I have an almost 30 yr old quarter horse that I have had the honor of owning since he was a 2 year old. He is very healthy, teeth are still pretty good for his age but it’s getting tougher to keep weight on him. He has 24/7 access to good pasture but on really hot buggy days he stays in his barn alot until it cools off. I keep hay in there for him as well. But noticed this past winter that hay doesn’t keep him in weight so I added beet pulp, rice bran and some senior feed. As long as he is on pasture he does great. But weather sometimes keeps him in. He has free choice to be in or out. Someone recommended a product called Chaffhay…not sure of the spelling! Any thoughts?
Anything with alfalfa usually helps keep weight on any horse. You can soak cubesor pellets. There is something called Dengue (sp?) pronounced Den-Gay. It’s a chopped mainly alfalfa product, comes in a 30-40lb bag. Most picky seniors love it and it adds a high nutrition value, as does any alfalfa. May just be his calorie intake is low in nutritional value but could be es losing his appetite.
Beet pulp adds bulk but when these oldsters start not holding their weight well, you need usually need more quality calories.
Is he cleaning up what you feed him? Impossible to tell how much he’s eating on pasture or it’s nutritional value but if he seems to be losing his appetite, it could indicate he is uncomfortable or even in some pain. Might try some Bute for a few days and see if he picks up some condition. Arthritis hurts and it’s an easy fix.
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Chaffehaye is a brand of bagged Alfalfa in Texas.
https://chaffhaye.com/details/animal/chaffhaye-for-horses
I supplement my seniors with Standlee Alfalfa products (pellets and chopped bagged Alfalfa). Not familiar with this particular brand, but for horses that can tolerate alfalfa it is a good way to supplement the diet of seniors, as it is typically lower in NSC and has good protein and nutrients.
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You can sometimes find the chopped hay in non-alfalfa type. Standee offers pellets and cubes that are plain grass hays and also alfalfa and alfalfa mix.
Providing him with something to eat while he has retreated to the shelter will help him to maintain his weight.
In my area there is a product that is for sale called Hay Mate Cube. It is basically an unfortified feed. It doesn’t have added vitamin or minerals, but is the base that would be used in a regular feed. i.e. Distillers grains, etc. It is 14% protein and is supposed to have 1.5xs the calories per pound of hay. It comes in a large cube, but it melts to mush with just a bit of cold water. My 32 yo LOVES the Hay Mate Cube. He still has all of his teeth and can crush the cubes easily, but he also doesn’t mind eating them as a mash. He gets 2 lbs of timothy pellets, 2 lbs of the Hay Mate cubes, 1 lb of a ration balancer and 1/2 lb of a fat supplement. The Hay Mate Cubes run around $11 for 50lbs.
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Chaffhaye is fermented alfalfa, and in the heat, the bag needs to be fed within about 3 days. But it works wonders on a lot of horses who either can’t eat enough regular hay, even chopped, or have digestive issues that aren’t otherwise managed.
And I hear it takes some horses some getting used to, due to the fermentation, so with the first bag or 3 you might not get to use it all before it goes bad. So for that, I’d be inclined to start with it when it’s cold so the bag will last longer, unless you have a way to keep it in cool storage.
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Ah! I obviously didn’t read far enough to see that it was fermented. Does fermented hay need to be local to your area because of the spoilage issue?
Chaffhaye is packaged such that it will stay as-is until opened.
Good to know. Thanks.
ETA: So oxygen plays a role after its opened (as well as heat) to make it go bad. So prudent I guess, when purchasing, to double check all bags for rips/tears.
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Oh! I didn’t think about the heat factor! Excellent point especially since we live in southern Missouri!
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How do you decide how much of the alfalfa to give him?
The compressed alfalfa is pretty pricey, so I just give him a flake or so a day, it’s really just an extra in the summer as he seems to be able to digest his probably un-chewed grass.
In the winter, I feed him as much soaked alfalfa/timothy as he’ll eat. We made him an insulated bucket so that it stays warm for longer. At first I worried about Calcium overload, but my vet wasn’t concerned, and was thrilled at how great his weight has stayed, despite losing teeth. His front teeth are so worn down they look like little candy corns 
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