feeding an older draft horse

[SawDust Farm]

We just found out our Belgian draft horse is "mid 20's to 30 years old" My husband uses him to log with, Charlie, the horse, LOVES to work, he shows no signs of slowing down, the only problem we are having is feeding him.
He has been on hay, steamed flaked corn, and 14% spirit sweet feed, well he dribbles his grain and balls his hay, the vet said he has no back teeth they are downto his gumline now, the couple he has left do have hooks on them but not enough to have him floated. the vet suggested a senior grain, beet pulp and alpha cubes.
Is anyone using a feed program like that or what do you use for an older horse?
Charlie is maybe 200# under weight due to him not being able to get proper nutrience from his feeding.
we would like to hear what other people have to say.
Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

We just found out our Belgian draft horse is "mid 20's to 30 years old" My husband uses him to log with, Charlie, the horse, LOVES to work, he shows no signs of slowing down, the only problem we are having is feeding him.
He has been on hay, steamed flaked corn, and 14% spirit sweet feed, well he dribbles his grain and balls his hay, the vet said he has no back teeth they are downto his gumline now, the couple he has left do have hooks on them but not enough to have him floated. the vet suggested a senior grain, beet pulp and alpha cubes.
Is anyone using a feed program like that or what do you use for an older horse?
Charlie is maybe 200# under weight due to him not being able to get proper nutrience from his feeding.
we would like to hear what other people have to say.
Thanks

If he is under weight, old and his teeth are going - STOP working him until you get it figured out. Winter is coming - even living under cover this guy will go down hill.

Did you ask the vet about feed possibilities?

Them old guys get to be part of the family so I would not go as far as suggeting you ship him.

Hit your favourite feed store - ask them to put you in touch with a feed specialist - they really do know their stuff - the info is free and they are always glad to help.

Do it tomorrow morning - then you have all week to get the plan together. You do not even have to go there - all it takes is a phone call.

Bez'

 

[bootsie]

I would wet down your horses feed to make a mush. He has no teeth to chew with so you will need to "do it for him".

Absolutely switch to a senior feed. They are very digestible. Beet Pulp is a wonderful substitute for hay and grass. Beet Pulp needs to be soaked for about 15 minutes before it is fed to the horse. Instead of going with Alpha cubes I would try Alpha pellets. They can be soaked and mushed up with the grain.

I would make 75% of his feed intake the beet pulp. Just for easy math a 2000 lb horse would need 20 lbs of hay and grain per day. So I would feed 2-3 lbs in grain, 1-2 lbs in Alpha pellets, and the rest in beet pulp (wet weight not soaked weight). He may even need more than 10% of his body weight in feed until he gains the weight back. I would go up to 15-20% of his body weight. But don't do it at once do it over a week. Drafts are very easy keepers. So after he gains the weight back you could probably even reduce the grain and alpha pellets more and up the beet pulp. (I know in my area beet pulp is cheaper than grain)

You could also try adding some corn oil to his feed for weight gain. Corn oil is about 99% fat. You can add up to 1 cup per day divided equality into his feedings. But start off slowly.

Another good tip for weight gain is to split the feedings up into 2 or more times per day. 3 feedings is ideal.

This is the same feeding that I used for a 30 something TB that I rescued. He needed about 350lbs. It took about 4 months to get him back. And it was worth it.

As far as the hay goes. You are pretty much wasting your money. He's not getting any nutrition out of it. You can give it to him for your satisfaction, but it is not needed with the beet pulp.

Senior feeds are made to be a "complete feed". So if you wanted to you could just feed the senior feed without any of the other stuff. But that would get pretty expensive.

