Nutrition Focus: Yard Focus – Ollie Jones

Lorna Edgar – specialist equine nutritionist

Yard Focus

Ollie Jones

In mid-July I found myself at Longdole Polo Club, admiring 3 goaler, Ollie Jones’ string who have already played 72 games and were looking great after what has already been a busy half of the season for them. Ollie’s grooms this season are Megan Taylor and Abigail Valance, who are doing a great job in keeping the horses looking well and going well this summer.

I met Ollie four seasons ago, who had a couple of horses that he was having trouble getting some condition on and were playing a lot of polo. Quite rightly they were feeding two feeds a day, but the feeds were quite big, two to three scoops of mix, with chaff as well. You can imagine the look of confusion I received when I suggested feeding less – in three smaller feeds! My go to diet of three scoops of Conditioning Cubes, two mugs of Balancer, some Outshine, and half a scoop of Fibre Beet in each feed and a prebiotic was implemented – a month on and the horses were gaining condition and Ollie was happier with the reduced feed bill as well!!

Very often Ollie’s string will consist of some tricky individuals that the Conditioning Cubes are not suited to, however they will all come in from their winter break on balancer Fibre-Beet. They will then progress to individual diets depending on their quirks and needs!

Fibre is very much at the centre of success here as the horses are busy travelling a lot in the Cirencester area, the lorry always has hay nets in it when the horses travel, before and after polo. They currently live out at night where they have extra hay put out for them and during the day when they are stabled so they always have constant access to hay.

Some individuals will have a prebiotic supplement from the beginning of the season, particularly those that do not hold their condition so well. However, this year, once they started playing they all received the prebiotic to help support the beneficial bacteria in the hind gut, in turn helping to maintain condition throughout the busy season.

Some days, Ollie may have two or even three games (not all on the same horses!) but whilst away from their stables they will have a lunch at polo consisting of a scoop of cubes, a cup of balancer and some FibreBeet, helping to maintain their energy levels and reducing the peaks and troughs in their Glycaemic Index.

As Ollie has such a diverse selection of horses, we have decided to do a FAB FIVE! A huge thank you to Abigail for helping me get the photos as we raced against the rain clouds!

And those chosen ones are as follows…

Lovelocks Florida

A nine-year-old bred by Charlie Hanbury and has been with Ollie for the last three seasons. Flo can be tricky to feed as she is a hot mare that goes through phases of not wanting to eat, especially during busy times of polo. She is one of the yard favourites, so her needs are very much catered for!

As she can be quite hot and become tucked up and hollow in the flanks, I have always tried to focus on the fibre element of her diet – ensuring she is eating adequate amounts and she has that extra support of a pre/probiotic supplement. Offering her more FibreBeet in a separate feed bowl for her to graze on and keeping her meal sizes quite small really benefits her.

Last season, we introduced her to Ease & Excel Cubes, which she found more palatable as they contain herbal oils, and she can’t pick through a mix to decide what she likes and doesn’t like! The Cubes have worked well in providing her with the calories she requires, keeping her eating and not giving her any excess and unwanted energy!

The grass is suiting her well this year, but we are mindful that if and when it stops growing, she may well need to have the Ease & Excel increased to pick up her calorie intake. Current Diet 2 level scoops of Ease & Excel Cubes per day 3 mugs of Balancer per day 1 scoop of Fibre-Beet in each feed 2 measures of Digest Plus prebiotic per day

JB Rubio

A seven-year-old bred by James Beim and is new to Ollie’s yard this year. He is a straight-forward, kind gelding on the yard but he needs to be played regularly to keep on top of his energy levels. He is holding his condition well so far this season, but if he drops any condition or needs less energy, we can increase the cubes (and reduce the balancer) or add Outshine (the high oil supplement). Alternatively if he has too much energy we can switch him onto No.24 Ease & Excel Cubes.

Current Diet 2 level scoops of Conditioning Cubes per day 3 mugs of Balancer per day 1 scoop of soaked Fibre-Beet in each feed 2 measures of Digest Plus prebiotic per day

A 14-year-old Irish Thoroughbred and was originally made at Longdole. She arrived at Ollie’s yard last season and was known to have a history of tying up and being a ‘good doer’. So, being mindful of the two issues, we put her straight onto a balancer and ensured she had electrolytes in her diet as her work increased.

Feeding just the balancer has helped to keep her weight under control but with all those essential nutrients to build muscle and assist with muscle and nerve function, essential with a history of tying up. Always encouraging to feed the recommended amounts of a balancer and not having concerns that it will cause her to hold too much weight is key to the success of managing a good doer that ties-up.

She has ad lib hay, like the other horses, but in a small holed haylage net in the stable to slow down her eating rate, allowing her to trickle feed still, and not compromise her digestive tract.

At the minute her energy levels are all good, but should she require more energy we may have to consider the use of the oil supplement, Outshine, or introducing some Ease & Excel cubes or mix to keep the starch-based energy to a minimum due to her tying-up issues.

Current Diet 4-5 mugs of Balancer per day ½ a scoop of soaked Fibre-Beet in each feed 2 measures of Digest Plus prebiotic per day

Lovelocks Youre Welcome

A six-year-old who is very easy on the yard and a pleasure to have around, however, at polo she can become very stressy and wound-up. When she arrived, it took her time to settle and put on some condition, whilst of course her workload was increasing. Because she was easy at home we put her onto three feeds of Conditioning Cubes per day, with Fibre-Beet and the prebiotic, which helped to put on condition and begin filling out in the flanks. She has benefitted hugely from living out at night and the grass continuing to grow.

As the season has progressed and she has been playing more polo, we have now switched her to the Ease & Excel Cubes, to reduce the starchbased energy but still provide her with the calories to maintain condition. At the moment she seems a little more settled at polo and it hasn’t affected her energy levels on the field.

As with Florida, should she drop any condition when the grass stops growing we can increase her cubes to three scoops per day, and go back to three feeds as well.

Current Diet 2 level scoops of Ease & Excel Cubes per day 3 mugs of Balancer per day 1 scoop of Fibre-Beet in each feed 2 measures of Digest Plus prebiotic per day

Floppy

A 12-year-old and an absolute favourite of Ollie’s and is the reliable, easy chukka that one craves at times! Floppy is known for being a very ‘good doer’, but as the season progresses, she can begin to lack a bit of energy.

As she does not require calories, we need to be careful she still has a balanced diet, so for the four years I have known her she only receives balancer (4-5 measuring mugs per day) throughout the season and a few oats when she requires a bit more energy!

As with all good doers, we don’t want her muzzled, we want her to trickle feed and avoid the risk of gastric ulcers – in the stable she will have a small holed haylage net, and when turned out, if her calorie intake needs to be controlled, she will be in a field with minimal grass but hay in a haylage net for her to pick at.

By feeding the balancer, she is receiving all those essential nutrients to support her work, plus it also counteracts any nutrient deficiencies when oats are added – a perfect scenario for the good doer playing polo! Megan and Abigail fluctuate her oats according to her workload and how much polo she is playing, during quiet periods and days off they are reduced to a minimum to reduce the risk of tying-up etc.