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Sarah-Jane Brown has fed Dengie to her horses for years as she believes it is the best fibre available. She recently represented Great Britain at the European Championships for Veteran Riders with her mare Fliss. At the other end of the spectrum, there are dangers associated with under-feeding horses, which can be just as bad as over-feeding.

Caitlin O’Kane shares with us her horse’s story and transformation – from being diagnosed with grade 4 ulcers to a happy, healthy horse. NOTE: Horses are individuals and so always adjust your horse’s feed ration to suit his temperament and condition as well as his work load. If a horse is prone to laminitis then access to grass should be carefully controlled. Many laminitis-prone horses do well on late, leafy autumn and winter grass, but as spring and early summer arrive, the simple sugars in the grass fluctuate and high levels can trigger both low-level and full-blown laminitis. In this respect, it is best to either strictly control grass access to the early morning only or remove the horse from all grass onto a turn-out area which allows for movement. Alfalfa is a widely recognised ingredient for promoting digestive health due to its natural buffering properties Our research into the effect soaking has on hay has revealed that high amounts of water-soluble nutrients, which are critical for horse health and hard to replace, are washed down the drain. 10. Protecting an old horse in the herdThere are many old horse or veteran complete horse feeds on the market, but they often contain bulk fillers such as oat and wheat feed in high amounts, which are not necessary in the diet of horses. In addition, most of these feeds supply high amounts of molasses which is not desirable in large amounts when substituting hay for an old horse. We believe the smart horse owner buys the separate single feeds and mixes them so that the horse has the best chance of health. A blend of chopped and pelleted alfalfa with a rapeseed oil coating providing 11.5MJ/kg of Digestible Energy from fibre and oil There are also dangers associated with over-feeding too much of certain vitamins and minerals, as they can cause toxicity problems – just because “some” is good, it doesn’t mean that “lots” is better! Why can fibre feeds be fed in larger amounts than cereal based feeds to horses?

Adequate chewing is absolutely critical for exposing the interior of hays and cereals to digestive enzymes. Spotting gains or losses in weight early allows you to adjust your horse’s diet before the weight loss or gain is too significant ,allowing you to keep your horse or pony in perfect condition all year round. The absolute best way to avoid colic in the old horse, that you adore, is simply to understand the risk factors and try to control them where you can.

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Thank you all for your replies, I had wondered why if grass nuts are 'just grass' why I had to be careful. My vet seemed to imply I could feed large quantities of soaked grass nuts and it was after he had gone I had wondered about the 'rugby ball volume'. Where an elderly horse is consuming a high amount of grass then scientific testing of the minerals will allow correct balancing of the daily diet so that ratios of both major and trace minerals are optimal for long-term health. Amounts are total daily weight. They are based on a 450 -550 kilogram horse eating around 10 kg of hay or haylage (2% of body weight) and can be split into two, three or four feeds per day. We have given low and high hay replacement figures as well as total replacement amounts. This will allow maximum flexibility.

Cushing’s disease is most common in old horses and can have a strong impact on oral health. The high cortisol levels associated with poorly controlled Cushings lead to protein breakdown in muscles and connective tissues, including the small ligaments which secure the teeth in position within the bones. This breakdown leads to tooth loosening. Research into feeding chaffs with older horses is limited but anecdotal evidence suggests colic incidents are lowered when soaked pellets are used instead. We believe it is best to avoid chaffs in preference of a finer ground and soaked, wet forage feed, even if it’s only a precaution. The fact that you increase water consumption in the diet is a very big reason to use soaked pellets over chaff. Healthy Tummy plays a major part in Fritz on-going management. It provides him with plenty of slow-release energy required for his workload and condition. Leah Grange was concerned about giving her ex-racehorse Colin too much sugar in his diet and it “blowing his brains”. After a chat with the Dengie nutrition team she realised that his current ration was completely wrong for him in other ways too. Wheat Bran (provides high calories and works well with hay and grass pellets, and beet pulp due to the phosphorous content)At around 25 years of age (sometimes before, depending upon the horse) old horse teeth will start to cause problems for many. What changes cause problems in elderly horse teeth?