Corn Oil, Molasses or ? to Add Calories and Palatability to Alfalfa Pellets

[chestnutmarebeware]

My senior APHA mare, who’s been an easy keeper her whole life, has recently dropped weight. She got a complete vet work up with bloodwork, fecal, dental check, etc. and the recommendation was more calories via the addition of soaked alfalfa pellets to her regular 14% grain mix and nearly free choice timothy/grass mix hay.

She’s getting a pound of pellets twice daily, but apparently she doesn’t really care for them, and the only way the staff can get her to eat them is to feed them first and not give the grain and hay until she’s finished. They say they don’t mind, but this is causing extra work, and I also can’t increase the amount of pellets for more calories since I’m lucky if she’ll eat this much.

Any suggestions? This is a very low-key barn, not a show barn, and they don’t have the staff for high-maintenance requests.

[2DogsFarm]

Maybe try TC Sr pellets?
When my 19yo TWH looked a bit ribby this Spring, vet suggested this.
Adding a cup to his 2X daily grain feed of whole oats has him looking great.
Oddly, founder risk mini is on the TC Sr exclusively for weight loss & is looking quite svelte.
How it keeps weight on one while taking it off the other

[Texarkana]

My senior guy totally went off his alfalfa pellets in his twilight years and I had to exclusively use Senior feed (Triple Crown).

Corn oil isn’t particularly palatable and having to add molasses to every meal is a lot of sugar that could be avoided.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Is there any reason she can’t be fed alfalfa hay as opposed to pellets? She might find that tastier. Otherwise I think senior feed is a good choice. What’s the regular grain mix she’s getting?

[chestnutmarebeware]

The grain is a local co-op mix that the barn provides for most of the boarders. My vet reviewed and approved it and says the he doesn’t recommend the senior feeds for horses with good teeth getting plenty of regular forage because he says the added roughage can be counterproductive. The 14% mix she’s getting now is lthe senior feed without the added roughage.

I do have the option of purchasing my own feed if I really need to, but space is a big factor in the tiny feed room and my other senior mare is also getting the alfalfa pellets, so that metal trash can is already taking up most of the available floor space.

[chestnutmarebeware]

There’s nowhere I could store bales of alfalfa, assuming I could find any locally. I have given Rosie alfalfa cubes as a treat in the past, so maybe I could try a bag of those and see if she was any happier. That girl’s all about her hay.

Any thoughts on how a pound of pellets would translate to cubes?

[IPEsq]

It’s all just forage so a pound is a pound. There’s a bit longer stem in the cubes. You could also get compressed bales or chopped forage.

You could add some fat to her regular feed. I wouldn’t choose corn oil these days. There are a lot of fat products out there. Pure oil or a prilled fat will be higher calories and fat per serving than other granulated products, and some store better in summer than others.

[suzyq]

Can you just feed her more of the 14 percent grain?

[frisky]

I would recommend soaking the alfalfa pellets and grain together and mixing. It’s an added step, but would only take 5-10 minutes tops of waiting. (It might be too mushy if longer than 5 min.) You could also add some flax into the mix. The alfalfa pellets might be more palatable and there’s the added benefit of having your grain improve the taste.

I have a senior citizen who recently dropped weight and I am soaking beet pulp regularly, but also some hay pellets. I’ve also been supplying chopped or compressed alfalfa hay. The try-anything strategy.

[Texarkana]

@chestnutmarebeware

The grain is a local co-op mix that the barn provides for most of the boarders. My vet reviewed and approved it and says the he doesn’t recommend the senior feeds for horses with good teeth getting plenty of regular forage because he says the added roughage can be counterproductive. The 14% mix she’s getting now is lthe senior feed without the added roughage.

I do have the option of purchasing my own feed if I really need to, but space is a big factor in the tiny feed room and my other senior mare is also getting the alfalfa pellets, so that metal trash can is already taking up most of the available floor space.

Bolding mine. (Quoting is seriously misbehaving for me lately)

What I bolded is an unusual recommendation. I think what the vet might mean is that some Senior feeds may be lower calorie because they replace concentrates with high fiber feedstuffs like beet pulp. But the high quality Senior feeds from the major brands counterbalance that with fat and protein. Pound for pound, feeding something like Triple Crown Senior (if you can get it) is almost guaranteed to be more calories than your current feed + alfalfa pellets.

