Those with retired horses, feeding?

ForeverBroke_

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 June 2008
Messages
10,364
Visit site
Just a musing! My horse is 15 and retired due to a number of medical reasons, but I was just wondering what everyone else is, if anything, feeding their retiree's.

Mines just on ad-lib hay, is at grass all day and then gets a token handful of chaff and seems to be doing just fine on it weight wise, was just pondering as to required vitamins etc.

Thanks in advance!
 
Ours gets sugar beet and D&H senior food with linseed twice a day plus adlib hay and 24/7 turnout all year. But then he's 29 so a bit different!! :D
 
My retired WB, 13 and has KS, just has hay at night with dome pro hoof in hi fi molasses free and fast fibre and shares the bare paddock with lami and old mare as she is a very good doer.
 
Mine is semi-retired, 13YO, but lives out 24/7, is very well conditioned so just gets handful of chaff for cortaflex and bute. They do have a lick in their field - I think it's a Rockies one but not 100% sure. As long as they look healthy and are happy I personally wouldn't bother with vit/min supp.
 
Ours gets haylage, chaff and sugar beet. We also give him Super Codlivine powder supplement which is a vit and min supplement with cod liver oil for his joints.

He is turned out 24/7 unless the weather is horrendous, and now has his haylage weighed as is looking a bit 'portly' - he is only getting 2kg a day but is on reasonable grazing still.

If yours is looking fine, then whatever you are doing must be ok!
 
Thats true, he does get a lick too to keep him quiet! :D

He's a miserable buggar 70% of the time but he's looking as well as he did in work so can't be going too far wrong!
 
Grass. Atm they have big round haylage bales in the field too. Himilayan salt is sometimes out and depending on what's growing (sticky/nettles) these are thrown out cut too. But nothing special.

They aren't proper oldies heading up 30s though. One early twenties and the other mid. I certainly would stick your average 15yo in the oldie bracket!
 
Retired TB mare, 26yrs, poor doer. Mollichaff conditioning chaff, dengie alfabeet, top spec cool conditioning cubes, linseed, adlib haylage and turnout all day every day.
 
20yo IdxTB in good health tho colic prone in past. Retired other than occasional noodles as is OHs horse and OH is away working a lot and horse is a pretty quirky character to hack alone. Fairly good doer except when poorly when weight falls off him.In at night and out in the day, out 24x7 in height of summer

In the winter fed on hay pretty ad lib, plus Healthy Hooves, horse and pony nuts (he loves these, doesnt get many but hes had them every day for 14 years and objects strongly if there is no small sprinkling of them!, and vit/min supp/pink powder.

In evening cos he doesnt drink as much as he should, this is mixed into a fast fibre soup. Garnish of carrots apples and (his fave) really squashy pears so he can drip juice down his chin....

In other words a mix of lots of stuff he likes but none of it especially expensive or high sugar except for the fruit.
Should add there is 17 hands of him so eats quite a bit of grass and hay!

In the summer he just gets grass plus hay if in at night and maybe a small feed if cold wet weather.

Teeth are done every 6 months which has made a big difference to him, compared with being done annually.

Doing what he likes best!
WBphotos15to16Sept09050.jpg
 
Last edited:
Top