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Discussion on Changing from complete food to oats and alfalfapellets
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Member:
paardex
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 5, 2008 - 8:39 am:
At the moment I board a big Hanoverian gelding looking like a TB. He arrived almost to thin and had to change from being stabled 24/7 with just 1 or 2 hours [fairly heavy] dressage work to 24/7 out with free acces to his stable and less strenuous work. We intend to keep working him so that he will stay muscled and amused but at 13 years of age his carreer as dressage horse is finished[Prix St George level]
The transition to outdoorliving went very good he now eats as much grass as he wants[it is starting to grow and as far as I can see the quality starts to be good to very good] and nibbles on stemmy hay free choice.
He arrived with a foodstuff with grains and fibers of alfalfa in it and pelleted vit. and min. concentrate. He eats about 3kg of this a day[6 to 7 lbs] and is doing well. However this food is ridiculously expensive, hard to get, and has only 10% protein which doesn't bother me with good grass but about a month ago during winter I thuoght this was not enough protein with the stemmy hay next to it.
I added twice a day 1 lbs alfalfapellets[17% protein] and 1lb oil to give more energy. He did well on this diet. Now I would like to change him on a less costly diet of oats mixed with alfalfapellets, oil as long as he needs to gain weight, good grass and old hay free choice.
According to the article this should be well balance if I do not need to feed more then 6 lbs of oats alfalfa and oil a day, did I understand the article correct?
Furthermore the owner says a former illness proved him to have a little bit small entrance of the stomach[?] he was scoped and she says that was when it was discovered, are the pelleted alfalfa cubes dangerous for a horse with this condition should I soak them and will strait oats do? or should I choose 'flattened' oats? Does this condition exist or has the owner misunderstood and will it for instance give more risk of choking?
Thanks in advance
Jos
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 6, 2008 - 7:45 am:
I don't understand the 6 lb limit on the alfalfa, oats, and oil Jos.
Though you should limit the amount of the oats fed at any one feeding (as per the article on Nutrition Overview) you feed concentrate to maintain the horses condition in a horse that receives free choice forage otherwise. This limitation on amount fed at a single feeding only applies to the oats, do to their starch content, and not the alfalfa and oil. There are some horses in this country that eat nothing but alfalfa (25 lbs a day?) that are very healthy. However I do believe the addition of oats helps get the protein and calcium down to amounts closer to the horses needs.
DrO
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Member:
paardex
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Posted on Thursday, Mar 6, 2008 - 11:58 am:
OK Good thing I asked because I did misunderstand. As long as he needs more condition I can up the alfalfa and oil just not the oats. Still 3 times a day six lbs mix plus free choice good pasture should be enough but if not more alfalfa and oil.
Do the horses that eat nothing but alfalfa eat pellets? I thought they would eat it free choice as hay. Sorry I don't have much experience with alfalfa and have to get used to using it.
Thanks again Jos
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 6:37 am:
Horses on just alfalfa will (and should) receive it as hay, it has better fiber and is cheaper locally. These are most often performance horses/pregnant brood mares kept in barns with no pasture that need the energy but don't need to have a trim waste at the time. During the show season they will cut down the hay and increase concentrate to trim their bellies up.
DrO
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Friday, Mar 7, 2008 - 10:30 pm:
Jos, Just curious, Why is his career over?
Cynthia
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Member:
paardex
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 - 3:39 am:
The proprietor bought him as a 3 year old [from the family Werth! he was not that expensive because he was a little small but being a Bold Indian xx son grew to 1.70 later on] She trained at one of Frances better dressage stables but as she herself is a retired dancer she was already fairly old when she started riding so they 'just' made it to Prix St George[I would be very happy with that level ] When he was 10 and she really got arthritic problems she decided to sell him as he had a longer carreer in front of him then she. The young rider who was interested took him to another[well known dressage stable] she just wanted to lend him out for six months to see if they got along and after six months he was crippled by muscle atrophy on one shoulder had a back ache that made him almost impossible to ride and some 'minor' problems like bad shoes and thus very bad feet. She took him back and rehabbed him as good as she could and now he is imo almost always completely sound[24/7 in the pasture and acting like an idiot] and ready for some work again. The risk however to send him to a dressage stable again his owner deemed to big, so he is parked at my place and I am supposed to try and learn to ride on him! What a present isn't it? She doesn't want him to do nothing because he is so young and I seem to be a harmless in between.
Hope I didn't overdo the answer to your simple question
Jos
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 - 2:59 pm:
Jos
It sounds to me like possibly bad saddle fit and bad farrier work. Is he still shod? I really don't see the need for shoes on horses ridden in groomed arenas or pastured.
Cynthia
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Member:
paardex
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Posted on Sunday, Mar 9, 2008 - 4:59 am:
More likely bad dressage training Cynthia and he has special shoes to keep enough heel[I think this is not my strong point] because his tendon was affected. His owner says if it works for him don't change it and she knows her horse very well so I gladly go along with her.
I already had my saddle on him and rode him a little bit and it doesn't seem to bother him in the least he enjoys his work again. It is just with his history putting him with a new rider for high level work seems to risky.
I think I can say : Lucky me I was given a horse trained to a level I could/would never buy for myself so now I've got a chance to learn to ride for free! Within a few years when/if his problems get bigger he returns to his owner she has her first horse[a Standardbred 29 years now] and the second [Trakehner 24 Intermediare] at home and Bartock can be completely retired with them.
Jos
PS Another owner to applaud don't you think?
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