onto the weight, she is currently fed speedi beet, Pony nuts, and apple chaff. I tried her on the dodson and horrell sixteen plus mix and it didnt do much, in fact she lost condition, so put her back onto the above feed and she picked up.

She looks very healthy has a lovely coat and is a nice weight, but i feel she could do with a bit more covering the ribs :-)

She is on plenty of grass and fed twice a day.

Any suggestions on feeding the OAP's?

Thanks
 
My 27 yr old Fuzzy is currently on (and doing well on it too)

D & H 16+
Hifi
Feed merchants own moli-chop.

Fed 2 x per day with fresh carrots sliced too.

Up till last yr she was on Hifi lite, but owing to shape changing she went onto the std stuff at xmas & hasn't looked back. 1st time in her life she's been able to take 'more' rather than diet all the time. Going out onto reasonable grass at night & then dieting patch from 6am till 5-7pm.
It suits her, but might not suit yours, worth a chat with your vet when they are passing next? :)
 
A&P Fast fibre is reported from veteran yard to be highly successful at putting on some condition! (apart from the two 11yo, every other horse is 20+) and brilliant in winter as don't have soak overnight and come back to frozen beet!! Soaks in 20secs.
 
I have my elderly donkey (30+ years) on Rowan Barbary Soft n Soak. He does really well on it, and I have recommended it on here before to people who have also had good results. It soaks in about 5 minutes, you can use hot or cold water and smells lovely. :)
 
36yo ConniexTB has been on Allen & Page Calm & Condition for several years - got the condition, still waiting for the calm...
 
The Soft n Soak Ready Mash is excellent and if its the same as detailed above, it does smell really nice. There are 3 types to choose from and its full of goodness.
 
What are her teeth like, likely at that age pony nuts counld be a bit hard for her to chew, you might want to look at something like allen and page fast fibre that is a soaked complete feed, make sure she has her teeth checked reguarly as she gets on in age. Also feed wise you could add saracen equijewel to your standard feed it's a rice bran based supplement that is rich in oil, it's great for horses with poor coats and lacking condition.
 
Another who has used Soft & Soak - there are 3 types depending on calories needed. My oldie (29) was on the Ready Mash with Speedibeet & Alfa Oil top ups in the coldest weather.
 
I've got a 20 year old who is on

D&H 16+
Alpha A oil
Alpha beet

He was loosing condition over the winter so I also added Xlint to his food and he's done really, really well on it. Looks fab now.
 
If you need to put weight on then calculate the energy (i.e. calorie) content of your current diet and then either feed more of it (as long as the meal sizes don't get too big) or find a feed or feeds to increase the energy content. 16+ isnt actually that high in energy, there are many feeds that are higher. Also consider soaking the food to assist eating.

And, stating the obvious, are the horses teeth ok?
 
Allen & Paige veteran vitality is my choice. Kept my 28 year old looking really well over winter despite bad weather.
 
Bear in mind that not every veteran feed is designed to put on weight. Personally, I'd swop the Speedibeet for 24 hour soak molassed sugarbeet, and keep the rest the same and reevaluate over some time, or you could consider changing the pony nuts to Spillers Senior Conditioning mix.
 
Veteran Vitalityhas turned my old mare around. It is high in starch though, so may not be suitable for laminitics.
 
Bear in mind the Cushings laminitis risk if using a molassed feed. Not all Cushings horses have the obvious symptoms (how many times do we see a post where laminitis is the first clue that a pony has Cushings) so with a 20+yo I would err on the safe side & use oil rather than molasses to increase calorie intake.
 
Thank you for all the replies
She has her teeth done every 6 months and the dentist says she has good teeth, so I have ruled that out of the equation.

Think I will give the soft and soak a go, who makes this?
Also what else does it need to be fed with?

Thanks :)
 
another vote for AP veteran vitality, i have had to take my 24yr old off it as he had gotten rather porky despite a very difficult winter and him not eating much haylage. i currently am feeding to a underweight 6yr old as the calorie content is high.
 
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