veteran affordable feed options

[Poppysgirl27]

Last year I got a severely underweight 21 year old TB mare after she had been neglected. I had been told she hadn’t been fed properly for several months whilst out on loan which was the cause of her weight loss. A couple of weeks in it was clear this wasn’t necessarily the case as she still wasn’t gaining any weight despite being fed 2 good feeds a day and having a fair bit of haylage. I got the dentist out who said that she has an abnormal tooth, he believes she may have been kicked in the field, lost a tooth and the one below it has grown into its place so she is unable to properly chew, meaning hay is pretty much useless to her. We have since moved yards so she is out 24/7 meaning she can have as much grass as she pleases however coming out of winter it’s obviously not the best. Does anyone have any AFFORDABLE feed suggestions (i’m a uni student)? She is currently on sugarbeet, micronised linseed and chaff (she has had soaked grass cubes in the past but refused to eat them). She does gain a substantial amount of weight once the summer grass comes through but looks like a hatrack in winter. I will be getting her tested for cushings too once the covid situation dies down.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I was going to suggest soaked grassnuts with added grass chaff along with speedibeet/alfabeet, if she isn't sensitive to alfalfa, and linseed. We have had good result with that mixture.
Could you try a different make of grassnuts? I have never known a horse who didn't like grassnuts - they need to be wet but not soaked like beet, just enough for them to make a mash, not soggy and not a prolonged soak, 15 mins maximum is fine.
We, recently persuaded our horses to eat wormer in their bucket by giving them a few of the sheep's grassnuts along with their haycobs, which apparently didn't disguise the wormer enough.

ETA, what has the dentist done about the tooth? I would have thought that it could be shortened back in line with its neighbours.

 

[Poppysgirl27]

I was going to suggest soaked grassnuts with added grass chaff along with speedibeet/alfabeet, if she isn't sensitive to alfalfa, and linseed. We have had good result with that mixture.
Could you try a different make of grassnuts? I have never known a horse who didn't like grassnuts - they need to be wet but not soaked like beet, just enough for them to make a mash, not soggy and not a prolonged soak, 15 mins maximum is fine.
We, recently persuaded our horses to eat wormer in their bucket by giving them a few of the sheep's grassnuts along with their haycobs, which apparently didn't disguise the wormer enough.

ETA, what has the dentist done about the tooth? I would have thought that it could be shortened back in line with its neighbours.

Dentist says that she would need surgery to have the tooth sorted as it is so much higher than the rest but as it is not causing her any pain and she is incredibly stressy with dentist / loading (pretty much anything that doesn’t involve just grazing in a field) it wouldn’t be worth putting her through just for her to look better in winter. Like I say she really fills out in summer and looks good weight wise, lacks muscle but she is fully retired so is to be expected. I’m expecting her to gain quickly in the coming weeks it’s just winter she struggles

 

[meleeka]

You could just feed more of what she has. One of my oldies has awful teeth, one missing and the front ones only meet at the two corners. She’s done very well on what you’re feeding, but I did up the linseed and beet through the winter. I’d also make sure the chaff is one with a higher calorie. I feed Dengie Meadow Grass.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

My go to is a bag each of alfalfa nuts, grass but and beetpulp (not speeditbeet/kwikbeet) mixed together into a big bin and a scoop soaked daily in a big bucket (or can be split into smaller meals) mixed with linseed and left in the stable along with a soaked halley’s fibre cube.

Bags are about a tenner each and it all mixed together usually lasts two months. The halley’s blox are usually about a tenner and you get a dozen I think. Soak one in a feed bucket and you get loads of soft fibre. Put weight on my oldie this way.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

I would probably take the chaff out, if she can't chew it easily it may just be adding bulk.
We've got a 31 year old BRP and he gets linseed mash from top spec plus their conditioning flakes and cubes. He's a bit fussy which is why he get all three! Loves the mash though and looks great on it.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I have found Veteran Vitality good for an older horse who needed more condition in the short term not year round.

 

[Maryann]

Small amounts of crushed oats?

 

[honetpot]

Dentist says that she would need surgery to have the tooth sorted as it is so much higher than the rest but as it is not causing her any pain and she is incredibly stressy with dentist / loading (pretty much anything that doesn’t involve just grazing in a field) it wouldn’t be worth putting her through just for her to look better in winter. Like I say she really fills out in summer and looks good weight wise, lacks muscle but she is fully retired so is to be expected. I’m expecting her to gain quickly in the coming weeks it’s just winter she struggles

I have a pony with a missing tooth, in his younger days it needed to be leveled up every six months. A good horse vet is quite capable of doing teeth, and they can give sedation. They would probabley do it over six months so the horse adjust its bite.
Old pony now has wobbley teeth and his molars are worn flat, he still needs sedation, and hay fast fibre to replace his hay , which he can not chew
I bought a seventeen year old TB, who had the biggest callous of plaque on his front teeth I have ever seen, it was the size of a walnut. When the vet did his teeth it was obvious why, he needed a double dose of sedation, and even then he had the odd twitch.

 

[dorsetladette]

I've had success with own brand conditioning cubes. Under a tenner a bag. You could maybe make her breakfast up in the evening so the sugar beet juice softens the nuts.
Or veg oil is good for adding calories to a feed and expensive.

 

[Reri1826]

I have never known a horse who didn't like grassnuts - they need to be wet but not soaked like beet, just enough for them to make a mash, not soggy and not a prolonged soak, 15 mins maximum is fine

I had always soaked my grass nuts for a similar amount of time and had no issues.

However a few months ago, doing the same with a new bag of the same brand I had used for years gave my horse choke, and a subsequent gastric impaction and aspiration pneumonia. He spent 10 days at the vets and was very unwell.

Thankfully he pulled through but now I would always advise anyone feeding grass nuts to soak until they are completely free of lumps. Sometimes this can be 5 minutes, with some bags this can take as long as 24 hours.

I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what we did. I still feed them as they are by far the best thing I’ve found for weight gain, I am just very careful.