22yo Polish Arab - Feeding - Respiritory & Lami prone

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Angie4872

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Oct 14, 2011
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Hi, I am shortly going to be having a beautiful 22yr old arab mare on loan for light hacking and have several questions regarding feeding.

Jessie is currently on an Alpha A mix, conditioning cubes and soaked hay 3 times a day. She is a poor doer and looses weight during the winter, although she is especially greedy! In addition to the COPD (coughing when exercising sometimes if given dry hay - but not all the time???), she had a case of lami during the spring this year and is also suffering from slight morning stiffness (bless her!).

I just wondered if I should be reviewing her diet - I know changes need to be made slowly - but as a veteran I'm concerned that she's not getting everything she needs. I also wondered about introducing haylage but heard that it may not be recommended for lami-prone horses?

Any advice gratefully received :smile:
 
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Some do sucessfully feed Haylage to Lammi prone - I don't but thats because for the ammount given the little sod would soon represent a barrell! same with the other two Natives and all very good doers, Tess is a Veteran and has mild COPD,so in Winter she gets 1/2 her normal HH feed replaced with Alfa A oil (which id great for keeping weight on, also gives extra energy so worth bearing in mind as I know yours is an Arab). otherwise just general grass and hay when really bad, we are lucky out 24/7 so her hay is off the floor and not volumnes and she is not lammi prone other than we like to keep her weight down, saying that shes a bit porky at the moment and is still only on grazing with her normal maintenance feed, but once the harder weather comes that will drop.

you could try getting a bag of haylage and mixing with hay - if stabled 1/2 the day then maybe haylage when in and hay if out - but introduce slowly and keep an eye - with lammi a lot depends on what the initital trigger was, if concussion then the haylage prob would not be an issue.

I feed Global herbs lammi prone in with ours.
 
Thanks Lemme - I was thinking that the haylage might lesson the need to up her hard feed etc due to the extra nutritional value but worried that grass was the trigger for lami:spin:
 
Was she underweight when she had an attack of Lami? At the age of 22 I would be looking into cushings and if you are taking her on loan I would make sure that you have budgeted for the care of a poor doing, cushingoid with COPD as the medication I believe can be expensive.
 
I think your first port of call is to find out why the owner feeds what they do and what they have fed in the past and why they changed it
 
Jessie's owner is happy to pay vets bills so financially not as bad as it sounds. Her diet is a combination developed by her yard owner (currently on full livery) the conditioning cubes help and she has an increase in her hard feed over the winter. I just wondered if I could improve. She has no physical symptoms of cushins - no thick or curly fur etc etc.
 
What about a grass feed instead of alfa-A not sure if that would put her at risk of lami but would prob be better at keeping the weight on assuming that grass helps her keep her weight during the summer months ??

Simple systems for a bluegrass pellet which might be worth a look.

Alfa A and conditiong cubes must have a decent amount of mollases in which I would rather not be in a diet, especially lami.
 
I hope you have many lovely years with your new girl! As she is a veteran, you would want to have as much of her veterinary history as possible, not just her recent feedstuffs. Does she live in at night? I'm just a bit confused as to why she would have COPD otherwise, in which case, can she not be put on Ventipulmin? If she is in at night, would it be possible to have her stay out longer during the day, perhaps even live out with shelter during the summer?

If Jessie's owner is still happy to pay for bet bills (wish my horses' owners would do the same!) then would she be willing for a blood sample to be taken, just to check how she is inside? That may help you choose her feeds better. And do you have history for her with regards to a dentist?
 
Yes full vet history, annual dentist checks (one being carried out next week too). All vacs and wormer done too. YO is not totally convinced about COPD but playing it safe on owners request. (She even lets her have a slice of dry hay on occasions??) But soaks most of her hay (slightly confused by it all I must say). The worse she gets is coughing when ridden. She lives out through the summer but is stabled during the winter at night as she drops weight when cold. She will eat anything you put in front of her and does well through the summer but does have a top up hard feed as grass doesn't seem to sustain her. The owner is besotted with her (quite rightly as she is gorgeous) but can't ride any more due to health problems and would probably be happy to have her blood tested if necessary. I just feel responsible (especially as I don't own her) to ensure that she has the best I can offer her in terms of food and quality of life :)
 
my laminitic poordoer (an exmoor though, not an arab) has very early cushings (no classic symptoms yet but lami prone, poordoer etc). in winter she is on alfa oil, speedibeet, hi fibre cubes and lots of hay, which *just about* helps her keep the weight on. she's also on agnus castus/vitex which has really helped her.
 
I can't thank you guys enough. This has given me lots to think about. I think I need to arrange the test for cushings - even if just to rule it out. Poor Jess will be coming to a new yard with a new (adopted) mum and am beginning to think that I should just take it slowly. Rule out or deal with the cushings if diagnosed and take it from there. So worried about making her feel at home and loved that i'm in danger of over doing it too soon :help:
 
:redface:Forgot to say my last horse was NFx and lived out 24/7 with a little extra hay in the winter! This is a whole new ball game for me!
 
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