28 August 2008 11:11
My 13.2hh working hunter pony is 24, and has recently dropped weight, despite staying fit. His teeth and worming programme is up to date. He’s fed haylage, Redigrass, Dengie Alfa-A, sugarbeet, barley, oil and cod liver oil. I know horses drop weight when they get older, but how can I help him?
Answer
By Your Horse
Nutritionist Lizzie Drury advises:
You’re right that, as horses age, their digestive systems deteriorate, meaning they’re less able to digest and utilise their food as effectively as they did when they were younger. Even if his teeth are checked, he may not be able to chew the long lengths of haylage as well as he used to.
Adding yeast cultures to his diet can help encourage efficient fibre digestion. These work in the horse’s hindgut to encourage friendly gut bacteria, but remember they need to be fed on a continual basis, as they must survive the harsh environments in the rest of the digestive tract before they reach the hindgut.Many of the feeds specifically formulated for veterans (Saracen Veteran Mix or Baileys Senior Mix) already contain yeast cultures, vitamins and minerals, as well as prebiotics or probiotics to enhance digestion, and cooked cereals, which are more easily digested by the older horse.
Your horse should have between 1.5kg to 2kg of mix per day, in two to three small feeds. Continue to use the Alfa-A, which is an additional source of non-heating calories to promote weight gain.