Opinions

[zeldalithgow]

What would you do if Daisy were yours?

Ever since she came back from visiting the stallion in 2006 she has been quite thin, she doesn't put on much weight over summer. I've been feeding her with Alpha Beet over winter, but it doesn't seem to have helped she has been rugged with a medium weight which I changed for a lightweight as I thought she was getting too hot, I'm beginning to think I might have been just too mean with the hay rations, difficult to get it right when you've got one fatty and one skinny. Oh Daisy is 22 this year, and she has always had a poor neck, I would say she is moderate verging towards poor on the condition score chart

This was taken yesterday

please excuse the mud

[Debbie]

She actually looks in better condition than Blossom did Oct 06. What I did to bring Blossom back into condition was to add rolled oats to her ration, and reduce the amount of beetpulp, so it was almost a 50/50 ratio. The oats very gradually brought her back up to the weight she needed.

The other problem as you say is having one that needs the rations and one that doesn't, and I daresay Prince would bully her off her own feed if you were giving Daisy something else. Is there anyway you can separate them to feed? Someway to rig a stall system in the field shelter so you can run either Prince or Daisy in there to feed, and then have the other eating out of the shelter? I realize this places you into a 'babysitting' mode, as you have to stand about and wait while they eat and not let them go til they've finished, but its probably the safest. That way Daisy can eat her meals in peace.

With Blossom I kept to two meals a day, but I did consider adding a third meal. Luckily the rolled oats did their trick and I didn't need the extra meal.

Sure hope you can help her. Its always hard to know what's best for the oldies

[harveydales]

I do understand your dilemna over the hay. It is the same for me with Harvey and Winnie sharing the hay in the field.

From your pic Daisy doesn't look bad - I wish Harvey looked more like that! She appears to have muscle loss particularly on her neck but basically looks OK to me. Last year I asked my vet for her opinion on Winnie because I thought he looked painfully thin. The vet gave him a good look over and said he is fine, just right in fact for an oldie. He also has significant muscle loss but that is to be expected and he still had a good covering of fat over his bum area etc which Daisy seems to have too.

This winter I fed Winnie Allen and Page Calm and Condition cubes (41b per day) with plenty of speedy beet and this seems to have made all the difference to him. I'd never fed it before - tried Alpha Oil, High Fi senior, High Fibre cubes, extra oil among other things to no avail. He is the fatest he's ever been this time of year on the weigh tape so I'm thinking he probaly can't chew hay or chaf properly to get much goodness out of it so the softened nuts have done the job. I wonder if Daisy is finding the same?

I expect Daisy will pick up once the grass starts to come through though. If you were really worried you could always have some blood tests done just in case anything is amiss?

[zeldalithgow]

Giving Daisy a bucket feed is no problem, she either comes out of the field or she get hers by the field shelter and Prince over by the gate at the house, if it weren't for chunky I'd have hay in the field all the time but I hate to think what Prince would be like if I did that

[NFK Dumpling]

I split my two up at night to keep James off the grass for a few hours and to allow him a little respite from Musky. He has an almost bare area to wander about on so he doesn't stiffen up and he has a ration of hay, maybe that would work in reverse for Daisy ie she gets plenty of hay to go at where Prince's is rationed.

They are separated by electric fence so can still "talk" if they want to.

NB: James is a very good doer but at least I can now find his ribs.......

[leannwithconnie]

I really don't think she looks too bad at all Zelda.
I would say she just looks aged [which she is as you say] and a lot of ponies come out of the winter looking a little poor.
I also think that the winter coat is awfully shabby at this time of year and I bet as someone has said already that once the grass gets going and she loses her fluff she will look different again.

[jec248]

I don't think she looks bad. I had expected to see a hat rack!!!

Magic is 20 and I give her a handful of Top Spec senior feed balancer everyday.She is in at night and out during the day.
This photo was taken on Wed.

[harleydales]

Mine are split up at night so that Apollo gets his full hay ration, then they are together through the day. He looks thinner than Daisy to be honest!!

I think she looks not too bad at all, she hasn't got much muscle, and that always makes them look lean. Apollo hasn't got muscle either, I just can't get him to muscle up.

You could try a liver tonic to see if that perks her up a bit but I don't think you need to worry.

[dollylanedales]

Molly is half Daisy's age, and never winters well. A neighbour has a Dales mare and she is 17, and she has not wintered well either. I did find with my oldies that when they hit their twenties, they do not keep the weight on as well. Although Martini looks pretty good this year. Neither her or Vicky have eaten any hay this year - they just seem unable to be bothered chewing it.

I have fed them Spillers senior contioning mix, which I feel has helped them both keep weight on, plus alfa beet, and 4 double handfuls of Hi Fi, morning and night, to make up for the lack of hay. The field they are on is a bare hillside. Both are rugged up, and Vicky has a blanket under her rug as well.

I think Daisy will start to put on weight once the grass comes through. I think our rested fields are just starting to green up.

[harleydales]

Forgot to say, I find grass nuts amazing - I fed them for the first time this winter to all 4 and they have all wintered well (though to be honest, it was more a cold dry winter than the usual wet).

I soak them for 24 hours so they are like grass soup then mix the other feed in. I haven't had to feed Jen half as much this year as last.

They are cheap too - i get tehm for £6.50 for 25kgs. I will definitely be using them next year.

[cadeby]

I would ask your vet to give her a bit of an MOT - teeth, bloods, etc.. and if that doesn't show any underlying concern, wait to see if she improves with the Spring grass.

My 20 year old Percheron mare always looks a bit ribby and has some muscle loss as she comes out of winter (worse condition than Daisy) but she fills out and muscles up again over the spring months.

Daisy is lucky to have a caring owner who wants to do the best for her.

[jec248]

Apr 4, 2008 21:49:26 GMT -1 cadeby said:

Daisy is lucky to have a caring owner who wants to do the best for her.

I agree

[rachelg]

oh i dont think she looks as bad as you think.....i can see she is a bit light tho,how about ringing one of the feed companies? they are usually really helpfull,and maybe giving her extra feeds a day?dont go mad on huge bucket fulls as most of it will just go straight through if its too much at once so you would be just wasting your £s...we have the same trouble,milly and marley dont seeem to keep their weight on in winter,but merlin and beauty are always fat!!!merlin cant have hayledge cos of past laminitis,but milly gets a terrible hay cough!!!

what do you do? im quite paranoid too now after marleys azoturia about unnecessary amounts of hard feed!!!

ring a feed line...

[zeldalithgow]

Thanks for all the suggestions think I'll add something extra in to her feed and see if she improves if not prob get the vet out to check her over - at least she is still happy enough to canter/trot up the field and grump and double wammy Prince at times as usual ;D

[olivia]

Zelda - I don't think she looks too bad, but I can see that she does look a little on the lean side.

I'm desperately trying to wrack my brains about something the bloke at the driving yard told me - he said that there was a trace element that really does stop horses absorbing calories (like Heather said) but I can't for the life of me remember what it was - it's was something obscure like cadmium (but not that cause I think that's poisonous...).

I agree that an all round MOT (including teeth, back etc) might help - if she is in pain it won't help, maybe she tweaked her back when she was being covered, or has got a sore tooth or something...

However - I think these oldies just need a lot more calories - the winter before 12hh Kahn was pts he was receiving more daily calories than the 17hh novice event horse was. By that stage he wasn't eating any hay or hayledge, which I think is the biggest thing with keeping them happy and healthy.

Good luck

Olivia