I hope this helps! I would love to see pictures if you have them!! :lol:

 

[Alan]

In my opinion Bootsie pretty much nailed it. I agree with the wet feed and beet pulp. I also would put him on the senior feed and corn oil. Senior feed (at least Alegra) has a great deal of alfalfa and molassas in it. The portions mentioned by bootsie sound right to me also. The only thiing I do different is I soak the beet pulp for two to three hours before I feed it, I would guess that beet pulp expands to five or six times it's original size when soaked, this make it dangerous to feed if it is not soaked, horses can choke because it expands in their throat. You can also feed him a rice bran soaked or a bran (two different kinds), but I like beet pulp the best. and if you can I would feed him 3 times a day.

The two things I disagree with are: I would not feed alpha pellets, your horse will get enough alpha through the senior diet and draft horses, especially senior draft horses have such a low metibolic rate anyway. Too much alpha my hype him up enough that it does more harm than good. I wouldn't wet his hay too much because of spoilage. I would give him free choice hay all the time. Hopfully you have good shelter for him with a feed bin or a good hay bag. Make sure you feed a good quaility grass hay.

Additional things I would do: To help get weight back on him you have to help his body do less. So in addition to making sure he has dry shelter out of the wind and rain and needless to say he has time off work until he is fit again. I would put a good heavy, water proof blanket on him so he doesn't burn as much energy staying warm (watch he doesn't sweat too much under the blanket, I'm assuming it gets cold where you are in New Hampshire). I would also put him on a good worming program if you haven't already. I would worm him every 30 to 45 days for three times then once every 3 months. Make sure you always rotate the type of wormer you use, the active ingrediant in the wormer needs to be rotated. Then make sure he has a mineral lick.

Hope this helps, you have already recieved great advice from the two previous post. Sounds like you can put a pretty good plan together to help your horse.

Good luck let us know how it goes.
Alan

 

[Alan]

Sorry, two things I forgot to mention. First make sure you switch to his new feed slowly take a week or so to get him on his new diet. Second is that beet pulp by itself seems to me like it would taste like cardboard, many horses won't eat it by itself. Also if they have never had a mash before they may not know what to think of the wet feed. So mix his grain with the beet pulp and add other things to make it sweeter, such as a touch of mollassas or/and chunks of apples, carrots, sugar. ect.

The fact that you are looking for help tells me your planning on taking care of grandpa.

Good luck,
Alan

 

[SawDust Farm]

Thanks for all the great advise on feed our older draft horse Charlie, we have wormed him with a tube of ivrometic wormer and in 2 weeks we will worm him again. Charlie is now eating grassy hay, 2-14 ounce cans of beet pulp mixed with water of course, 3 times a day, mixed with 14 ounces of corn mash, he odes have access to a mineral block and all the water he wants, he is on a light work load with plenty of breaks like the vet said. I am am not sure yet but to me he looks like he is filling in around the bottom of his rib cage. We will be adding some senior grain to his diet on monday, as we dont want to switch to much to quick with him.
We will keep you up to day and will see if we can find any pictures on our computer of him.
THANKS AGAIN for your help

 

[MoGal]

another thing you can add (which has worked well for me) is go to the day old bread store and buy those sacks of bread for a buck or two, start out feeding one loaf per day and in about 5-7 days up it to 2 loaves and do that for a week and then up to 3 loaves per day. My horses love the bread and within 30-60 days you will see a remarkable improvement.

In addition to his grain (and I will say that here for me the commercial pellets put on more weight than equine senior for half the price, but I'm not sure if you have that available to you as here they come from Gilster-Marylee floor sweepings of cereal, cake mix, flour, etc.. and are put in pellet form).

 

[Kelly]

I have the same problem with my 35 year old. Two years ago he lost so much weight. I put him on soaked beet pulp & alfalfa cubes ( soak over night) Then I add warm water & senior feed and corn oil or any other oil. He loves the warm mash. I throw him a little hay just for boredom but he usually just spits out the wads of chewed hay. Free choice mineral , salt block & water. I sometimes use a tub w/molasses that he loves to lick. Adjust all the feeds as needed for weight gain. Good luck.

