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Catherine wrote:
I have a 15.2hh Arab, who is in the
region of 25 yrs, she has lost a lot of her teeth, and now she will
not eat hay at all. I have started feeding her hard feed and bringing
her in at night as she is beginning to lose weight all ready and I do
not want her to get run down before the bad weather comes. What do you
suggest I feed her to give her enough fibre in her daily feed. She is
at grass during the day at the moment and I am feeding her her normal
hard feed twice a day and Alpha Hi Fi mixed with sugar beet, and lots
of it. Is this ok or can you suggest anything else. She really loves
hacking out so I need to keep her weight & energy up so I can
actually ride her.
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Answer:
If she can't manage hay, then it's
unlikely she's getting much from grass. If she's in the field on
her own, or if it's practical to add another feed, I would push her up
to 3 feeds a day. Alpha HiFi has a similar energy and protein content
per kg dry matter to good quality hay or haylage. You don't say
what you are using for her hard feed but I would be inclined to add a
suitable concentrate mix like Alfa-Senior, which is a medium energy
Fibremix especially designed for older but active horses, or those
needing condition. (No, I'm not on commission but not being
familiar with Alpha HiFi, I had to check the site to see exactly what
it contained.) The Alpha people have a helpline (Feedline
0845 345 5115) and an Online
Ration Service which allows you to
fill in details of the horse and they come back with a suggested
ration.
You could also try her
on one of the packaged haylage products (being damper, it's softer and
more digestible.) When she's stabled, if possible, I would
push her up to 4 feeds a day - not necessarily feeding twice what
you're feeding now, but spreading it more, to aid optimum digestion.
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