Arthur is putting on weight Finally! All the old horses are doing well.

A review of Arthur and this unimaginable struggle to put weight on him. He's stopped dropping his feed. I wonder if it was sheer hunger. As he's now in a routine. He gets two large feeds a day and some mystery hay during the day. I've changed to feeding only twice a day, as they were hanging around all day waiting to be fed and not grazing and Cleo was losing weight!
They get fed early morning and have their rugs taken off. They then get fed as the sun is going over the hill and their rugs put back on. I also hide hay in the long grass in many piles for them to find and am moving the location of the hay further and further from where they get fed, to encourage them to graze and keep them guessing. At least while they are searching for hay, they can also graze. So it's actually becoming a fun game. Penny is the smartest, as she knows to keep her eyes on me and not hang around where they're fed. She has been low horse for so long and always come to me when her feed got stolen and she's learnt to trust her food provider and knows I can be a tricky human, as we have often created little hidey holes for her to eat out of site of the rest of the herd. She's such a darling. 30 this year! Thank God she's regaining her weight and she will be nice and round for winter.

So I'm feeding Penny, Cleo and Arthur all the same thing.
I use a 2 litre dipper.
They get:
1 1/4 dipper of copra (coconut meal)
1 dipper of Johnsons' Old Timer (it has a load of supplements, pre biotics and a toxic binder)
4-5 dippers of lucerne (alfafa) chaff
Twice a day
All wet down, as the copra expands and absorbs a lot of fluid and can cause colic.

The get lucerne (alfafa) hay during the day - and I may also give them oaten hay and mix it up a little.
I break up a 2-3 biscuits and toss it around for them into about 8-10 piles.
I may increase this over winter. I will see how they go and how the pasture goes.

#RescueHorses #UnderweightHorses