Veteran feeding advice plz

J

joan

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Hi: need a bit of advice. I have a 21 year old 16.3hh gelding who has never been a good-doer - the slightest upset, or the weather turning cold unexpectedly, he will lose weight overnight. To make matters worse, he is not a foodie - he would rather go out to play than stuff his face. I also think as he's got older he sometimes gets some sort of digestive trouble because he will suddenly run round the box after doing a pile of droppings smashing his tail up and down and lifting his hinds up & down as if he has colic. I know its not worms because he is worm counted and has been negative for nearly a year. I do wonder whether he sometimes has excess acid and if I should change his diet. Any ideas???
 
What are you feeding him at the moment?
S
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He has two shortfeeds per day consisting of 3rd of a scoop of flaked barley, 3rd of a scoop of badminton cubes and a scoop of mollased mollychaff plus carrots and apple. If I try to give him more he will just leave it. He has a generous supply of soaked hay and is also out on good grass every afternoon for 3 hours in the winter and 7 hours in the summer.
 
Ok, here are a few suggestions to help.
Firstly, have his teeth checked, and also make sure he has been wormed (particularly for tapeworm, and for encysted small redworm).
Secondly, for the size of horse, you are not feeding him very much at all at 2/3 of a scoop of concentrates (the barley and the cubes). I appreciate you say he lacks appetite, but it could be that he doesn't like one of the feeds you offer.
Try to gather feed samples from companies (some of them will send you small samples) or from your friends, and then offer him them to see what he likes and dislikes.
My Tb mare, for example, won't eat anything with alfalfa in - she says it is poisoned
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I'd get rid of the mollassed mollychaff, from the feed entirely, and replace it with Speedibeet, or a similar sugar beet. Speedibeet (or Kwikbeet) is a forage which is digested in the 'hind gut' providing long term body heat and condition, and is good for slightly iffy digestion. I'd also try to feed him probiotics to sort out his gut, and a general vitamin/mineral supplement (such as Equivite) for one month, to make sure he has no deficiences. I would also add either linseed oil or corn oil to his ration.
In terms of the hay ration, I'd give the soaked hay adlib (and try to soak it for a short time only to preserve nutrients). You could also try giving him some haylage, as that often has higher nutrient levels (and wouldn't need soaked).
Finally, make sure he is rugged up warmly to avoid him losing weight by burning his fuel to keep warm.
Hope this helps.
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PS Try contacting some of the feed companies to get their rations - Spillers, Dodson and Horrell etc.
 
Shilasdair: thanks for the advice. Forgot to mention that he does get simple system sugarbeet with his feeds too. As for worming - he is definitely okay here as he is wormed for tapeworm, encysted reds, bots etc and we pick up all droppings in the field daily - also worm counts are negative. As for rugging, you wouldnt believe how cosy he is - he has an under-rug with a high neck and then another heavy rug over that. His turnout rug is heavy too with a high neck. I will try to get some feed samples as suggested but in the meantime I am going to be adding Soya Oil to his feeds, cutting out barley and substituting a veteran conditioning mix instead. Mollychaff will be substituted for Hi Fi Lite for the time being too. thanks again.
 
Personally I wouldn't bother with the chaff as it doesn't really add much to the feed, especially not Hifi lite. Why not try taking that out altogether so you can give him more of the conditioning feed without him having any extra volume to cope with? Its also worth seeing if you can change his feeding time a little, so that he's not having to rush it in order to go out and play- will he eat more happily once he's come in for the night?
I'd also second the probiotic/balancer and teeth check if you haven't already.
 
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Shilasdair: thanks for the advice. Forgot to mention that he does get simple system sugarbeet with his feeds too. As for worming - he is definitely okay here as he is wormed for tapeworm, encysted reds, bots etc and we pick up all droppings in the field daily - also worm counts are negative. As for rugging, you wouldnt believe how cosy he is - he has an under-rug with a high neck and then another heavy rug over that. His turnout rug is heavy too with a high neck. I will try to get some feed samples as suggested but in the meantime I am going to be adding Soya Oil to his feeds, cutting out barley and substituting a veteran conditioning mix instead. Mollychaff will be substituted for Hi Fi Lite for the time being too. thanks again.

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Didn't mean to cause offence regarding worming, teeth and warm rugs, but some horses aren't as lucky as yours.
If it helps as a comparison, I have a 16hh Tb mare, now 20yrs old, fed twice a day.
She gets almost a scoop of Dodson and Horrell 16 plus, and about a scoop and a bit of Speedibeet, 3 or so tablespoons of corn oil, some probiotics (she is a bit prone to colic at times) and a vit/min supplement.
In the field she gets about 3 sections of hay, and one of haylage morning and night.
She's holding weight at the moment on that.
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i would say get teeth done and bloods to be on the safe side. there are lots of food you can try maybe feed him 4 times a day i always have praise for fibre beet spillers senior conditioning and alfa a oil and maybe try changing his hay to hayledge! and you say about his degestion and acid in his stomach why not try a pre/pro biotic supplement!
 
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