Adding weight for the senior horse (last update post 68)

[pompeiii]

I thought I’d reach out for some advice. My 25 year old gelding has dropped some weight over the last month and just isn’t where I’d like him to be heading into winter. He doesn’t look terrible at all, in fact he’s probably fine, but he’s a little thin for my liking, especially with winter heading our direction.

July and August were rough months for him. He had a fractured molar that was removed in early August, but bothered him throughout July. July and August were terrible months for bugs and he spent a lot of time on dex and benedryl to deal with horrific hives. Then he had abscesses in both right hooves. When he doesn’t feel well, he goes off his feed. I’ve had him for 16 years, none of this is new.

He IS eating hay, but is less efficient than before. His teeth are ok, not great. He does pretty well with our soft orchard grass (I feed free choice year round) and he has almost free choice western alfalfa in his stall. The alfalfa is a touch more difficult and he does waste a lot more (a lot ends up on the ground, but not true quidding). It might be time to start offering him chopped hay (even if it’s just chopped alfalfa) though he hates it and prefers real hay. I chop my own as my younger gelding has gut issues and chopped hay is very helpful for him.

He gets a bucket of soaked alfalfa cubes and alfalfa pellets every night. I can’t up the cubes or he’ll not finish, but I can try to increase the pellets a bit. He never would eat soaked pellets before but grew to like them recently. He picks at them overnight.

In terms of feed, he is the world’s pickiest horse. Always has been, always will be. I’m not against changing feeds but he needs to eat it and there are a million he won’t touch. Right now he gets Equine Senior with Omolene 200 mixed in. Won’t touch it without the sweet feed (he won’t eat plain sweet feed either). We’re swapping to the senior active because the nutritionist felt the concentrate would be better than the complete feed. Beyond that? I’m open. He picks at TC senior (doesn’t clean his bucket) and never held his weight on it (I never tried the gold line). He does seem to like the Tribute Wholesome Blends Senior that I feed to my young gelding and at this point the price difference isn’t so much that I’m not willing to try that for him (I drive to get it, but I’m already buying it). He currently gets 8-9lbs of feed split between 2 feedings (larger at night because he takes most of the evening to eat). If I add a 3rd feeding, he doesn’t finish his dinner, even if I’m just splitting his 2 feedings into 3.

He’s not currently into beet pulp (that was a staple for many years). He enjoyed fibre beet for about 5 days before deciding against it (he prefers his cubes/pellets which is fine).

Anyway, just looking for ways to put some extra weight on a senior. He doesn’t have a lot of winters left, but he’s not telling me he’s ready to go yet.

[yaya]

Will he eat feed with oil on it? A way to increase calories without adding bulk.

[starsandsun]

Have you tried bagged chopped forage? My horses, even the one who was very sick and super picky, loved it. I use the chopped timothy from Triple Crown.

[pompeiii]

@yaya

Will he eat feed with oil on it? A way to increase calories without adding bulk.

Not in his grain, but he MIGHT eat it in his cubes. I’ll definitely consider it. Any particular oil you like?

@starsandsun

Have you tried bagged chopped forage? My horses, even the one who was very sick and super picky, loved it. I use the chopped timothy from Triple Crown.

I love TC chopped hay. My young guy is a huge fan of the alfalfa forage blend. That said, he will NOT touch that one. I figure I might have better success with chopping the hay he already likes to eat. I just stopped buying it and got my young guy on home chopped hay (which is 90% alfalfa), but he can down 15lbs/night if I let him.

Part of me wonders if the height of the hay is part of the issue. He eats less orchard grass hay in his stall. That’s in a box feeder so he has to drop his head to eat. His alfalfa is in a bag so he stands and eats without moving his head/neck much. Whenever I feed chopped hay, it’s in a bucket on the ground. Hay outside is in a feeder, net (chest high – once it gets low he stops eating it), or a porta-grazer. With the exception of the porta-grazer, he prefers the hay at higher height. So there might be some neck arthritis going on and it’s just easier for him to eat this way? Just thinking out loud. Might try a net for orchard grass and find a way to hang some chopped hay?

[yaya]

@pompeiii

Any particular oil you like?

I like the O3 Animal Health Oils. Could try Equine Mega Gain, or jus Equine Omega Complete.

