Help keep a Horse’s Belly Full this Winter

Thank you for finding the time to read this fundraiser.

Here you’re introduced to Dinar, she is a 15 y/o English Thoroughbred mare that lives in South Africa in the Bophirima district. Being the breed that she is (Thoroughbred) she struggles to keep weight on, especially during the cold Mid South African winters where temperatures can drop down to -7°C. For an average horse to keep warm enough during a cold winter, they grow a thick winter coat and they have an excess amount of calories(fat etc.) stored to burn and generate body heat, therefore not needing much extra to survive during winter.
Dinar on the other hand, being a thoroughbred, does not grow a thick enough coat for the winter, and so she gets a warm blanket to compromise for the lack of wintercoat. Her body also does not manufacture that excess amount of fat built up during summer, to burn and generate heat during winter. And therefore she requires the maximum amount of feed per her bodyweight to keep a reasonable weight on during the winter and on top of that, burn enough calories/fat to generate body heat.

Dinar’s specific living and bodily circumstances require her to consume at the least 2% of her bodyweight per day. This 2% consists of 8kg roughage (lusern,teff) and 3kg concentrates (rider pellets,molasses). The reason for giving these specific mixes of feeds (lusern,teff,rider pellets,molasses) is that the area wherein Dinar lives does not have access to other feeds. From our research we’ve found that these are the most accessible and most high quality feeds available to her in the area and surrounding. We have calculated the approximate amount the required feed will cost from now, beginning of May, until end of August. The feed prices are calculated as follows:

Concentrates:

•Rider pellets (This is a grainy mixture that include oats and maize) One 40kg bag costs around ZAR250.00 (USD17,78). Dinar requires 1.5kg of this per day. Therefore the total cost for this product for winter will be ZAR1250.00 (USD88,89).
• Molasses (This is the byproduct of sugarcane processing) One 40kg bag costs around ZAR150.00 (USD10,67). Of this Dinar requires 1,5kg per day. Therefore the total cost for this product for winter will be ZAR750.00 (USD53,33).

Roughage:

•Lusern (This is a legume that is high in protein and renowned for it’s conditioning capabilities and aids in the digestive health of animals with ulcerative problems.) One bale of around 15kg - 20kg costs around ZAR90.00 (USD6,40). Dinar requires 2kg of this per day. Therefore the total cost of this product for winter will be around ZAR1350.00 (USD96,00).

•Teff (This is a high quality grassy roughage) One bale of around 15kg - 20kg costs around ZAR70.00 (USD4,98). Dinar requires 6kg of this per day. Therefore the total cost of this product for winter will be around ZAR3480.00 (USD247,47).

This brings the total costs to ZAR7000.00 when rounded off. For receiving PayPal donations I rounded off and converted the amount to USD500.00

Thank you for taking the time in reading about Dinar. And any support is greatly appreciated!