 

[TB lady]

hi, you got some excellent advice from everbody else, but I thought I might be able to help out a little also.
First every boby says that you have to soak beet pulp, the thing is is that you dont have to if it is just as safe if feed dry and most horses like it better dry, but in your case you might have to feed it soaked since your guy has not many teeth.
Also I would recommened linseed oil or ground flaxseeds instead of corn oil. Corn is high in Omega-6 fatty acids which are not good hor the joints, Flax and linseed oil are very high in fat and very high in Omega-3 fatty acids which would be excellent for him. Currently I'am feeding senior feed and it is working great also another way to get fat in him is to feed plain canola oil up to 2 cups per day introduced very slowly.
I hope this helps out, aslo there is a great forum you can got to and get all your question answered by a equine nutritionist
http://www.gettynutrition.com Ithink that is right I have her site bookmarked.
hope it helps and good luck
Jenn

 

[Alan]

Hello TB lady,

Welcome to the boards, which is full of opinion. Did you say that you don't need to soak beet pulp before feeding???

Alan

 

[TB lady]

Thank you Alan, this seems like a great forum plently of good advice here. First off I would just like to say that I am anything but and expert on feeding horses ( far from it) the info that I provided was info that was given to me by an equine nutritionist( if you go to her forum you will see how many ? I have about feeding my underweight older TB,Jenni Hobbs)
Anyway what I was saying about beet pulp is that you dont need to soakit prior to feeding, it can be fed dry.If you visit this site it says a lot about beet pulp
http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/beetpulp.shtml
I hope this clarifies my posting a bit better

Jenn

 

[holly heifer]

:lol: Senior feed is the way to go! we have a 30 year old app
that is doing really well on this feed . He too has hardly any
back teeth. :shock: We just retired him from the showring this
year as he had a tendon injury. The Purina senior feed is the
brand we have been feeding him for about 10 years. Good luck
with your oldie but a goody! ;-)

 

[Alan]

Thank you Alan, this seems like a great forum plently of good advice here. First off I would just like to say that I am anything but and expert on feeding horses ( far from it) the info that I provided was info that was given to me by an equine nutritionist( if you go to her forum you will see how many ? I have about feeding my underweight older TB,Jenni Hobbs)
Anyway what I was saying about beet pulp is that you dont need to soakit prior to feeding, it can be fed dry.If you visit this site it says a lot about beet pulp
http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/beetpulp.shtml
I hope this clarifies my posting a bit better

Jenn

Hi Jenn,

I read the article, and am having a hard time believing it, it just goes against everthing I have ever been told. I have also seen how much beet pulp expands, but will admit I have never heard of a horse choking on beet pulp first hand. I know a lot of horses won't eat it without it being mixed with something. I think it may be better safe and mix it than sorry you didn't. I may be the old dog you can't teach new tricks to.

With my experience I know that Vets, and human Dr's, are people too and come up with completly off the wall ideas sometimes, you have to find a good Vet or family Dr. you can trust.

Then again it may be completely correct, as I tell someone who is worried about a cat stuck way up in a tree... no one has ever found a cat skeleton in a tree. But I'll be safe and mix it, if for no other reason but to add extra water intake to their system.

Alan

 

[TB lady]

Hi Alan,

Ya this is a tough call isnt it, do you do what everybody has done very safely or do you go and do it the other way?lol
In the end I think do what works for you, if it is safe and your horse is fine with it then keep it up. ;-)

Later Jenn

 

[bootsie]

Hi Jenn,

I read the article, and am having a hard time believing it, it just goes against everthing I have ever been told. I have also seen how much beet pulp expands, but will admit I have never heard of a horse choking on beet pulp first hand.


Alan

I have heard of horses choking on beet pulp and so has my vet. In fact the last time I was there my vet was having a conversation with another client about a horse that choked on beet pulp. I personally wouldn't chance it.

 

[holly heifer]

i will never use beet pulp again! My older pony choked
on it and developed aspiration pneumonia, the vet bills were
around $1000 to cure him( xrays, antibiotics, choke resolve,
ect.) :? The beet pulp was fed soaked.