Veterans

[MyLuckyStar]

Hi

Just wondering what everyone does with their veterans and what feed they are on?

We have 3 veterans in our herd - a 15 yr old (16 in April), a 16 year old (17 in April) and a 27 year old.

The 27 yr old acts like a 4 yr old when shes ridden, she loves her work and is very forward going when ridden. She was is currently on veteran vitality and hi fi original but at the reccy of the nutritionist she is going on to Spillers conditioning fibre and spillers response low release cubes.

The 16 yr old is pretty laid back at all times but has a stubborn streak in her. She is fed on fast fibre and healthy hooves

The 15 yr old is sometimes stressy, whizzy when he wants to be but generaly quiet. He is on alpha beet, pink powder senior, vegetable oil and healthy hooves but again will be going on to spillers conditioning fibre in place of the healthy hooves

 

[Catcus]

Mine is 31, now retired and stubborn as a mule! He is the epitome of a grumpy old man (but I wouldn't be without him!). He can't eat much haylage so is fed big tubtrugs of grass, alfalfa and beet pellets, all mashed up. During summer he'll be on fast fibre or veteran vitality depending on how he does. If he's still here by summer

 

[Grinchmass]

My veteran is 19 this year, lost a fair bit of weight comming into winter, and have been battling to put it back on, which seems to have worked - should think so - I'm keeping the feed store in business!! He's currently fed Alfa a, Dodson and Horrell 16plus mix, spillers conditioning cubes (which have worked wonders) and equibeet. Oh and biotin, his hooves where crumbly from the hard summer ground and now look great his feed will be getting cut down now he's back up to weight, but shall be keeping an eye on him.

Apart from driving me up the wall and breaking things on a weekly basis he is great to ride, very chilled, he's been doing a bit of dressage, teaching a useless lump like me and hacking and schooling, generally having fun with me.

He's a bit of a grump but seems to like work so long as its in a large open space, gets grumpier and lazier in a school, but the sheer size of him I can't say I blame him

 

[Laura-Maybe-IV]

Hi

Just wondering what everyone does with their veterans and what feed they are on?

We have 3 veterans in our herd - a 15 yr old (16 in April), a 16 year old (17 in April) and a 27 year old.

The 27 yr old acts like a 4 yr old when shes ridden, she loves her work and is very forward going when ridden. She was is currently on veteran vitality and hi fi original but at the reccy of the nutritionist she is going on to Spillers conditioning fibre and spillers response low release cubes.

The 16 yr old is pretty laid back at all times but has a stubborn streak in her. She is fed on fast fibre and healthy hooves

The 15 yr old is sometimes stressy, whizzy when he wants to be but generaly quiet. He is on alpha beet, pink powder senior, vegetable oil and healthy hooves but again will be going on to spillers conditioning fibre in place of the healthy hooves

One of my fav topics feeding! I have a 22 year old TB a 21 year old shettie and a 14 year old welsh pony.
My ponies are fed happy hoof and are doing perfectly well of it, they can be stubborn but I think that's just them! They get 4 kg of hay at night divided between them as they share a stable. And they get hay in the field. They had fast fibre for a few months but once the bag was finished we stopped feeding them it. The shettie does have some dental issues but were keeping a close eye on him, when his teeth get really short he will go onto hay replacer.

The 22 year old TB however is very hot headed its like riding a three year do at times, I have to be very careful what she is fed. She currently has baileys lo cal, Alfa a original and some pasture mix. Alongside apple cider vinegar, joint liquid and stroppy mare. When she is working hard she goes onto Alfa a oil as it s slow release energy although when she is not hard working she doesn't need it, but its excellent for getting weight on them. She also had fast fibre when the weather was really cold and I find that this really helps keep the weight on her, she like the ponies doesn't need it anymore.
She gets 10kg haylage at night and when she's all day she will get 4kg of haylage during the day and 2kg hi if lite as hay replacer so she choice of what she wants. She also has hay out in the field.

Pure fibre diets have worked really well for my three as well as being really cost effective and they look and feel great.

 

[russianhorse]

Dizzy is 24 in a couple of months. He is on Top Spec Balancer, Hi-fi, and speedibeet. Every year I struggle to keep weight on in the winter but dont worry too much because he has room to manoeuvre come spring. His coat at the min is also super shiny (the best I've seen it over winter )