You mention Co-op… if it’s the same co-op that is in Tennessee, I was really underwhelmed with the quality of their feed. But maybe they improved since I last fed them.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Thanks for this information—it may well be what he was trying to say. Rosie was a pill for both the fecal and the teeth check and we had to end up sedating her for the exam, so I could have easily missed some context of the conversation.

So, given that switching her to a new feed would be my second choice (for barn logistics reasons only) behind keeping her current feed and pellets and adding a supplemental fat source to the grain, do you feel this would be an appropriate path to try (at least at first)?

I’ve had 20+ years with these horses as super easy keepers, and I’m behind the ball with weight-gain knowledge!

[CowgirlCoffee]

I agree with the above suggestions about trying Triple Crown Senior. They also make a product called Senior Gold, which is similar to the original senior, but utilizes whey protein, electrolytes, and gastric buffering. It’s also 1800 cal/lb. Amazingly, it’s only $1 more per bag than the original, well worth the cost IMO. My 34 year-old got fat on it!
Most likely, any senior feed from one of the national brands is likely going to be an improvement over your current feed though. Many feeds from co-ops and local mills use low-quality, high sugar/starch ingredients that are hard for horses to digest and put them at risk for metabolic concerns.

[4horses]

Following! I have a hard keeper right now. I have tried adding oil to her feed. She refuses to eat it. I’ve tried soaked alfalfa. She eats about half and walks away. Sweet feed plus oil -nope. Sweet feed mixed with alfalfa pellets, again she eats half. I’m going to try Nutrena ProForce Fuel next and see if she will eat that. The only food she really eats well is fresh grass.

[bdj]

What about adding a pelleted fat supplement? Something like Buckeye Ultimate Finish - which comes in different “densities” (for lack of a better word).
Years ago I used the 25% for my hard keeper old guy to good effect, and it looks like it might even be available via Chewy if it’s hard to source locally.

[JB]

@chestnutmarebeware

the recommendation was more calories via the addition of soaked alfalfa pellets to her regular 14% grain mix

How many pounds? There’s nothing wrong with the 17%-ish fiber in senior feeds, I don’t understand the “counterproductive” part.

Do you have an ingredient list? Sometimes it’s not about adding, but changing. A lot of local feeds use high NSC ingredients, which can be counterproductive, especially in older horses

How old is she? PPID ruled out?

[MissusS]

My mare was on alfalfa pellets, salt, and mineral blend with corn oil top dressing as the vet recommended not using a regular grain feed (sugar content issues - we treated for ulcers successfully and didn’t want to flare anything up). When she decided that was much less palatable (she initially loved it) we added a local product called EquinePower - it is primarily ground flaxseed. https://equinepower.com/
We had good success with it. It might be worthwhile to see if you have access to something similar in your area.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Thanks everyone! Now I’ve got several great suggestions to try.

[2tempe]

Another vote here for Triple Crown senior. My current horse cannot have anything alfalfa or he gets the squirts. He dropped some weight about 10 months ago (he’s now 20 and still in pretty decent work). Vet recommended this and we upped the quantity over his prior feed. Weight came back on gradually and nicely and he has now been backed down to lower quantity.
Another fat option to consider is stabilized rice bran. This helped get weight back on a mare of mine when she came back into work after weaning a foal. It is very high fat content.

[victoriakent]

My 21 year old OTTB is the queen of picky eaters and is a hard keeper. She decided to go on strike with any kind of hay pellet. We added ProElite’s Omega Advantage and she tolerates that and it adds the calories without adding a ton of sugars. I add this ontop of her Ultium Gastric and for once in her life she has been described as “plump!” I think the Omega Advantage is also one of the more affordable fat supplements without compromising quality.

[Aussie_2020]

My vet also told me to stop with the senior feed. My horse still has good teeth and can eat grass hay / alfalfa so he doesn’t need to have the senior. The amount to be fed is really a lot! I talked to several feed dealers and ended up consulting a nutritionist. From information received I switched from Nutrena SafeChoice Senior to Ultium Gastro. Within a week I saw an improvement in my horses mental health (not so edgy, started eating all his hay, etc) and by the end of the first month he physically looked better too.

So now I feed less grain and have a better looking and better acting horse. (he refuses to eat anything soaked)