28 August 2008 10:53
My nine-year-old, 15hh cob gelding lives at a riding school and is worked regularly. He’s out at grass in summer, gets hay in the field, and tends to be a little overweight. He suffers from dry, scurfy skin and I wonder if he’d benefit from some hard feed?
Answer
By Your Horse
Nutritionist Louise Jones advises:
As your gelding is a good doer and is prone to becoming overweight, you may need to limit his calorie intake. However, it’s important to always give him access to forage, so here are some pointers for you:
● Soak his hay for 12 hours. This will leach away some calories, so you can feed slightly more.
● Mix his hay 50/50 with good-quality oat straw. This is coarser and less digestible than hay and needs thorough chewing, so it takes longer to eat. However, don’t feed straw to horses with dental problems or those prone to colic.
● Feed that hay or straw/hay mix in small-holed haynets so it lasts longer.
● Grass and hay alone won’t give him important vitamins and minerals. To balance these deficiencies, feed around 100g per 100kg of bodyweight of a feed balancer.
● His coat problem might respond to herbal blends.