Equine Omega Oil | O3 Animal Health Official Website

[Obsidian_Fire]

There just aren’t a whole lot of options for a really picky eater. Soaked pellets, soaked cubes, alfalfa that has lots of leaf - from your description it sounds like yours might be stemmy? I had one toothless gal who couldn’t do the stems but by golly every last leaf got mooshed up in her mouth!
Adding oil, yes. Something like canola would be reasonably healthy and not horrid expensive.

You mentioned the height of feeds… can you try feeding his soaked foods at a higher level for him? (If you aren’t already).

Even if an oldie is still eating hay, chances are their body just isn’t processing it very well. You probably know that… but keep trying different hay pellets for him.

[JBCool]

If you think oil may help, I’ve had a lot of customers do well with the Triple Crown Omega Blend.

I agree his preferences make this one tough. I’ll cross my fingers he likes the Active; it has a good bit more fat than the regular senior, so that could help in itself. If not, maybe try a bag of TC Sr Gold: it was a game changer for some of my customers as well. But, I’ll throw out adding something like Purina Amplify or rice bran?

Also agree that chopping what hay he does already like and feeding everything at his preferred height (or as close as possible) may help him get as much from what he will eat as possible. Perhaps soaking his hay might make it more chewable as well?

[JB]

Definitely see if he’ll eat the TC Sr Gold. At 1800 cal/lb, it’s a big bang for the buck. But, there’s nothing wrong with trying the Tribute WB Sr since you already have that. The TC Sr Gold is just more calories. It’s a different enough taste from the regular Sr, as it has more oil and less molasses.

Canola oil is an economical way to feed oil. Of all the oils that still have more Omega 6 than 3, it’s the best, at only 2:1 O6:O3. You can add flaxseed to help, and 1c a day is even some reasonable calories.

I had trouble finding the right mix for my 32yo. He’s got a volume limit, so I have to pack calories in, and can’t actually soak (which increases volume). The only way I got him eating all the things, is this:

1.5-2c water in the bottom of the wide flat pan (his normal feed pan), and 1/2c oil poured around that.
1/2lb TC Rice Bran added, so start “soaking”
3lb TC Sr Gold on top. The bottom layer will soak a bit

I couldn’t add oil separately on top. Somehow that mixing in process wasn’t to his liking

[yaya]

My 29-year old is picky too. Just recently stopped adding oil to his feed because he eats more without it, and he won’t touch soaked anything. He has taken to the TC Senior Gold, so at least he’s getting his calories that way. But he too has a volume limit, and won’t even go back to it later. (Sort of, “ooh, this feed has been touched! It has cooties!” ) So several separate smaller feedings it is!

[pompeiii]

@Obsidian_Fire

There just aren’t a whole lot of options for a really picky eater. Soaked pellets, soaked cubes, alfalfa that has lots of leaf - from your description it sounds like yours might be stemmy? I had one toothless gal who couldn’t do the stems but by golly every last leaf got mooshed up in her mouth!
Adding oil, yes. Something like canola would be reasonably healthy and not horrid expensive.

You mentioned the height of feeds… can you try feeding his soaked foods at a higher level for him? (If you aren’t already).

Even if an oldie is still eating hay, chances are their body just isn’t processing it very well. You probably know that… but keep trying different hay pellets for him.

My alfalfa is definitely a touch stemmy. Interestingly enough, there is a lot of leafy stuff on it (I’m usually covered after I stuff it in the nets) and he actively goes for the stemmy parts and doesn’t like the leafier parts?!?! My other guy cleans it up. HORSES. They are here to drive me insane. On the other hand, I have bought some local and northern PA alfalfa that is softer and he won’t touch it. I have no clue. Sometimes I just want to toss up my hands and give up.

I do feed his cubes and grain at chest height and he’s happy about that so hay height might be part of this.

[NaturallyHappy]

I wonder if some of it could be the hay preservative some farmers are using now.

[pompeiii]

@JBCool

If you think oil may help, I’ve had a lot of customers do well with the Triple Crown Omega Blend.

I agree his preferences make this one tough. I’ll cross my fingers he likes the Active; it has a good bit more fat than the regular senior, so that could help in itself. If not, maybe try a bag of TC Sr Gold: it was a game changer for some of my customers as well. But, I’ll throw out adding something like Purina Amplify or rice bran?

Also agree that chopping what hay he does already like and feeding everything at his preferred height (or as close as possible) may help him get as much from what he will eat as possible. Perhaps soaking his hay might make it more chewable as well?

