Winter Feeding Advice for Poor Dooer TB

[emilykerr747]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on feeding my poor dooer TB during the winter to help with condition.

In the summer we do low level evening and he looked fab and in great condition. Since coming into winter he looks leaner and his ribs are starting to show slightly. His workload is much lighter than in summer and is currently limited to Fridays and weekends only. Any advice or tips on how to keep weight on?

He’s currently being fed morning and evening with the recommended amount of topspec comprehensive balancer, dengie alfa A oil and linseed mash. He’s currently having ad lib haylage.

He’s currently showing no signs of ulcers or any other symptoms that something may be wrong. He’s also had a worm count done and has come back clean.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TGM]

What is his stabling/grazing routine? Any chance there could be dental problems that could be restricting how much haylage he eats? If stabled can you measure how much haylage is put in and how much he actually eats? If he is out 24/7 could it be possible he is being bullied away from the haylage?

 

[AmyMay]

I’d be inclined to add either a conditioning cube or high fibre cube to his ration.

 

[emilykerr747]

At the moment he’s in at night and out in the day. I don’t think he’s being bullied, he is out with another pony but he is definitely the one doing the bullying! He may be eating less haylage when he’s out but he’s only out between 10am and 4pm and has access to haylage during that time. It is possible that he maybe eats less haylage then as the other pony is quite greedy and could be eating it faster.

In terms of the haylage amount he’s getting in the evenings, I don’t know the exact amount as I don’t have a weigher but it’s one section from a large haylage bale as shown in attached photo. The haynet is significantly heavy to carry! He seems to eat it all or most of it.

 

[emilykerr747]

What is his stabling/grazing routine? Any chance there could be dental problems that could be restricting how much haylage he eats? If stabled can you measure how much haylage is put in and how much he actually eats? If he is out 24/7 could it be possible he is being bullied away from the haylage?

At the moment he’s in at night and out in the day. I don’t think he’s being bullied, he is out with another pony but he is definitely the one doing the bullying! He may be eating less haylage when he’s out but he’s only out between 10am and 4pm and has access to haylage during that time. It is possible that he maybe eats less haylage then as the other pony is quite greedy and could be eating it faster.

In terms of the haylage amount he’s getting in the evenings, I don’t know the exact amount as I don’t have a weigher but it’s one section from a large haylage bale as shown in attached photo. The haynet is significantly heavy to carry! He seems to eat it all or most of it.

 

[Squeak]

I feel your pain. It can be so hard to keep them looking good over the winter. I found the most important thing was forage so I'd try and make it so that there's always haylage left overnight and in the field. Some horses can do better on hay than haylage so that could be worth a go. Mine can eat huge amounts compared to other horses. I fell in to the trap of going for more hard feed and it made it even worse and cost a fortune. I found that grass nuts, chop, sugarbeet, micronise linseed and balancer were enough. I think it helped that there wasn't loads of fillers and ingredients in the food too.

Also is he the right temperature rugging wise? I find if mine is too hot or cold he drops weight, now I keep him unclipped for as long as I can as it makes it easier.

 

[Ratface]

Old Horse is on very similar rations. Ad lib home grown hay, grass nuts, linseed, chop, sugar beet and the occasional carrot or apple. He's on a deep straw bed, so can nose about for ever if he fancies a bit of a snack. He's weigh-taped regularly so YO adjusts his bucket feed to suit.

 

[humblepie]

I have recently put my older TB on to Dobson and Horrell Cushcare which I soak as his teeth aren't the best, but in the past have had very good success with Equijewel which is expensive but really worked on a TB who had been really poorly and looked awful. I weigh my hay with luggage scales so it may be worth trying to find some of those, just put in a haynet and lift up like you would a suitcase. It can sometimes just be trial and error as to what works with a particular horse.

 

[TheMule]

At the moment he’s in at night and out in the day. I don’t think he’s being bullied, he is out with another pony but he is definitely the one doing the bullying! He may be eating less haylage when he’s out but he’s only out between 10am and 4pm and has access to haylage during that time. It is possible that he maybe eats less haylage then as the other pony is quite greedy and could be eating it faster.

In terms of the haylage amount he’s getting in the evenings, I don’t know the exact amount as I don’t have a weigher but it’s one section from a large haylage bale as shown in attached photo. The haynet is significantly heavy to carry! He seems to eat it all or most of it.

Haylage contains a lot of water so the weight is largely irrelevant- if he’s finishing it then he needs more

 

[tyner]

Maybe also check the protein level of the forage.. I got some pea protein powder from Rowan Barbary and it made a world of difference.

 

[Birker2020]

The YO at retirement has put Lari on Rowan Barbarry Ready Mash Extra at my request. It has milk powder and oil for weight gain. As well as wrapping him up warmer. He looks a lot better.

 

[AdorableAlice]

The YO at retirement has put Lari on Rowan Barbarry Ready Mash Extra at my request. It has milk powder and oil for weight gain. As well as wrapping him up warmer. He looks a lot better.

I may be wrong, but I don't think adult horses can digest diary products, so milk powder isn't suitable.

Equi Jewel is superb for safely putting condition on.

 

[UKa]

Fast fibre worked wonders for my late TB mare. Fed as per guidelines on the bags the soaked feed became huge tubs (this is fine as it’s all fibre) but was the only thing that helped keep her in a decent condition. With Alfa oil molasses free and a cup of linseed and ad Lib hay.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would be feeding ad lib haylage or hay so his always got some left, I would feed Equijewel or rice bran if your already feeding a linseed based feed just alongside what he currently gets.

I've used it for my own Arab's and a few other horses and had good results, I have never been able to use conditioning nuts as they made mine silly but alot of horses are ok on them.

 

[Follysmum]

Grass nuts and linseed are basic and fab for weight

 

[Birker2020]

I may be wrong, but I don't think adult horses can digest diary products, so milk powder isn't suitable.

Equi Jewel is superb for safely putting condition on.

Oh I've not heard that before but you could be right, I don't know. Ready Mash Extra has been around since the year dot and I've never heard of it causing problems.I used to feed it for years and it never caused issues. i assume its made safe somehow.

I am going to get a big quantity of oil, and get him fed this too, I see Morrisons Superstores are selling this for £6.50 OP. Also in regards to you feeding Haylage - do you know it has to be fed 1.25% more volume than hay because of its lower dry matter content which is around 50/60% compared to hay which has a dry matter content of 85/90%??

I can remember at some point feeding Zyklene from the vet for box rest. That is a natural calmer and contains casein which is based on mares milk which appears to calm horses.

 

[magicmoments]

I have used baileys ease and excel with success in the past, and also allen and page sooth and gain, alongside linseed.