Senior Horse Feed

[Percheron chick]

You are trying a shotgun approach to this and need to start over with the basics. Hay makes up the majority of his diet. Not all hay is equal. Have you tested it? Simple $25 test. If the hay is at all mature, it will be low in calories and he can eat it all day and get just about nothing out of it. Assume he needs 20 Mcals a day just to maintain. Feeding average grass hay that would equate to about 25#. Does he eat that much? If he will not eat enough hay to maintain than you need to add higher caloric feeds to make up the difference. Alfalfa, lespedeza or perennial peanut hay would be the first thing to try. Alfalfa pellets can be a substitution but they are often made with lesser quality hay (stemmier, more mature, less calorie dense) plus you pay about twice more than baled alfalfa. Alfalfa will have about 10% more calories by weight. Feeding him 50/50 gives him the boost of extra calories and protein plus grass hay to keep him busy and warm at night. Beet pulp has slightly higher calories than alfalfa and is easily digested but not all horses readily consume it. If he were lacking teeth, than it's a no brainer but chewing is not a problem. Also for the price, I want more return on my $$, (You are paying $1000/ton for BP). Adding rice bran or vegetable oil will give you the most concentrated calories (5x grass hay) but getting them to eat it can be messy and a losing battle. Adding senior feed, barley, oats or any other concentrates will add calories but what are you doing to the balance of the diet? No where did I read vitamin/mineral supplement (no, the red salt block out in the pasture does not count).
Start with small changes. If he's standing around waiting for you to feed goodies instead of eating his hay, you've lost that battle. I would take all concentrates away and work him up to half grass half alfalfa hay. Offer a free choice vitamin/mineral blend (ADM Gostrong and Progressive Nutrition are my go to but even an average mill 12:12 will help) Give him a month and see if he maintains or gains. If he needs more, I would first go with the senior plus 1/4 C oil per feeding.
Just like with chickens, a little bit of this and a little bit of that when feeding horses usually cost more in the end without the results we are looking for.
BTW, 19 is not old. You are seeing muscle loss from the lack of exercise that makes thing look worse. He is at that age where he is less efficient converting his feed so adding a pre/probiotic won't hurt and some extra protein will help maintain muscle,

 

[cassie]

This may or may not be available in your area. I used to feed COB to my goats, cattle, and horses. COB is a mixture of corn, oats, and barley. All the grains are rolled. I had an ancient mare and I fed her a bagged feed. I don't remember what it was called, but it contained chopped hay and had some grain added. It was a little pricey, but it was the only thing that would keep her in condition.

 

[Peaches Lee]

You've gotten some excellent advice! My two maresies get a special mixture of beet pulp, rice bran, Blue Seal Sentinel feed and alfalfa. They seem to do really well on it and the mixture encourages them to eat it all, more palatable I guess. Good luck

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Focus here should be on the hay as others noted. You say free choice and that he's a vacuum cleaner, so yes the quality of the hay could be the entire issue. If it is indeed mature "empty" type stemmy hay, then you are actually feeding him too much of it. Digesting that will consume more calories than he's taking in. Upping the grain and additions, adding all kinds of stuff while he consumes so much roughage is creating an uphill battle. Oats and beet pulp are best fed as a partial hay replacement, less than as an additive to grain.
Assuming you can't change his hay ration completely, I would restrict his hay, maybe with a slow feeder, to no more than 15lbs a day. I'd feed him a high fat lower protein grain(Sentinel is good stuff although other brands have 12 fat 12 protein, easier on the kidneys and your bedding bill). I would not feed senior that likely has extra fiber, he doesn't need more fiber. Feed 2x a day, maybe 3lbs per feeding, although 3x a day would be better. I would mix this with about a large coffee can(this quantity after soaking) of well soaked rolled oat beet pulp combo. He'll hopefully eat this slowly, they usually do, which helps him utilize all of it.

This exact routine put 150lbs on a 30 year old over the course of one winter. She'd previously been on round bales of iffy quality. When I had a lot of horses to feed economically in a hay draught, adding the oat beet pulp combo kept them bloomey and show fit with no colic, no founder(please don't feed corn) no personality changes, and fairly content with barely ten pounds of hay per day for horses in training.

Much great advice above. This is my system, developed over 35 years in horses.

 

[Perry17]

Thank you all so much for the advice! I will try to explain it again and make it less confusing...

