weight gain advice

[jaynedge]

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 pure arab 14.3hh and I'm not sure of her correct weight as weightapes are not acurate! She is the fleabitten grey in my signature.

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? She isn't affected by barley or cereals like the TB's so I don't have the problem of certain feeds driving her bonkers! She has been wormed regularily and had her teeth done last Summer. I'm concerned that she is just getting old now and sadly Arabs don't have the same longivity of live that some other breeds have

[catrionamorrison]

I know I always say this but I use and rate Calm and Condition and used it on my horse and his best pal in their senior years until he went over rainbow bridge at 32 and 30 respectively.
My big boys get it too as Monty is particularly tricky to keep weight on and a friend now uses it on a 20something mare who was looking very poor but is now nice and plump.
It could be worth a try mine get a quater of a scoop twice a day with alpha, beet and hi fi oh and course when in competition mode, but the oldies didn't have alpha but did have a senior course mix too.
Good luck I'm sure you'll find something that suits.
Cat

[jaynedge]

I'd forgotten about Calm and Condition! I used it a few years ago on a horse we bought in that was very poor and it did wonders for him. Thanks for jogging my memory!

I've been looking at the TopSpec range too (found an old brochure in the filing cabinet last night!) although they seem to have so many different balancers and feeds available now, I'd probably be best to ring them to see what they suggested for Misti.

[gemmat]

Hi Jayne, Charnwood Millings linseed is ace for condition as is Coprameal which is made from coconut believe it or not.

You are not meant to feed more than 2.5% of a horses bodyweight (inc forage) so have you weight taped her? If you feed too much you are wasting your money as it goes right through them before they can digest it. This is where stuff like Top Spec is great as you only need a very small amount for weight gain.

[Fleur]

I'm a TopSpec balancer girl! I moved to Spillers and Strider really dropped weight within a few days.

I've used TopSpec balancer on all the scrawny waifs and strays I've had over the years.

Might be worth getting her some NAF Pink Powder to kick start her system again? I usually feed a small tub of that at the start too.

Otherwises the sugar beet you're giving is fab and good for poor doers/oldies/sickies.

I'm afraid I'm not one for the Calm and Condition (sorry Cat!) and usually prefer D&H Build Up, but am thinking about giving the TopSpec conditioning cubes a bash.

I also feed veg oil as you do. 20l for £18 at Bookers! x

[flocklhouse]

Total fan of TopSpec and their advice is brilliant.
My old boy was on their senior balancer and their conditioning flakes and it did him well in his last years. They are great at advising for breed specifics too as my ID broodmare dropped lots of weight and they have her on their stud balancer and cool conditioning cubes as they were concerned about laminitis for her with the conditioning flakes. That plus alfa a, s/beet and ad lilb hay and I am sure she will pick up. They also do not specify what is not needed, as my other mare is just on forage plus their multi vitamin. Hopefulygrass will come through soon too.
Good luck.

[leanneandposh]

i used alpha a oil on posh when i first got her, with some speedi beet. i found that worked really well just with that.

[catefrances]

I feed my boy Alpha A , Top Spec conditioning cubes and Top Spec feed balancer and ad lib hay and he always looks great and maintains his weight well all year x

[jaynedge]

Thanks to you all for very good advice.

I've booked an appointment with the rep from Dodson & Horrell and she is coming next week. She was very informative over the phone and gave me very similar advice to you guys. She was great in that she didn't try to push me to buy D & H feeds but mentioned Top Spec balancers herself, so I'm guessing she may be a fan too!

[kookie1988]

Veteran Vitality has worked really well for our boy. I have fed it only for the last 4 weeks and he has gained weight and condition gradually, kept a lovely glossy coat and rid himself of mud fever. We just add redigrass to it.

[perrie]

After having a lot of hassle with a stallion my TB got that stressed she lost a lot of weight.

I have had her on Veteran & Vitality along with Hifi Original & Speedibeet. What a difference in her.
I would highly recommend the Veteran it really does work on my TB, she's looking much much better.

[tpo]

Personally I'd stay away from mixes or cubes. If you read the white label with ingredients there are a lot of empty calories - wheat and cereal feed for example as they are basically the sweepings off the floor.

Also not a fan of Alfalfa as it's a legume and horses aren't meant to have more than 20% of this in their fibre intake. If there is any clover at all in the field that will fill that allowance easily.

Personally I'd go high fibre all the way and drop anything with molasses and fillers.

Can't second GemmaT enough re copra/Coolstance. There is a stockist in Cupar and one out Edinburgh way (Dalkeith?) but you can buy it online from 4Dobbin. Its £15 for 15kg bag and that will last 2 months so very cost effective.

Ditto micronised Linseed.

I'd also look to feed Yea-Sacc or Brewers Yeast to help her get the most out of her feed.

When I had to put condition on mine he got A&P Fast Fibre, Speedibeet, Copra, Brewers Yeast (and he gets a joint supp and Mag. Oxide too).

If you can feed 3 or 4 smaller feeds a day this makes a faster difference but I know it's not always possible with work etc.

Apart from that stuff her full of hay but if she's struggling with that a hay replacer will help.

Good Luck!