Older horses

[Retty]

Hi there! Just wondered what you feed your 'older' horses throughout the winter? Max was just on 24 hour turnout in summer and a handful of chaff here and there, now he is in I am feeding him but think I may have overdone it a bit!! I am giving him Saracens OAP mix, honey chop chaff & sugar beet - these are all handfuls of. He was eating his hay so I gave him haylage, he got quite whizzy over the last week (hardly surprising!) although it was kinda nice to not have aching legs for a change! Would like to get a happy medium with the feed though :D

[Retty]

Isn't he just handsome?! :D

[Retty]

I meant to say he wasn't eating his hay hence haylage! He's also 15 years young :D

[Sophini]

Awww what a sweetheart - sounds like he's had a bit of a sugar rush and has found his youth again!!!

I would guess that the change from just chaff to mix and beet has just given him a sugar overload. Try just cutting down on the mix (the beet will keep the weight on) or otherwise switch to speedibeet which is less sugar and an unmollassed chaff, Dengie Hi-Fi Lite or Dengie Good-doer might be good.

Think i'd rest my legs for a few weeks though if i were you !!!

[cazrider]

Hi Retty

Sennie, 14, has Dengie Good doer, cod liver oil and garlic, carrots and apples, and a lot of hay ( about 5 sections a night). He's at grass during the day and in at night. He did start to drop a bit of weight but upping the hay has put a stop to that. He's also got more forward going lately. I put that down to the colder weather and him being in at night.

Unlike your Max he guzzles his hay but leaves the chaff! What do you do with them!

Max is gorgeous by the way. Whereabouts in Essex are you?

[galadriel]

He's gorgeous :)

15 really isn't old.

Is he getting any turnout? Going from 24/7 turnout to being stalled could also have an effect on his energy level, when you take him out to ride. Is there any way to let him romp around a bit (lunge or even free lunge) before you ride? Might help him collect his attention span.

Do you think there is any hay he would eat? Or maybe you could mix hay in with the haylege? (That sounds messy!) He does need the forage, but he sounds like an easy keeper. Something with less oomph to it would probably be more healthy for him overall.

[Laetitia]

Feed for work. You can get unmolassed sugar beet. They all love haylage, it's got lots of sugar and water in it so they need more, as opposed to hay.
I feed Allen & Page Herbal Quiet Mix with Dengie light all year round + succulents and vit. supplement + ad lib hay in the winter and sugar beet. The amount of hard feed she has depends on her workload and condition. In depths of winter she has breakfast and tea, but in the summer just tea as there's plenty of grass. She lives out.
It's a minefield isn't it. L

[Kady A]

He is a very handsome boy and hardly old!

Stella is somewhere in her 20s - I feed her a quarter scoop Baileys no 1, quarter scoop nuts, quarter mollichop extra, quarter pasture mix, Equimins liquid gold and Cortaflex twice a day. She also gets fairly ad lib haylage when stabled. She's in really good shape and at the minute is turned out for at least 3 hours a day, only doing perhaps an hours flatwork a day if that. I actually rang on of the feed company information lines to have a chat to an expert - got loads of good advice but they reckoned I should just keep on with what she is getting rather than switching her to veteran mix. The Baileys No 1 helps her to keep condition on without sending her mental. I put her on Blue Chip for a while but it sent her a bit doolally!

[shirley]

Hi there Retty,
Nice to find someone else who lives in Essex, who loves a cob. He is gorgeous.
I have a similar stamp of cob and he is 13. I give him Good Doer, with a daily vitamin and mineral supplement to ensure he does get enough of these etc. I also give him garlic, NAF Mud fever and Omega oil. This does not fizz him up at all and he looks very well on it. This all along with hay is all he gets.
Good luck with your feeding.

[Retty]

Hi there,
We are in Rayleigh/Hockley borders in Essex. Max is now eating his hay, I have upped the hay and lowered the hard feed, unfortunately he was lame last week and has been in on box rest! Today he has come sound again and he went out into the field for a few hours, he was so happy to be out, he bucked and cantered off up the field. I think I have finally got his feed right now though - he just always looks at me with big brown eyes and long lashes and nudges me hoping for more treats it's hard to say no! :D