Alfalfa cubes vs. Increased Grain

[Amy3996]

My senior gelding is coming out of winter looking a little ribby. I wouldn’t normally be concerned by it, but it’s unlikely that our boarding barn will move the horses off their winter dry lots and onto the summer pastures until late May, so he won’t be getting the boost from fresh grass for a while yet.

He’s typically a relatively easy keeper. Free choice round bale access in turnout and 20-25lbs of hay in a PortaGrazer when he’s stalled overnight (he probably only finishes 15ish lbs of the hay at night). He’s on 1lb of Purina Enrich Plus, 2lbs of Tribute Senior Sport, and DAC Bloom.

I wanted to try alfalfa first before upping grain. Unfortunately, he’s only able to finish 1.5lbs of cubes at a time(dry weight, soaked before feeding). 3lbs of alfalfa per day just isn’t enough - he’s been on it for about a month now. He’s maxed out on the amount of baled hay he’s willing to eat.

He thinks alfalfa pellets are poison, so my next thought was to just bump his grain up to 4lbs and drop the Enrich.

Any other suggestions or tips from those of you who feed alfalfa cubes on how to manage the volume?

[DinkyDonk]

I had to switch to pellets from cubes–my senior gelding is a slow eater, and even after soaking with hot water, they’d still freeze before he could finish them in cold weather…so now I just dump the dry alf pellets into his warm soaked bp pellets and mix well, and he finishes everything. I prefer cubes , but the horse has the final say. Maybe try a different brand of pellets? I have only found 2 brands of alf pellets that my gelding will eat, and I think it’s because some brands just reek of the hay conditioner in them. I also mix in a couple of oz of Cocosoya (cut with canola oil 25:75) for taste/smell; most horses can’t resist Cocosoya.

[enjoytheride]

Enrich plus is a ration balancer for easy keepers, I would switch that out for a higher fat grain. Even something like Healthy Edge, Impact Professional Performance, or more of the Tribute.

You could try soaking pellets to see if he’ll eat them.

[Texarkana]

I love using soaked hay cubes, but like you have already realized, the volume can become a problem. Many horses can’t or won’t eat enough to pack on the pounds. Plus it sounds like he has more than enough forage in his diet already.

Four pounds of senior feed is not a lot. Not a big deal to increase to that, and I image if you check the bag, it’s still below the recommended amount for a full size horse. Therefore, you probably don’t even need to drop the Enrich. I’m not super familiar with the nutritional profile of Tribute’s Senior feed, but most senior feeds are lowish in the fortification department (as compared to a performance feed) so they can be fed as a forage replacement to horses with compromised dentition. Many seniors and hard keepers benefit from the extra protein and nutrition of a ration balancer added to their senior feed when getting less than the recommended amount of senior feed.

[JB]

I know it gets said a lot that senior feeds in general are relatively low in fortification, but that’s really not true. Even with the Tribute, the Senior Sport has more protein, lysine, threonine, fat, calcium, and phosphorous than the Performance Advantage, while the PA has a bit more E, copper (zinc is the same), Vit A/E/C (because they benefit the harder working horse).

Triple Crown Sr is similar - higher in protein, lysine, methionine, threonine, zinc, copper, manganese, and even the vitamin profile, than the Complete.

Nutrena is mixed - ProForce Senior vs ProForce XTN swaps back and forth which is higher in the protein/amino acids and minerals, but the Sr is higher in all the vitamins (and adds Vit C).

Sr feeds tend to be formulated for higher amounts of nutrients because of a general reduction in nutrient absorption.

[GoodTimes]

I would up the grain, he’s getting lots of forage so that’s good.
Have you tried adding oil? Horses tolerate fats quite well, and it’s a good “bang for your buck” calorie wise. The advice is that you can feed up to two cups of oil per day.
There are nearly 2000 calories in one cup, the average horse needs anywhere from 12000-20000 calories per day. Two cups of oil is a significant boost in caloric intake.

[JB]

Clarification on the oil - the recommendation is no more than 1lb fat per 1000lb body weight, even for most PSSM horses though a few do need more).

In terms of oil, that’s 2c per 1000lb.

[GoodTimes]

@JB yes I said “up to two cups of oil per day”. Introduced slowly, like any other feed.
I’m not sure what needed clarification. Studies show horses can tolerate fats up to 20% of the calories of the total diet. We’re saying the same thing.

[JB]

@GoodTimes

@JB yes I said “up to two cups of oil per day”. Introduced slowly, like any other feed.
I’m not sure what needed clarification. Studies show horses can tolerate fats up to 20% of the calories of the total diet. We’re saying the same thing.

I didn’t realize my additional information would cause such stress :\

I’m giving context to the amount of oil. Is your horse 1000lb or like mine, closer to 1500lb? Or is it a “horse” who is really a pony who is 700lb?

1500lb would mean, technically, he could have 3c of oil, which makes your “up to 2 cups” not accurate anymore. I know several larger drafts who are getting 3c/day.

By knowing 1lb per 1000lb body weight, that lets anyone with a horse of any weight figure out how much is a theoretical max for that horse.

[GoodTimes]

@JB no stress, I just didn’t think anyone would take the “2 cups” so literally.
While we’re on the subject, I prefer to go by % of total calories. A 1000lb horse who is very active, say a TB in training is going to require more calories than say a 1500lb easy keeper who sits in a field. Thus, that 1000lb horse may be able to consume and utilize as much or more dietary fat than the larger horse.

So sure the 1lb per 1000lbs is theoretical, but I wouldn’t consider it anymore accurate than quoting advice from nutritionists who say up to 2 cups for the average horse.