He has been on the exact same feed schedule for the past 10 years I have had him. Same high quality hay, from the same grower, in the winter months. Very easy keeper. Summer he just grazes, and does not get hay. I am from the southeast coast, so we have just now started to switch him over to hay instead of pasture, same routine every year. And for the past 10 years he has stayed in the same perfect condition on that diet of hay and pasture.

I graduated and moved off to college a few years ago, and he hasn't been ridden hard since I left. (He's a lazy pet, and I would rather ride the younger horses that need the extra miles) So it isn't a sudden exercise change or anything like that. And he has 20 acres of pasture to run and play as much as he wants in his own time. We have other horses, and have owned plenty others over the years. But this boy is my spoiled baby and will be here forever, so he is my "old guy" when compared to the 8 year olds lol. Hoping for another 19 years out of him! hahaha

He is healthy, been vet checked, his teeth are good, is not wormy, gets a loose mineral (not a block out in the field ). The vet said he looks perfectly fine and is healthy, but if I want I could start giving him some grain.

He is NOT skinny by any means. He has lost a little, but I am the only person that would even notice the slight change in him.

The only time he has begged at the fence, is during summer months years ago when I tried to feed him grain and he preferred it to grass. I just mentioned the little quirk when we were talking about bad habits, but it isn't a problem I have now. He is a vacuum cleaner in the sense that he is just not a picky eater at all, and likes to eat fast. He is also my child lol, has a puppy personality, loves treats and just being around people. He loves his hay and eats it well, but he doesn't stand over it and eat all day. Gets his fill and hangs out with the others, not eating it constantly or anything, but still eating plenty.

Would love even a 50/50 hay. But any Alfalfa hay in my area is hard to come by. What I get is still a great horse quality hay, but it isn't alfalfa. The closest thing I can get is the alfalfa pellets. Unless I want to pay $30 for the plastic wrapped square bale stuff at TSC. So sticking with the pellets is the only option, but he loves them so that's fine with me.

Remember every year up until now he has stayed in a healthy condition on just hay alone during winter, and would most likely be perfectly fine with the same diet this year. He will still have the same exact diet of free choice high quality hay, I just want to add a little extra.

I am not trying to add a pile of weight, and I am sure it would be easier just buying a bagged horse feed. I was just curious if any of you feed beet pulp, alfalfa pellets, or Oats. And how much if you do feed it. I saw those three types of feed off a horse forum, and decided to try it. (I just visited, not a member). But there was a pile of controversy on there, so I just decided to come onto this site to ask yalls opinion.

So the question that I should have just stated from the beginning:
Does anyone feed beet pulp, oats, or alfalfa pellets?

Thank you for all the answers! Just wanted to clear it up some. Will try your method ruralhideaway! Thank you!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Ha well I get excited about problem feeders what can I say!

Could be this year's hay looks the same but the field is aging a bit. Could be it's missing some vitamins minerals etc. I'm not a hay farmer but they do need replanted every x number of years.

Oats and beet pulp won't hurt I'm sure. But I think it would be simpler and safer to do the high fat grain, considering the circumstances that I've now paid more attention to. It would contain a good rounded vitamin and mineral profile, covering all the bases.

Which was also not your question, apologies but I think this would be important to disregard. I rarely ever supplement, but in this case could be a factor, easily fixed with grain. Thanks for reading!

 

[Perry17]

I'm not much of a hay farmer either hahaha. My neighbors rodeo big time, so they go down to florida and pick up a few huge loads every year, so we just get our hay from them. I'll ask and see if they noticed a difference in their horses. But out of all mine, this guy is the only one I have seen a difference in. (But I might just be a over protective horse mama that worries about him too much lol)

I might just go back to a bagged horse grain after all. I'll see how the mix works until I run out of it, and if I don't notice a change I'll just switch to the already formulated stuff. Thank you everyone!

 

[casportpony]

My older ones get this:

http://www.horsefeedblog.com/2013/08/what-your-senior-horse-is-telling-you-about-dietary-changes/

 

[alexa009]

My palamino gelding is 24 and he eats senior feed also. Sweet feed is known to make horses gain more weight for the winter to keep them warmer. I have 10 acres so they don't have to eat much of the sweet feed though since we still have grass out there. He has gained more weight ever since I have gotten him though. He was really skinny when I had first got him.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I really like Nutrena but personally I'd only feed senior to a horse who is doing really poorly with hay due to the high fiber content. At least nutrena includes a decent fat level so it's the best of the bunch I think.