Definitely hoping the active helps and he’ll eat it. He’s eaten a few bites so far (1/2 quart… lol… slow transition). I’ll try the oil first (I’ll compare a few suggested here) in his cubes then try either a fat supplement or straight rice bran. He will do rice bran and has done ultimate finish in the past (and then stopped eating it after being on it for a couple of years…). We did rice bran this spring as I had it on hand for my other guy who can’t have soy and doesn’t do well with too much flax. Yes, I have problem horses (my 11 year old can’t have soy and has chronic colitis). I find the rice bran is less efficient than the ultimate finish/amplify type products, but he did seem to eat it better.

He says no to soaked hay. Steamed, maybe, outright soaked, no.

@JB

Definitely see if he’ll eat the TC Sr Gold. At 1800 cal/lb, it’s a big bang for the buck. But, there’s nothing wrong with trying the Tribute WB Sr since you already have that. The TC Sr Gold is just more calories. It’s a different enough taste from the regular Sr, as it has more oil and less molasses.

Canola oil is an economical way to feed oil. Of all the oils that still have more Omega 6 than 3, it’s the best, at only 2:1 O6:O3. You can add flaxseed to help, and 1c a day is even some reasonable calories.

If the active doesn’t work (taste or weight), we’re going to try the TC Sr Gold. I’ll save the Tribute as a last resort. The nice thing about Senior Active is I can pick it up at TSC in an emergency. I generally shop at my local feed store(s), but sometimes I can’t get there before close so it’s nice to have a place open later, especially if my husband prepares feed and doesn’t tell me that we’re out of feed…which happens on more occasions than I’d like to admit.

I really appreciate all the suggestions and it’s nice to see that I’m not the only one with a picky senior.

[pompeiii]

@NaturallyHappy

I wonder if some of it could be the hay preservative some farmers are using now.

My hay guy actually mentioned this. He mentioned this might be the issue I’m having with alfalfa. My other guy isn’t crazy about the PA alfalfa we’ve bought either. My hay guy (we get all our orchard from him) doesn’t bale much alfalfa and when you have one on an insane amount of alfalfa for gut problems, you source elsewhere. We’ve found the western is the most consistent and they’ll all eat it, even if they old man struggles with it. A lot of the other alfalfa they just turn their noses up at.

[JB]

@NaturallyHappy

I wonder if some of it could be the hay preservative some farmers are using now.

FWIW, propionic acid has been used for quite a while. I don’t know if it’s used more often now, than “yesterday”, but I imagine it’s really all about the hay (alfalfa is more likely to have it than grasses), and the general conditions in a given year. Nobody wants to add that expense to hay, unless maybe they are pretty darn sure they can get a premium price simply because the hay is greener.

[NaturallyHappy]

I know. My farmer’s balers are pretty sophisticated and measure the moisture in the hay and apply automatically as needed. The baler malfunctioned when we made second cutting for a bit. It was measuring the humidity in the air, and applying too much. Those bales really had a strong scent.

[NaturallyHappy]

Some of my horses don’t care, but some do.

[Warmblood1]

2 cups of canola oil a day is almost 4K calories. Also worth mentioning is perhaps adding salt to feed. I’ve found a lot of picky and/or elderly horses look thin because of a lack of water consumption. You might feed a tablespoon or 2 a day. Just don’t be like one person I knew who sprinkled a few grains of salt over feed with a salt shaker.

[pompeiii]

He does get salt. Just a tablespoon of Redmonds salt for now as I can’t get him to eat more than that, but eventually we’ll make it to the recommended 2 tablespoons.

He doesn’t drink a lot inside. Never has, but he likes drinking outside. I have a hard time monitoring how much he drinks because most is from the large water trough. He gets a lot of water with his cubes so that helps too.

I doubt he’ll eat 2 cups of oil ever. But some oil plus a fat supplement like rice bran or ultimate finish might be a nice compromise. 1 in his feed, 1 with his cubes.

[starsandsun]

If you want to drive the other way into Maryland, my hay guy always has gorgeous western alfalfa which is so very pretty. I’ve tested some of it and it’s super high in protein. I can’t feed it, but my friend does and it’s like crack cocaine.

[Weezer]

I’ve been putting weight on a senior TB for several months. She wouldn’t touch oil but then a COTH member suggested I put the oil in the soaking water for her beet pulp. That worked well so I’d try that with your cubes. I used canola oil. May be worth doing the same with salt. I also found that flax really helped, but I’m guessing your picky guy won’t go for it. Good luck!