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Horseytalk.net Special Interview
Joanne Smales
Bailey, an eight-year-old, 16.3hh Thoroughbred, always struggled to
maintain his weight and condition.
His owner, Joanne Smales, tried everything to help Bailey’s condition, from altering his diet and exercise programme, to changing the type of rugs he wore. Some things helped a little but the results were never long lasting.
Until one day ...
Bailey Returns To Condition
Bailey, an eight-year-old, 16.3hh Thoroughbred, always struggled to maintain his weight and condition. His owner, Joanne Smales, tried everything to help Bailey’s condition, from altering his diet and exercise programme, to changing the type of rugs he wore. Some things helped a little but the results were never long lasting.
Said Joanne: “After being clipped in the winter of 2009, his hair didn’t grow back and he still looked as though he had just been clipped by April last year. He also hadn’t gained any weight. He didn’t seem his usual self to ride and felt like he was becoming weaker. He struggled with any sort of schooling so I was hacking him out as much as possible to try and strengthen him up. The vet took blood tests, x-rays and used all sorts of other diagnostic techniques but couldn’t find anything.”
Then one day, Joanne went to bring Bailey in and he seemed extremely ill. He kept getting down to roll, then standing up and galloping across the field and then getting down again. Whilst doing this his back legs kept collapsing underneath him and so she called the vet out immediately. The vet, slightly baffled by Bailey’s behaviour, realised the horse was obviously in great pain. After two attacks of colic later in the day, Bailey was taken to the veterinary hospital for 24 hour care and tests to find out what the problem was. An endoscopy revealed that he had stomach ulcers – a condition that can be very serious for horses and often remain undetected.
Bailey was put on strong medication to treat the ulcers and his diet
had to be radically reviewed. He needed to be on a high fibre, low starch
diet but Joanne also had to make sure he was getting enough in order
to gain weight. He was fed ad-lib high quality forage, lived out at grass
and was fed on what seemed to be a suitable diet. Any sort of stressful
situations such as travelling were avoided, as these can inflame ulcers
further. He looked really well for the whole summer and Joanne was able
to build his work up and progress his schooling to help him gain muscle
tone. He went into the winter in good condition but by Christmas he began
to lose weight again, although not as dramatically as previously.
By the time spring came along this year, Bailey once again looked in poor condition but was still enthusiastic in his work and always tried hard to please. Joanne feared that his stomach ulcers may have returned. Before going down the route of having another endoscopy and more medication, she decided to re-assess his diet once more, feeling there could still be a more beneficial feed to help him.
Said Joanne: “I tried Mollichaff Condition and have never looked back. It is exactly the product Bailey needs – a high fibre, low starch diet with the advantage of everything being in one bag! It contains all the vitamins and minerals Bailey requires so I no longer need to buy an expensive balancer or supplements. It contains a variety of fibre sources which ensure the feed is highly digestible and suitable for his condition, and the soya oil keeps his skin and coat looking in show condition all the time! The added benefit of Yea-sacc® and a prebiotic make this a very valuable product. These ingredients help to maintain a healthy digestive system by providing a stable environment in the horse’s hind gut. I now only need to buy one bag of feed and only have one storage container in my feed room which is extremely convenient and it also saves me a lot of money too. Bailey gets 3kg of Mollichaff Condition per day and he absolutely loves it. I don’t give him anything else, just ad-lib high quality forage and he looks and feels better than ever!”
For further information and advice, please ring the HorseHage Helpline on 01803 527257 or visit www.horsehage.co.uk