Winter feed advice

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Hi,

Hoping for some suggestions. This will be my second winter with my stress-head mare and, since last year was a bit of a challenge, would like to try to get it right early!

She's a 16hh 11yr old WB mare, in medium work (worked 4-5 days a week, mixture of flatwork, lungeing, jumping and hacking with riding club-type competition twice a month or so in summer, little less in winter). She gets 24/7 turnout in summer and is in at night in winter. Grazing is reasonably good in summer, so she has good coverage without being fat at the moment. In summer she gets a handful of chaff (AlfaA molasses-free) and a handful of nuts (local feed merchant own-brand) with a little garlic (for the flies) and BeneVit (for all around vitamin supplement) in summer. The grazing does deteriorate in winter, so when in at night, she was eventually on about 16lbs dry hay/day with 2 feeds a day comprising of scoop of AlfaA molasses-free chaff, half scoop Spillers Conditioning Cubes, half a scoop of (soaked) Dengie AlphaBeet plus the BeneVit, plus a snack-ball with some nuts at night to trickle feed as she bolts her hay. She is barefoot (has been for about 2 years) and does very well - her feet are good, she just gets a few flaps/chips when she's been on dry/hard ground (ridden or turnout), but nothing significant.

I was quite happy with this winter feed (after a little experimentation), but wonder whether there may be improvements to make. She lost a lot of condition in around Jan (when I introduced the conditioning cubes rather than regular nuts and the AlphaBeet) - I wonder whether a balancer or a more specific selection of vits/mins would benefit her? She does get very stressy in winter - we have a bottle of Valerian at the yard for very bad evenings - she has been seen to weave/boxwalk but had a few nights where she got very anxious, to the point of throwing herself through her stable door one night.

A bit of a newbie to the mind-boggling world of feeding options, I would love some advice on this. Would magnesium be beneficial for her stress/anxiety/mareish tendencies? I would be keen to add a joint supplement (for prevention rather than cure - glucosamine base? oil/powder?) as well.

Sorry for length, lot to consider in the feeding stakes!! Thanks
 
Hello

When looking at a feed for your horse, the first thing you need to do is check what feed companies mean by 'workload' as it can vary. For example, Spillers classify workloads as:

Maintenance - not in work
Light work - hacking and leisure riding, 1-2 hours per day; showing at local level, prelim/novice to elementary dressage; showjumping at local shows; BSJA novice and discovery classes; endurance rides up to 32km at a slow pace, sponsored rides, unaffiliated novice one day events
Medium work - showing on affiliated circuit; affiliated dressage at elementary to advanced medium level; BSJA newcomers and foxhunters level; BE intermediate and advanced one day events; 50 mile endurance rides; fast canter work for racing.
Hard work - affiliated dressage Grand Prix level; BE 3 and 4 star 3 day events; endurance race rides; racehorses in full training and racing.

My pony has a similar workload to yours except he works 1-2 hours per day 6 days per week and I classify him as in light work unless a feed company specifies differently.

Unless your horse lacks energy in the summer, I would swap the handful of pony nuts and vit supplement for a balancer - this will work out more cost effective and you will be sure she is getting everything she needs to stay healthy. If she needs energy for work, then feeding a cube at the recommended rate for her size and workload would eliminate the need for the supplement.

Do you condition score her? It may be that she loses muscle over winter rather than fat if her work decreases in which case, more work will counteract that issue. Also, horses are designed to lose a bit of weight over winter and as long as it isn't much, it does them no harm. I aim for a condition score of 3 in the summer and a 2-2.5 coming out of winter (although mine has a tendency to get fat on spring grass and this helps control it!). If you are concerned, though, a conditioning cube or a high oil feed will help keep her weight on without the fizz. Ensuring she has as much fibre as she wants in terms of hay/haylage will also help her maintain condition if it is good quality.

I only feed joint supplements to my pony recommended by my vet. I'm also not a fan of calming supplements although I know some people swear by them. Keeping cereals either out of the diet or as low as possible will help and doing things like having toys in her stable, a mirror for 'company', splitting her hay/haylage into separate haynets around the box may all help with her stabling stress. Also being able to see or touch other horses whilst stabled may help and as much turnout as you can manage.

I would recommend contacting some feed companies by phone or email as their advice is free and they can look at your particular circumstances. I hope this helps :)
 
I agree with those that say your mare is in light work. The actual feeds you feed seem ok. Although if you need weight on it might be worth looking at Alfa oil instead of the molasses free.
I use 365 complete balancer http://www.equineanswers.co.uk/prodpage.asp?ProdID=1 & I'm very happy with it.
I also give my skinny, stressy TB a mug of micronised linseed a day & this seems to have done wonders for him.
 
I agree that she is in light work not medium and would feed her as such. You said she bolts her hay, which to me says she is hungry and needs more especially if she lost weight mid winter you would be better off giving her more hay and less hard feed so she can fill up on fibre and should then maintain her weight and be less stressy.
I give my horses ad lib haylage in the winter, they eat it steadily overnight and usually have some left in the morning, it prevents them bolting it as they realise that they never run out so are much more relaxed in general.
 
I also have a nutty wb, I give him micronised linseed in the winter along with hifi molasses free, fast fibre, a balancer and ride & relax. He looks great, the oil really helps, and i prefer feeding it micronised rather than an oil chaff.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I think upping her hay and perhaps splitting it over a couple of nets (she already has it double netted to slow her down) to keep her amused for longer might be useful, perhaps with a quick soak to make it harder to tease out of the net. I might look at introducing some haylage as well. I take on board what people say about workload too, I suppose relative to Grand Prix and Grand National horses, her workload is quite light!
Micronised linseed I will look into also. ellie_e, which balancer do you use?
 
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