27 August 2008 09:47
I have two veteran horses who live on a farm. Because it’s organic, we’re not allowed to put out hay or haylage. Both get cod liver oil, and the mare used to get Spillers Cool Mix, but this made her fizzy. The gelding is in poor condition, and I’d like to find a feed that would help them both.
Answer
By Your Horse
Clare Lockyer replies:
As you can’t put forage in the field you need an alternative source of fibre.
Use a high-fibre cube that can be used as a complete feed, such as Spillers High Fibre Cubes or Dodson & Horrell Pasture Nuts. Split them into at least two feeds a day if possible, but if you can’t manage this, you can feed slightly more per meal than normal as they are high in fibre and low in cereal starch.
Around three kilogrammes a day should help the gelding build condition. If he doesn’t pick up, try a veteran or conditioning feed, which are higher in energy and protein.
Older horses can find it harder to digest protein, so you should look for feeds with a protein content of 12 to 14 per cent.
Soya bean meal is a good source of essential amino acids too – look out for it on lists of ingredients in feed.