Post by joandlad on Jan 21, 2009 10:52:24 GMT
Sarah129 - Don't want to monopolise this thread but as well as having a very good doer, I've also had a 36yr old TB x with very few teeth. One extreme to the other. 
The most important thing I found was to get a really good dentist. I'd always had his teeth regularly done by the vet but then he started to have very runny poo and a new vet at the practice came out and said, by just looking at his face over the stable door, that he'd lost all the chewing muscles in his cheeks and I needed an Equine Dental Technician to see him. She was brilliant. Said she could see what the vet had been trying to do but he'd actually made matters worse (well most vets only get an optional half day training on teeth so it's not really surprising). Anyway, after thinking that he wouldn't get through another winter he went on to get through another 5 winters (still in full-time work with far too much energy!) and would probably still be going strong if he hadn't got a growth in his intestines.
Lads had so few teeth he couldn't chew hay at all. He could manage grass if it was very short. I tried all kinds of feed and in the end the only thing that worked was Simple System feeds. They are fibre based feeds so you can feed in huge quantities as both a normal feed and a hay replacer. He used to have 2 massive tubs a day made up of Top Spec Balancer, Luciebix, unmolassed sugar beet and Instant Linseed. He was stabled overnight at first and I'd give him a bucket of Readi-grass and grass nuts in a feed ball to keep him going through the night. In the last 4 years of his life I turned him out 24/7 - sounds cruel but he was much happier and I just bought some heavy weight full neck rugs to make sure he was warm enough. At least then he could eat the grass at night as I couldn't give him hay.
There are lots of fibre based feeds on the market now and I know that my local feed store can get hold of micronised linseed (you don't need to faff about cooking it up or anything, just bung it straight in) so you may be able to find something a bit easier to get hold of than Simple System. But again, fat and fibre is the way to go. Either add Linseed or a big glugg of oil. It's amazing how much weight it will put on. Oil is easily digested but it takes a few weeks before they start processing it properly so you need to give it a little time.
Hope you manage to sort something out.
The most important thing I found was to get a really good dentist. I'd always had his teeth regularly done by the vet but then he started to have very runny poo and a new vet at the practice came out and said, by just looking at his face over the stable door, that he'd lost all the chewing muscles in his cheeks and I needed an Equine Dental Technician to see him. She was brilliant. Said she could see what the vet had been trying to do but he'd actually made matters worse (well most vets only get an optional half day training on teeth so it's not really surprising). Anyway, after thinking that he wouldn't get through another winter he went on to get through another 5 winters (still in full-time work with far too much energy!) and would probably still be going strong if he hadn't got a growth in his intestines.
Lads had so few teeth he couldn't chew hay at all. He could manage grass if it was very short. I tried all kinds of feed and in the end the only thing that worked was Simple System feeds. They are fibre based feeds so you can feed in huge quantities as both a normal feed and a hay replacer. He used to have 2 massive tubs a day made up of Top Spec Balancer, Luciebix, unmolassed sugar beet and Instant Linseed. He was stabled overnight at first and I'd give him a bucket of Readi-grass and grass nuts in a feed ball to keep him going through the night. In the last 4 years of his life I turned him out 24/7 - sounds cruel but he was much happier and I just bought some heavy weight full neck rugs to make sure he was warm enough. At least then he could eat the grass at night as I couldn't give him hay.
There are lots of fibre based feeds on the market now and I know that my local feed store can get hold of micronised linseed (you don't need to faff about cooking it up or anything, just bung it straight in) so you may be able to find something a bit easier to get hold of than Simple System. But again, fat and fibre is the way to go. Either add Linseed or a big glugg of oil. It's amazing how much weight it will put on. Oil is easily digested but it takes a few weeks before they start processing it properly so you need to give it a little time.
Hope you manage to sort something out.
