Senior Horse Feed

[Ruralhideaway]

My current oldest is 26, he doesn't get senior but only gets 2 pounds of grain a day and is fat enough that the vet says dry lot. I have lots of pasture and he's greedy, gets nothing in the summer.

My last elder saw 35 summers. Amazingly she ate her hay well until the end so grain was a minor issue for her also.

 

[KentuckyRooster]

I have a 21 year old guy. He's finally starting to lose topline and condition in his old age. For years now he's had daily purina or nutrena equine senior pellets added to his hay. In winter, he gets more. In summer, only a little bit of it to bring him off pasture and into the stalls since he's kinda squirrely for the boarding place and can be naughty.

I'd look into those. They're very palatable and can really make a huge difference in an older horse's weight and condition especially in the cold. Those few extra scoops of senior in the evening during the brutal cold makes the difference for my guy.

 

[KentuckyRooster]

My two year old just gets hay. She's got no condition problems LOL

I sometimes give her a small handful of sweet feed on cold days for treat purposes. Because she is also spoiled rotten. Brat. She is a BRAT. But for an older horse, you'd be much better off using all tum tum space for actual nutrition, not sweet feed which is basically horse candy. I know it's cheaper than the senior feed but it's worth the price for the nutritional value the senior has to offer.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Respectfully offered but a few teaspoons of molasses a week flavoring the same grains and concentrates that go into pellets, well I fail to see any pros or cons. Just personal preference.

 

[res]

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

Yes, I have. I tried for a few years to "mix" my own diet for my Cushings positive toothless horse. I used beet pulp pellets, alfalfa pellets, steamed oats and Progressive's Grass Ration Balancer. All of it was soaked...

While it *did* work, it was a major PITA to store, mix, and explain to anyone else who might be feeding for me. I kept it up for a few years, and then moved 1500 miles away where Progressive feed are not available, so I had to switch.

I was instructed by the vet to NOT use Purina Senior due to it's high sugar levels. I tried Blue Seal Sentinel, but all my horses lost condition on it quickly, even AFTER calling the manufacturer to make sure I was feeding the correct amount for my horses...

I switched to Triple Crown Senior and ration balancer 5 years ago and cannot be happier. However, Triple Crown just sold out to Nutrena (or Purina, I can't remember, they have been selling out constantly lately) so I have switched to ProElite feeds, which is a new line produced by former Triple Crown feed analysts/developers. That alone told me to switch... Triple Crown employees have lost enough faith in their own company that they separated because of their concerns with safety/handling and cross contamination. Triple Crown has ALWAYS been produced in "host" mills, but they were SUPER anal about cross contamination. That has changed...

Anyway.

Your guy does not sound like he needs much right now. Your easiest option, IMO, is to add a ration balancer into his diet. It will give him a lot of "bang" for a small amount of feed. My preference is ProElite 30, but most manufacturers make a balancer, so you have lots of options and it should be easy to find. Generally, you feed a pound or less per day per horse. Ration balancers typically run $30 per 50lbs, but that is likely 50-100 days worth of feed for your guy. Makes it quite affordable when you look at it that way.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Purina makes one, called enrich I think.

 

[res]

http://seminolefeed.com/2017/07/equalizing-the-diet-protein-and-ration-balancers/

Since you are "in the south" - Seminole is an AMAZING feed and fantastic company. They are very willing to answer any questions you have, and their quality control standards are beyond any other manufacturer. Their feed reps actually came to my barn this summer, and said I am doing EVERYTHING right, they said they never see flawless barn feeding programs! I would like to use their feed, but the closest dealer is 2-hr drive from me, or $50 for them to deliver, but I can't store the minimum delivery in the summer without it going bad.

 

[guineagirl1000]

I have a 19 year old, 15 hh, quarter horse gelding that I am trying to choose a new feed plan for. He is retired and has the field to roam, but I don't work him any.

He usually is fine on just pasture and hay. But now that it is getting cold, he is just getting free choice hay. This is the first winter I have noticed him loosing a little weight with that diet, I guess his age is finally starting to show.

Today I went out and picked up some shredded beat pulp, more alfalfa pellets, and planned to get some whole oats but they were out.

Tonight I mixed about 1 1/2 cups of dry beat pulp and 2 cups alfalfa pellets. I covered them with water to soak, and fed it about an hour later. This is the first time he has gotten this mix, so it still gives me time to play around with it some. Planning to add some whole oats to that mix once they are back in stock at the feed store. Will most likely do that mix twice a day until I can see how it works and start tweaking it some.

What do y'all give your hard keepers or seniors? What would you reccomend changing in the feed I just started using? What amount of each type would you give?

I have always just fed a regular horse feed if I ever need any weight gain. But in my area, it is cheaper to mix my own, so I wanted to give it a try.

I used to own a 20 year old quarter horse mare. And I fed her a flake of alfalfa hay, and a scoop and a half of premixed senior feed, twice a day. When she started getting fat, I reduced it to a scoop. I would be careful with the alfalfa though, if you try it as not to make him sick. Some older horses prefer mash, which is pretty easy to do. You just put the senior food in a bucket, and fill it a inch above the food with warm water, and let it set for about 2 minutes.
hope this helps and good luck

 

[texsuze]

Sounds like your guy is seeing some changes in topline/condition perhaps primarily because he's not in work, and that's to be expected. I'm presuming he has adequate shelter from the elements so he isn't burning calories trying to keep warm or dry in the winter months. Nineteen isn't super old, and if he has the ability to chew and eat without issues, you wouldn't necessarily need to go the "senior" route yet with his nutrition.

Tractor Supply sells their Dumor brand alfalfa/bermuda combo hay cubes in 50# bags. This provides a bit of alf plus the necessary forage, whereas alf pellets alone don't provide the same forage value. Forage first.

My 26 y.o. retiree gets free choice coastal hay, pasture turnout (varying degrees of palatable grasses), and about 5#/day total of Senior Glo (ADM), given as two meals. I fed Triple Crown Lite for years until I couldn't get it around here anymore. At night check he gets about 2# of the bermuda/alfalfa hay cubes (TSC), which have been thoroughly soaked. Provides some more water and the forage he needs. He thinks he's getting another meal

I personally wouldn't go the oats route. Very high in non-structural carbs, which have been implicated in the whole Cushings/insulin-resistance spectrum of problems.

If mixing your own feed, what about providing the necessary vitamins and minerals in adequate amounts? That's the good thing about a 'complete' feed--already taken care of.

If just increasing fat calories, you almost can't go wrong with flax seed meal or flax seed oil. Horse Tech and Smart Pak Equine are good sources. The omega 9's are a safe fat source (canola oil, rice bran oil). Start with small amounts when adding any oils; increase incrementally over several weeks.

As with any change, only take on one thing at a time. If you implement multiple nutrition changes at the same time you'll never get a handle on which new foodstuff/supplement helped your goals. And all changes require lots of time to see results, i.e. months. Which then puts you into springtime again.