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Stubbs

Stubbs

RRP: £99
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£9.9 FREE Shipping

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The decision to carry out scientific analysis on the grass and hay an elderly horse eats, depends largely on whether you have control over the forage eaten and the amount eaten each day. The amount and kind of work your horse or pony is doing is an important factor when calculating the quantity and type of feed to give. For example, a large Stubbs scoop of Alfa-A Originalweighs 400g whereas the same scoop of Cool Mix would be about 1.25kg. This means that, to get the same weight of feed, three scoops of Alfa-A Originalwould need to be fed. Both feeds would provide the same amount of energy because both feeds contain 10MJ/kg DE, but horses and ponies will get a lot more chew time from the Alfa-A Original, which is ideal for keeping them occupied when stabled and their digestive system healthy. Weigh your horse before you weigh your feed to ascertain his bodyweight Alfalfa is a widely recognised ingredient for promoting digestive health due to its natural buffering properties

Horses vary in how wet they like their soaked feeds. Some like them just moist enough to barely crumble, while others will eat/drink their feed in soup consistency. As a general rule, the more water the better. This makes the feed similar to pasture, improves digestibility, helps protect against choking and keeps an old horse well-hydrated. Good hydration stops food from moving slowly in the guts and reduces the risk of spasmodic or impaction colic. How long will it take to soak old horse feed?

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The classic sign of ineffective chewing is quidding – the formation of balls of partially chewed hay that are too large to be swallowed and drop out of the mouth when the horse tries to eat. However, quidding is a rather advanced sign and may not always appear to start with.

Ageing in other species of animals is known to be associated with an increased risk of low production of stomach acid. This can cause incomplete digestion of protein, failure of mineral supplements to dissolve properly and possibly overgrowth of harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract, as stomach acid provides a barrier against infections. In elderly humans, poor absorption of minerals has been linked to an increase in bone fracture. Follow the manufacturers’ guidelines when soaking any of the high-fibre fast-soak horse feeds. In general cold water will take much longer than hot water. If using cold water an overnight soak may be needed. If using hot water the soak may only take 15 to 30 minutes. To avoid choke we suggest opting for a range of high-fibre and high-calorie feeds that can be soaked and fed as a wet mash. This mash can be more soup-like for horses that are prone to choke. The following products are suitable for feeding as full or partial hay replacers and contain added vitamins and minerals to balance the diet:

He is eating more hay now, probably as the grass is reducing, but mid winter he would normally eat about 30lbs of hay a day plus a small amount of hard feed. That's a lot of hay t o chew! SPILLERS HAPPY HOOFand HAPPY HOOF Molasses Freeare low calorie, short chop fibres ideal for laminitics. Faecal egg counts and the new saliva tests for tapeworms, done before deworming with a paste, will tell you if your worming programme is working. Making sure you do these on your old horse will tell you if you have a problem with resistance. If your worm counts identify species not normally found in adult horses such as ascarids or stongyloides, then you know you have a problem with resistance. Digestible Energy is the estimated energy (calorie) content of the feed and is quoted on an “as fed” basis in Mega Joules per kilogram (MJ/kg).

Poor sodium levels in grass or hay will affect thirst. An old horse that manages to get enough liquid through eating grass can be tipped over the edge into impaction colic when cold weather reduces grass and drinking. When Kim brought Roxy she suspected gastric ulcers and when looking at different feeds to promote digestive health and condition she decided on Healthy Tummy. Now all her horses are fed Healthy Tummy!

Healthy Tummy provides everything Lewi needs to support his recovery from ulcers. He has never looked so well – I wouldn’t feed anything else! Once it is determined that the natural ageing process means an old horse needs a diet change, due to reduced chewing power and possibly digestive function, then a change to a soft wet diet is a must. When winter sets in and the grass content lowers in the total diet then this is where many horses lose weight even though they look as if they are still grazing and eating enough hay or haylage. The months of December through March seem to be the worst, as grass availability is poor and the weather often turns a lot colder. It is very wise to assume that an old horse will lose weight if you don’t substitute quite a high proportion of hay and haylage with soaked high-fibre feed. How dental health affects feeding elderly horses Karyce realised she was going to have to make some drastic changes to the lifestyle of Della her Welsh Section C mare – she had to lose some weight as she was at risk of getting laminitis.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
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