Feeding Poor Doers

During

Whether you have a Thoroughbred with a limitless appetite yet is always lean, or a nervous horse that burns through their energy levels, diet is a key component in helping the poorer doer maintain weight. The aim is to feed more calories than those needed for maintenance and to sustain workload. This oversupply will then be laid down as fat, allowing your horse to gain weight.

A question I often get asked is how to feed for weight gain without excitability? It is important to remember that calories and energy are the same thing, so feeding a high calorie meal means feeding a high energy meal.

Within the Allen & Page Barley & Molasses

Free and Specialist Ranges we have several high calorie conditioning feeds that are whole cereal grain and molasses free. They are fibre and oil based, with much lower starch and sugar levels than traditional feeds of a similar energy level. This means they provide slowrelease energy and reduce the likelihood of any unwanted behaviour often seen with high cereal feeds.

Veteran Vitality and Calm & Condition are both fully balanced and soak quickly to form a soft mash in less than 10 minutes making them easy for horses with poor teeth to eat, whilst providing an additional source of hydration. Through winter warm water can be added to make an inviting treat for your horse. weigh out the feed (before soaking if feeding a mash) and forage provided. Any forage left should be weighed so you know exactly how much feed your horse is getting through.

Handy Tip

Loss of weight and body condition can be a symptom of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS), which is becoming increasingly common in sport and leisure horses.

Soothe & Gain is our newer conditioning feed that has the BETA Gastric Ulcer Certification mark, meaning it is a feed suitable for horses prone to gastric ulcers.

This feed contains highly digestible, fibre and oil-based ingredients, alongside magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate to help buffer the acid contents of the stomach. It is also high in Beta-Glucans which form a gel-like consistency, helping to moderate the speed of feed through the stomach and intestines, meaning the stomach remains fuller for longer.

For more information on feeding visit www.allenandpage.com or call our friendly and helpful nutrition helpline on 01362 822 902

Handy Tip

if possible, split your daily feeding amounts into more meals to reduce the volume fed to help ensure digestive efficiency is maintained. Try not to feed more than 2kg (dry weight not including chaff) of ‘hard’ feed in a meal.

Did you know a common cause of weight loss is a lack of fibre in the diet? Ensuring your horse is eating enough forage (grass, hay or haylage) is key. Fibre is digested in the hindgut where it produces a large amount of heat, this can be used as your horses own ‘central heating system.’ Horses not eating enough fibre must use their own reserves to keep warm, which in turn can lead to weight loss.

As horses age we often find that their teeth deteriorate, leaving them unable to chew long stem fibre. Our quick soaking Fast Fibre forms a soft mash making it ideal for dentally changed horses and can be used as a partial forage replacer, fed safely in larger amounts as a ‘haynet in a bucket.’

Handy Tip

Do you have a fussy feed feeder? Our feeds contain a blend of tasty herbs to aid palatability. Other handy options to make it more inviting include adding grated carrot, blackcurrant cordial or dried mint leaves.

It is important to note that any weight gain should be gradual. It can take 6-8 weeks to notice improvements to your horse’s weight so utilising tools such as a weigh tape, getting hands on and body condition scoring them or simply taking a picture on a fortnightly basis will help you see the difference.

Dr Jim Rawlinson BVMS

MBA MRCVS, Nettex veterinary advisor gives advice on looking after horses hooves during winter

The phrase ‘no hoof, no horse’ may date back to the 18th century but it is as true today as it was then. Healthy feet are essential for a horse’s soundness and are expertly designed to bear weight, absorb shock, assist in blood flow and facilitate movement. Many factors contribute to hoof health and while we don’t have control over some aspects, such as genetics, we do have the ability to influence many external factors to promote quality hoof health.

Taking care of our horse’s feet in winter is especially challenging, but incredibly important as winter conditions take their toll on hooves.

Wet Weather

Horse’s hooves don’t like to be too dry or too wet. Through summer we can remedy this by adding oils and creams to dry feet but keeping feet dry in persistent wet and muddy conditions through the winter season can be more of a challenge. Prolonged contact with mud stops hooves from wearing down naturally, and the mud can loosen shoes making them more prone to being pulled off. Repeated exposure to wet conditions also starts to soften the hoof, leading to cracks and splits. Not only does this compromise the integrity and strength of the hoof wall but increases the risk of bacteria entering – which could result in a foot abscess.

The sole and frog suffer too – and a wet and softened frog can start to slough away and there is an increased risk of thrush developing.