Horse feed

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houstoncutter

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Need some input, I have an old horse 34 years old to be exact. Very thin and starting to slobber when eating. At present we're feeding Wenlandts All In One. He still has his appetite. I assume it's a teeth issue. Any suggestions on a different feed.
 
houstoncutter":2yhlddwm said:
Need some input, I have an old horse 34 years old to be exact. Very thin and starting to slobber when eating. At present we're feeding Wenlandts All In One. He still has his appetite. I assume it's a teeth issue. Any suggestions on a different feed.

Has he got any teeth left to float? 34 years is a dang good run for a horse.
 
First and foremost get his teeth checked and consult your vet about overall health... without proper teeth alignment, it is nearly impossible for a horse to properly breakdown the feed appropriately (you can tell a lot by looking at his droppings to see if grain is being ground and utilized, or just passing straight through). Is this horse able to eat hay and/or roughage of any kind? The majority of senior feeds are "complete" feeds that have the roughage and grains all in one feed. Purina makes a very good senior feed called Purina Equine Senior... it has an added fat supplement called Amplify... Amplify is the #1 Vet recommended fat additive. You can purchase Amplify separately and top dress it on any feed that you are currently using. If the teeth are good and everything else checks out OK... I would highly recommend adding fat to a good quality feed to try to put weight on.
 
We've kept some ancients above ground on pelleted feed, rice bran, and really good tender hay. Have even wet the pellets, but not all of them like mush.
 
houstoncutter":1ku2i25w said:
Need some input, I have an old horse 34 years old to be exact. Very thin and starting to slobber when eating. At present we're feeding Wenlandts All In One. He still has his appetite. I assume it's a teeth issue. Any suggestions on a different feed.
One of the best senior horse feeds I've ever seen is made by TDI Horse Feeds but I have no idea if they have any dealers in your area. It's composed of a high protein pellet loaded with prebiotics and probiotics, chelated minerals, vitamins, and fat along with the major ingredients. This pellet is then mixed with corn and a large amount of highly digestible beet pulp shreds and molasses. Horses love it and it has adequate energy adn is highly digestible. Not cheap but pure quality.
www.tdihorsefeeds.com
 
Thanks for all the input. Got his teeth floated, and he has developed parrot teeth. Switched him from One and Only to the Purina Senior and will be checking into some of these other feeds. He is already doing better
 
The suggestion of rice bran is a good one! Show cattle people love it for the way it puts a nice smooth layer of condition on an animal. I have also top dressed feed for halter horses with corn oil! If that can't put weight on an otherwise healthy horse, I don't know what will! Also, a regular dose of probisis/yogurt is great for older horses.
 
Glad to hear your old boy is doing better. Regular dental care is definitely a priority for old timers. Have had my 31 1/2 yr old mare on LMF (all in one senior product manufactured in my region) locally plus free choice alfalfa. She looks ok but felt she needed a bit more condition. Small local feed store recommended a number of products including Purina Senior as well as Purina Senior Active. Switched her to the latter with good results. Reviewing the ingredients and percentages indicates it has a little more bang for the buck.
Good tips BJB. Have heard the same. Apparently the only drawback to corn oil is the lack of palatability with some horses.
I presume the yogurt should be regular and not low fat :lol:
 
76 Bar":28qla57g said:
Glad to hear your old boy is doing better. Regular dental care is definitely a priority for old timers. Have had my 31 1/2 yr old mare on LMF (all in one senior product manufactured in my region) locally plus free choice alfalfa. She looks ok but felt she needed a bit more condition. Small local feed store recommended a number of products including Purina Senior as well as Purina Senior Active. Switched her to the latter with good results. Reviewing the ingredients and percentages indicates it has a little more bang for the buck.
Good tips BJB. Have heard the same. Apparently the only drawback to corn oil is the lack of palatability with some horses.
I presume the yogurt should be regular and not low fat :lol:
LOL! I had a mare who would knock you flat on your butt if you got between her and a big ol' tub of dannon vanilla! I bought her as a 4 year old with a really bad case of track burn out. She could only pick up a left lead and had mush between her ears, but man was she fast. She would be super skinny for a while, then completely obese and then back to skinny (with no change in diet or exercise). After a ridiculous amount of testing, it was discovered she could not main a healthy gut. The solution was weekly doses of probisis....yogurt was the economical answer and she loved it. It didn't make her any smarter, but it made her healthy enough to earn me some paychecks!
 
ROTFL of the mental picture of Ms Empty Head trampling you to get to her yogurt! QH or TB?
Long time believer in the health benefits of probiotics/lacto bacillus for man and beast. Will hafta see if my smart as a whip ancient A-rab girlie will likewise indulge. Hopefully she's not so snooty as to demand the Greek version over run of the mill USA stuff.
 
76 Bar":35atx937 said:
ROTFL of the mental picture of Ms Empty Head trampling you to get to her yogurt! QH or TB?
Long time believer in the health benefits of probiotics/lacto bacillus for man and beast. Will hafta see if my smart as a whip ancient A-rab girlie will likewise indulge. Hopefully she's not so snooty as to demand the Greek version over run of the mill USA stuff.
She was a QH....one of the few truly spastic ones I've ever rode. She could side pass and back up at a run. Outside of the arena, I usually rode her bareback with a snaffle on a snug rein just to keep her collected...kind of. Practicing a pattern consisted of a turn or two each way around a five gallon pail on the middle of the lawn. Any sign of a barrel or arena, and she just lost it. She never was mean or really hot, or even what I consider gate sour, but I always had to be led or get of and lead her backwards into an arena. She was kind of like a pin ball on 4 legs...I just pointed her in the right direction and held on for dear life Lol!

If you have a picky one, try mixing just a bit into some sweet feed to get her going on it.
 
I use Triple Crown Premium Grass forage as a carrier and HorseTech High Point Grass pellets as a vitamin/mineral supplements. If you can get them, Ontario Dehy's hay and alfalfa cubes/pellets are gmo free. Triple Crown's new Naturals feeds are gmo free.

If he can keep weight on just hay/pasture, you could just feed the High Point Pellets. 180 grams costs $2.06 a day. Not sure how that compares to. You can get Mccauley's online, but shipping is expensive. Horsetech shipping is free.
 
My old mare has Cushings, so she has to get the low carb senior and a pill for her Cushings. I use Triple Crown Low Carb for her. If your old one is an easy keeper, or has Cushings, the Low Carb option is good. Helps prevent Founder.

I agree with 76 about Purina Senior for the thinner old horses. With poor teeth, add just enough water to see and then let it soak for about 10 minutes (I had to cover it because every fly on the farm loves the smell of it). My first horse lived until 34 on that feed. She ate hers from a big tub. They get so messy and dribble it all over the ground if you feed out of a regular feed bucket.
 

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