Veteran feed ideas

abbijay

abbijay

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Can anyone suggest a diet for a little old man who's losing weight?
Sam is my in-law family's pony/lawn mower and he's approx 11hh exmoor and 30+ years old. He has free roam of 2.5 acres with good grass in it however he has dreadful teeth so additional forage isn't really an option. He is rugged, not cold and his field has good shelter and his worming routine is up to date but he has lost a lot of weight in the last month (he was a good weight for him until then). He has a history of being borderline laminitic when younger.
He is currently fed twice daily on half a scoop of sugarbeet (soaked to 1 1/2-2 scoops) and 1 1/2 scoops of happy hoof with about 50ml veg oil. It would be difficult to split this between more meals due to the family working, I know it's not ideal.
Can anyone suggest an alternative diet that may help him stop losing condition before the weather actually gets wintery?
Christmas tree chocs and leftover sherry for anyone who got this far!
 
I have used Allen & Page Calm and Condition for my 18yo boy in the past who has poor teeth and 4 missing!
But now I'm using the Rowen Barbary ReadyMash Extra. Both are soaked feeds...also I've heard that the Allen & Page Veteran Vitality is good (also a soaked feed). :)
 
High fibre cubes are useful and are intended to be used as a hay replacer end to be lower in starch and sugar and if you add hot water
 
Sorry on phone last reply went wrong meant to suggest high fibre cubes as can be used as a hay replacer and if you add hot water they turn into a mash so good for a pony with bad teeth
 
i use rowen barberry senior support on a couple of horses - if you add water the pellets etc do swell up.
I have used the RB ready mash before too. you can get a ready mash basic one which is just fibre - maybe soak some and leave in a bucket for him to eat during the day as and when he pleases then the ready mash extra can be used in the feeds.
I use calm and condition instead of speedi beet but i don't find it that conditioning
 
Veteran vitality is great. This is the first winter that my veteran hasn't lost weight and he is fantastic condition on it. As it is soaked just mix it in with his chaff and balancer and he loves it.
 
Fast Fibre by Allen & Page. It's magic. Laminitic friendly, soaks in 1 minute and can be used as a complete hay replacer, so can be fed in fairly substantial amounts which extends feeding time. My elderly horse was 'dentally challenged' (he couldn't have hay because he was unable to break it down properly) and he absolutely thrived on this stuff - Winter never even used to register on his condition.

He used to have Fast Fibre as the bulk of his diet/total hay replacement, Speedibeet, soaked High Fibre Cubes (both recommended feed measures for his size/workload) all mixed together to make a 'porridge', and damp HiFi Senior. Supplement-wise he had Pink Powder and a blob of vegetable oil in each feed (both for digestive/nutritional support).

I used to give him two small bucket feeds with his supplements in and then put the HiFi on the floor with the rest of his 'porridge' spread over the top and he used to graze it overnight. (I put a giant rubber mat across the front of his stable so he had a dining area!)

Veteran Vitality is good stuff but isn't always suitable for laminitics so I'd double check with a nutritionist before feeding it to your horse.

(As an aside, dental problems are the main cause of weight loss in older horses as they can't eat as much, drop half of what they're attempting to chew, and their digestive system is less effective in absorbing nutrients from the stuff that does make it in! But if you are worried or notice any other changes in him i.e. drinking more/less, loose droppings, lethargy etc then ask the vet to do a blood test to check his organ function. He might have picked up a little infection).

Good luck!
 
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