veteran feeding

[nicolagray]

i have a 35year old welsh b section pony,for the past two winters she has dropped quite a substantial amount of weight.she has constant access to haylage and is fed twice a day with hi-fi senior speedibeet and 16+ any advice on gaining and maintaing her weight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[horsegirl]

Has she had her teeth done?

Feed 3 times a day if possible. Add oil, linseed and barley rings to each feed.

 

[Saffron Phoenix]

i have a 25 year old section D who i have spent the past two months FILLING with hi fi original, sugarbeet & 16 plus (+ad lib hay), i swapped her onto baileys number 4 a few weeks ago as i think that maybe she just cant digest cereal like that anymore, im sure its made a difference already and it has certainly bought my feed costs down!

 

[TGM]

I would think at that age her teeth must be pretty ropey now, so it is likely she is finding it hard to eat haylage and that that she does eat probably doesn't get properly chewed. I would suggest you make up for this with some sort of hay replacer - soaked grass nuts, soaked high fibre cubes, grass chaffs etc. If she is stabled then she can have a big tub of hay replacer alongside her haylage every night.

 

[TGM]

i have a 25 year old section D who i have spent the past two months FILLING with hi fi original, sugarbeet & 16 plus (+ad lib hay), i swapped her onto baileys number 4 a few weeks ago as i think that maybe she just cant digest cereal like that anymore, im sure its made a difference already and it has certainly bought my feed costs down!

Baileys No 4 still contains cereal but has a much higher calorie content than 16 plus (13.5 MJDE/kg against 11 MJDE/kg), which would explain why it has been so successful putting the weight on her.