Feeding advice

[ribrabs]

Misti is getting on in years now (21 in May) and although she is as lively as usual and her usual bossy self with everyone and everything, I find it difficult to put weight on her.

She is too poor in condition to me and I wondered if anyone else has anything in particular they like to feed the old bods to keep in them in good condition. She is lacking muscle too as she hasn't done much over the last 3 years, so this isn't helping the overall picture. She is 14.3hh and I'm not sure of her correct weight as weightapes are not acurate!

She is currently being fed twice a day and has (divided between both feeds):

1/2kg Just Chop
2kg Sugar Beet (mollased) dry wet weight
2kg Pegasus Mix
20g Glucosamine, Chodrointin and MSM supplement (she has a bit of arthritis in one knee!)
50ml vegetable oil
Ad-lib Hay

She is pretty much getting what the others get fed with the addition of the oil and supplement, but I was now wondering if perhaps she would be better on a veteran mix instead. I really want to put more weight on her and just wondered what you guys suggest?

[dante]

I absolutely swear by TopSpec fast fibre cubes. You soak them into a mash, they are mega palatable and you can feed pretty big amounts as its a trickle feed. Its a bit like a hay replacer for horses with dodgy teeth but works for anything that isnt a good doer. Its completely turned Flash around! He gets a big bucket of this, then a separate bucket with his balancer, Alfa A and Speedibeet. And he ADORES it, he whinnies for it!

You could also up her veg oil. Maybe look into a veteran mix if you like feeding a mix (i dont) or replace that with a Senior Balancer?

[ribrabs]

Thanks for that. I've been looking at the TopSpec range as I found an old brochure in the filing cabinet last night!

I never thought of feeding just a balancer and adding sugarbeet and chaff........it's all down to the mind set I guess from days gone by where we always fed course mix and old habits die hard!! I did wonder about upping her oil content too.

[jumanji]

Hi Jayne,
Firstly on looking at your feeding the only thing i can see of any value is a bit of mix,everything else is all bulk feed.I have a 37 yr old part bred,with virtually no teeth an she has not ate hay for least 5 yrs an i doubt very much that she can eat much grass ,it balls up in her mouth an she sooks it then shakes her head an the ball falls out.I dont want to scare you by telling you all that she eats in a day ,an i no Misti is not quite yet in the same boat but i swear by a balancer,she gets Spillers normal balancer ,500g a day also baileys outshine ,used to be 600g a day but i have reduced it to 300g a day.
she gets another 3 different kinds of feed in with these twice a day ,plus for a hay replacer she gets , Allan & Page Fast Fibre 2 to 3 times a day ,a 20kg bag lasts roughly 9 days.
I think with these prepared mixes you are wasting your time and money unless you feed the recommended amounts ,which are huge......
of course this is just MHO .
I hope you get her sorted ,she is a fantastic mare .

[ribrabs]

Thanks Jumanji and you haven't scared me at all! I've booked a visit with the Dodson & Horrel rep for next week and she has already given me advice over the phone, which has been helpful too.

Hopefully I'll have a whole new Misti in the next few months!

[rosebud]

My old boy Foxx is 19 (20 this year) and i give him Hifi, Baileys No. 4 conditioning cubes, blue chip, Rowan Barbury Ready Mash (usually red bag is my first choice but any of them) or if i can't get that i use Allen & Page Fast Fibre, and that's supplemented with garlic, seaweed and pink powder. He does great on this diet. I don't use mixes. He gets what Silver gets and she is very intollerant of a lot of feeds and looses weight easily - although much reduced amounts in comparrison to her, he'd burst if he were fed the same quantities as her! ;D

Previous horses got veteran mixes but i soon gave up using veteran mixes and decided that using a balancer and basic supplements was better and less of a waste of money

D&H build up cubes are superb for weight gain (though can make them pretty fizzy, i dread to imagine if Silver ever got any ) and so is Allen & Page Calm & Condition although i now swear by the Rowan Barbury Ready Mash, Green red or blue bag - brilliant feed

[ribrabs]

Thanks for that RB. I saw the Rowan Mash last time I was in Dumfries (my local feed place doesn't stock it) and I wondered about it. It seems very expensive though, or perhaps it's just that particular feed place! I've used Calm & Condition before with good results, so may well go back to that one as it's easy for an older animal to eat.

[rosebud]

To be honest, i am not sure how much it costs as i never pay much attention to the individual cost of the feed i buy ... i just cringe at the total! LOL! But i only have the two to cater for and really i choose what i feed based on Silver's feed requirements rather than Foxx's (that makes me sound terrible) but what works for her seems to work for him too. It is probably more expensive in comparrison to a bag of fast fibre, but i find that it goes quite far and is really palatable. When i use red bag, i don't need to use as much cubes which reduces the feed costs a bit. I also add ready grass into their feed which is great and not too expensive to buy. 1.5 stubbs scoops of ready mash does 1 20 litre tub trug for me (the middle sized one)

[jumanji]

Fast Fibre £10/bag .Lasts 10 day
Outshine £36 /20kg bag -300g /day
Balancer /£30/20kg bag-500g/day

+sugar beet + halleys alfa Blocks +oat pellet nuts.
= a heck o a lot o money.BUT i have a 37 yr old girl who looks totally FANTASTIC.

[laurafairbairn]

I agree - I don't use mixes on my two (15 yr old and 5 yr old) but go for Allen & Page Calm & Condidition, its a soaking feed and has probiotic in it along with everything else you need (vits etc). I also add Graze-On (chopped dried grass) which is pretty cheap but very good and nice to get some good quality grass inside them through the winter. I have used the Rowan Barbury Soft & Soak in the past too, which I also liked but I find it easier to get the C&C locally. I love a soaking feed as you can add hot water to it in the winter to warm them up, and it gets the fluids into them when they are not so keen to drink the cold water from the troughs.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get some good advice from your feed advisor!

[ribrabs]

Thanks to you all for your help and information. The Dodson & Horrell rep was fab and even brought me a free bag of what she recommended to get started on!!!

She advised on 16+ Cubes from their range, as it contains high levels of protein to help with getting muscle back on Misti, but also contains all the vits & Minerals she needs as well as Glucosamine and MSN for her joints. Because it is a cube, it mulshes down a bit in the sugar beet too, so makes life easier for her to eat it. She loves it and has been merrily tucking in! Everything else I've been giving her was correct, so I was pleased that I didn't need to make to much of a radical change to her routine.

[laurafairbairn]

Glad you are sorted, hope it works!