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Post by LuckyRed on Dec 4, 2009 10:15:18 GMT 1
I noticed last night that my mare has lost some condition (and my instructor commented on it too) - now the last time I saw her in daylight was sunday and she looked fine then (we were hunting and it was quite cold and hard work for the horses so we only did 2 lines).
So I was just wondering how quickly do horses loose condition? Is it something that happens overnight or does it take a few days
And then, how quickly do they build it up again (I've upped her hay and increased her feed to twice a day with more conditioning cubes)?
She lives out and has is always toasty-warm under her rugs.
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Post by wendyihts on Dec 4, 2009 10:21:15 GMT 1
I've noticed that Rubi can lose condition within a matter of a couple of days if it's bad weather and he's not rugged, for example. It's our first winter with him so it's been a question of keeping an eye on him and then working with rugs and various conditioning feed stuffs to keep him right. He has ad lib haylage already and he's the only one of my horses that you can see a drop off in condition within a couple of days. If I keep him rugged when it's rainy (despite him being constantly sheltered under the barn he still seems to need his rug) and keep him on sugar beet, conditioning cubes and even a bit of oil, he puts the condition back on within 4/5 days (so takes him longer to put back on than to drop).
My experience with Lutine and Mascagne, who also used to drop weight like this, is that they get better at maintaining condition after they've been on balancer for a year or two. Perhaps it will be the same for Rubi.
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Post by LuckyRed on Dec 4, 2009 10:28:59 GMT 1
wendy - maybe that is influencing my mare too - I've only had her since september and I think she's been pretty much left to her self for the previous couple of years (she's 16) with some 'light hacking' whatever that really means. I've had her on alfa-oil, balancer and the conditioning cubes for a couple of months now so maybe it will take a while to start influencing her weight!
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Post by wendyihts on Dec 4, 2009 10:37:26 GMT 1
My experience has been that the longer they're on balancer, the better they seem to become at keeping condition on, presumably because they get really good at feed utilisation, hence they use more of what they eat. I've also got a professional eventing client with the same experience - his horses have been on the balancer for 2/3 years now and he's cut the rest of their hard feed down to nothing in some cases. He has one who's doing 2* eventing and by the end of the season he was having only balancer and hay.
Of course, these are still relatively young horses - 7 - 11 years old. I don't know whether that will carry on once they're into their later teens as their requirement for protein and vits/mins increases with age anyway.
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Post by Louise C on Dec 4, 2009 11:45:46 GMT 1
Ah that rings true Wendy - Flynn is pretty good at holding his weight now but when I got him as a 4yo he lost condition at the drop of a hat - the longer I've owned him - 9.5 yrs now the better he's held it - he went on a balancer during his 5th winter. And he's not at the age yet where he needs extra for his age.
LR - haven't seen any pics of new horse???!!!
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Post by LuckyRed on Dec 4, 2009 14:46:00 GMT 1
Hi LouiseC - I'm waiting for a good photo of us hunting!
I think Belle might need the extra for her age at 16 she's had quite a hard life seriously competing at show jumping!
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Post by Louise C on Dec 5, 2009 23:03:12 GMT 1
Ah - glad you're having fun anyway!
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Post by mollymoo on Dec 5, 2009 23:05:56 GMT 1
Dexter is nearly 16 and had a hard life racing. Despite being on topspec for over a year he can still noticably lose condition over night.
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Post by LuckyRed on Dec 7, 2009 0:02:37 GMT 1
how quickly do they put it back on again? If they can loose it over night - can they get is back as quickly?
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Post by anastasia55555 on Dec 7, 2009 2:28:30 GMT 1
toffee seemed to loose some condition very quickly.
found this summer its not been too hard to keep her at a good weight, have normally been worried that she has put on too much.
seems to have lost some top line, and looking a bit thin over the hips/bum, so have been feeding her up, which is easier as she comes in at night so havent got to worry that the others are pinching her hay/feed. she has filled back out a bit again now, but still needs a little more.
she is having conditioning nuts, with hifi original, alfabeet and oil, and trying to break it down to two feeds a day.Also has a very full haynet, but she rarely eats all of that.
Linseed can be good to help put condition back on.
we have tried to do it steadily rather that shovely tonnes down her neck and going too far.
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Post by LuckyRed on Dec 21, 2009 22:46:14 GMT 1
She's gradually getting condition back on - although the saddler did make some comments about her improving her topline!
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