The ageing Dales...

[minx]

Hi Guys,

Long time no post I know!

We are all settled in the Cotswolds now ( near stow) and I have my new Pony Sam all settled and working well.

I have a little concern over Minnie though, she is 20yo dales mare... retired for the past 10 years due to a bad leg.

Now this mare has been a good doer for the 11 years I have had her. Always fat with grass spring/autumn but never had lami.

A month ago she had a lump in her throat and i got the vet out, who so is was a displaced thyroid gland and would go away. Which it has. Vet checked her over for anything else, no problems.

In the past month or so though Minnie has lost weight, she is on 3 acres, with Sam and 3 little ponies. No hay or haylaye until the last few days. Sam has maintained his weight very well...too well....

I know I should be jumping for joy, she is an ideal weight, I can feel ribs, as see them a little when she runs. Perfect dales weight but maybe not going into winter if its a bad as last year...

Does anyone think I have anything to worry about? The grazing has not been rested or ferted and is poor/good but everything else in there has maintained weight fine... she now gets a bucket of safe and sound and a slice of haylage if the weather is bad....

She seems fine in herself, very moody still, although age is catching up with her...(dont tell her i said that!)

[jap]

we have an oldie, just as grumpy,lol.she stopped eating last week so the vet has seen her today, her teeth are so worn that there is very little enamel left but what was there was sharp, so her teeth have been done and she is out grazing again.

[minx]

I had Minnies teeth done a week before the vet came, so maybe 7 or 8 weeks ago.... he said she has great teeth and no issues.... I have also added a pick me up supplement to her feed....


Glad your oldie has got sorted though

[harleydales]

My old old lady Jenny was thin for the last 4 years of her life - she died aged around 43. Apollo is 21 (Welsh Section D) and is already skinny - he looks like he is fit and toned from a distance but when you get up close he is just thin.

What do her poos look like? Is there lots of undigested fibre in them? It may be that she's not able to utilise the feed/grass she's getting as well as she used to.

I swear by Grass Nuts - I fed them to Jenny and to Apollo, well soaked over 24 hours and they certainly helped both to maintain the weight over the winter rather than lose more. They were (is in Apollo's case!) rugged in the hardest bit of the winter, Jenny generally had a heavy rug on from November to March.

Dodson and Horrell do a good fed called Build Up - I've used it several times to help poor doers gain wweight and after illness etc and found it very good.

[greydales]

My old boy Dan ( he is 23) was always the fattest out of all of mine - an incredible good doer to the point that he sometimes looked like a mare in foal .

He's also retired due to leg problems and over the last couple of years he has not put on the massive grass belly he used to - he's looked 'normal' for a change. He's fine in all other respects so I'm wondering if it's his digestion that has changed, or maybe he's eating/ingesting less.

I would think if your girl seems generally ok it's nothing much to worry about? It wouldn't hurt to ask a vet's advice though if you're concerned.

[minx]

It feels strange talking about feeding a dales up??

Her poo's are normal, I was in the field today for 3 hours watching there new field shelter being erected, so checked on her poo, all normal with not a lot of fibre left in it.

I did have her in a 100g rug, whilst the weather was wet but it was so warm today I have taken it off today. I will watch the weather carefully for her.

Its weird talking about feeding her grass nuts an such like, for the 11 years I have had her its been amount giving her a less as possible etc..... I will have a look at them for her though, we had a harsh winter last year, so I need to get some weight on her before that kicks in really....

I hope she lives as long as your mare Jenny harleydales ;D

[jec248]

My fell pony is 22 and still ridden 3 or 4 times a week. She gets a mug of Baileys feed balancer and some blue chip joint supplement. She is getting a bit slow these days but is otherwise ok.

[zeldalithgow]

My 24 year old Dales mare hasn't been keeping her weight on for the past few years, I'm feeding her a good 400g of linseed meal a day ( much less in summer) plus vit/min and high fibre cubes seems to be working well she's put on weight but not too much - I get the linseed from Charnwood Mills

[harveydales]

I agree, providing she is looking healthy and is feeling well in herself, I wouldn't worry. My eldest Dales is 19 and still on the chubby side but my 36 year old pony has been painfully thin for many years. I worry that people will think he is a cruelty case but he is well and happy in himself and can run around with the rest of them no problem. How ever much I feed him it makes no difference but the vet assures me he is healthy.

I lost my Welsh cob cross last year to colic aged 27. He also changed from being overweight to skinny from about 20. He also had a lump in his throat which came and went. The vet told me was his thyroid and perfectly normal in many older horses. He suffered from Cushings in his last few years but still managed to enjoy his retirement til the end.

I think we are so used to seeing our overweight ponies that we forget it is much healthier for them to be slightly underweight rather than overweight. I do think the hard winter, cold spring and dry summer have taken their toll on many pastures and there is not as much "goodness" in the grass as normal, even with the recent flush of grass with the rain.

[minx]

Thanks for the replies everyone, its hard thinking that this could be the start of her looking and being old.

Its put my mind at rest a bit but I think I will add something to her feed just so that I am not trying to add weight during winter, just maintaining what she is like now. I agree that the pasture has been damaged and could actually be the cause, so I will see what happens come spring...

It is better for her with her bad leg to be lighter too, just don't want to be playing catch up in winter if it continues...

I have just bought a new field shelter too, hopefully she will use it!

Again, thanks for the replies

[diamond]

Hi, sorry I am just catching up with you all as work has unfortunately kept me away for a while. My Dales mare is now 18 years old and has a little bit of stiffness in her off hind now and again, especially as it gets colder. She is happiest living out 24/7 but I stable her overnight when it snows. She developed copd last summer and had it again this summer. Vet gives her ventipulmin and I feed haylage instead of hay through the winter. She only gets hifi and vits and mins and cortaflex as she is a very good doer but does drop a little weight in winter which is no bad thing. Rubber matting and shavings help too.
I was recommended Cortaflex by a good friend who also fed it to her fell. Don't know how much it helps but you don't know how bad she would be without it. She had been going through a stage where she seemed as if she was not quite so keen on working so much and was walking much slower (ask for trot though and she steams ahead!)
I took her through the bridleway yesterday and she acted like a 6 year old. Talk about taking off - throwing some good bucks in for good measure. Maybe I am worrying unnecessarily!

[09rebel99]

My Dales is 22 and on a diet for the first time in his life!!!! We always use to have to give him 3 feeds a day and as much haylage as he wanted. (he was super fit and ridden 6 days a week) Now he is pretty much retired and has got some serious middle aged spred going on!!lo!!