Feeding for Condition - The SPILLERS® Way
Weight loss will effect a large percentage of horses and ponies during their life time, which of course will present a worrying time for the owner. It may be a case of your horse beginning to show his age, or that he needs some extra support heading into winter.
In some cases we even have to involve the expert intervention of the vet, to rule out any underlying problems, which again is a further worry for the owner. However, SPILLERS® are here to help. We can tailor make a diet to help your horse gain and maintain weight, and even liaise with your vet if necessary. Our experienced advisors will take into account issues such as behaviour and temperament to formulate the best possible solution to your horse’s weight loss problems.
Don’t just take our word for it though, read on below to find out how successful SPILLERS® Conditioning Cubes have been for Danielle Shields and her Warmblood mare Anna.
Danielle has a number of Warmbloods, J.A. ponies and youngstock which she feeds on products from across the SPILLERS® range. When she made her newest purchase, a Warmblood mare called Anna, it was obvious that she was going to require some extra nutritional support. As you can see from the photograph below Anna’s ribs were clearly visible, she had no topline at all and looked generally “poor”.
When you receive a horse who is in poor condition like Anna, your first consideration other than feeding should be ensuring that all other health aspects are taken care of. Starting a worming programme, having the teeth checked by an equine dental technician or vet, and properly condition scoring the horse all need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Once you have put all of these measures into place it is of course time to look at the feed. Danielle opted for SPILLERS® Conditioning Cubes, which provide the horse with non heating calories via sources such as soya oil, as well as good quality protein. Protein is essential for underweight horses, as it contains the “building blocks” for muscle, topline and condition.
When you combine a good health and management routine with a suitable feeding programme the results speak for themselves. Looking at Anna below just four weeks after Danielle bought her and began using SPILLERS® Conditioning Cubes, shows how effective not only the feed is, but also how hard work and plenty of TLC pay dividends.
Pictures of Anna on arrival and then 1 month later, after starting her SPILLERS® diet
Anna is now in great condition, but despite a change in her appearance Danielle has noticed no adverse effects on her behaviour, which is exactly what a conditioning feed should do for your horse - aid condition and weight gain without causing excitable behaviour and changes to temperament. To achieve results like Danielle, you need to look all areas effecting condition rather than just feeding. However, following SPILLERS® top 10 tips to safe weight gain will definitely be a step in the right direction……
- Establish why your horse is underweight; is it age related, has he been left out to grass all winter, or are there any underlying problems e.g. gastric ulcers, worm damage etc..?
- Weigh your horse and condition score him so that you have a clear starting point. You can then weigh him on a weekly basis to see how well he is progressing (a weight tape will be fine in this instance)
- Sort out a proper worming and dental programme. Poor teeth and worm issues contribute to lots of common weight loss problems.
- Feed plenty of good quality forage - if possible on an ad lib basis. Even if your horse is out at grass remember that pasture loses the majority of its nutritional value over winter, so putting hay out in the field is often the best idea.
- Use a feed with a good level of calories and protein as well as a balance of all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. Try and opt for non-heating feeds with controlled levels of cereal starch to minimise the risk of excitability. If your horse is highly strung he will tend to worry the weight off, and find it hard to maintain condition.
- Check that you are feeding the correct quantity. If you are unsure about how much feed your horse requires you could either check the feeding recommendations on the feed bag, or of course contact the SPILLERS® Care-Line.
- Weigh out your feeds. There is no point in trying to guess how much you are giving your horse, especially if you have just spent time determining how much he needs to eat! If you weigh out how much your scoop holds in terms of both mixes, cubes and fibres simply write it down and keep it for reference.
- Don’t be tempted to overfeed your horse just because he is underweight, overfeeding can contribute to very serious conditions such as colic. You should find that the correct volume of hard feed and forage should be perfectly sufficient to aid condition.
- Feed sensible meal sizes, of no more than 2kg at any one time for a horse and less for a pony. The smaller the meal size the more the horse will benefit nutritionally so if your own routine allows it try and feed a few times each day.
- Take any other problems that your horse has into consideration. Conditioning feeds will not necessarily be suitable for all horses especially those with specific nutritional requirements such as laminitis or liver disease. Even though conditioning feeds will not be the best option in these kind of situations, SPILLERS® are confident that they will be able to find a solution for your horse.
If you would like help designing a diet for an underweight horse or pony please contact the SPILLERS® Care-Line where one of our friendly advisors will work with you to provide the best possible nutritional support. You can either call us on 01908 226626, or alternatively send us a Care-Line Enquiry.
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