Diet Advice

[VestaStar]

I have recently come to care for three seniors. One is definitely a cushings case, one is ancient, and the other is coming off a recent injury and will be floated shortly.

The big thing is putting weight on the elderly horse and the Cushing’s case. They were being fed a half scoop of (no-molasses)beet pulp, half scoop oats, and 2 cups of the Step8 hi-fat. What are your thoughts on this? Should I increase the Step8 or swap oats for seniors feed? Should I consider a different feed altogether?

I’d like to put weight on the elderly horse and Cushing’s case (ribs are good, but his topline and stifles are a bit sunken. Has not had any flare ups with his feet previously). They are fed a good quality grass hay, and are usually ridden by children once a week in the summer (health dependent).

[JB]

Is the Cushing’s horse on Prascend? if not, it’s likely a losing battle trying to get weight on him.

What brands of feed can you have? The current diet isn’t a lot of calories, for sure.

I would definitely drop the oats - the PPID horse doesn’t need it, and the others don’t really need it either.

[VestaStar]

Thank you for responding JB, your opinion was one I was hoping to find. I’ll be axing out the oats promptly. Brands of feed accessible to me are Hoffman’s, Nutrena, and Step Right. We do have Hoffman’s Senior Ration and Step8 which is a Hi-fat, low NSC(>13% was the number I could find).

I’m not the owner, so the Prascend is a current discussion point. The hesitation is money, of course, as the horse is part of a kids trail string.

[PNWSunnyDay]

We give our lovely old farts rice bran for the fat mixed with a soy-free forage-based pellet. (Haystack Special Blend.) Low sugar and they are able to keep weight on well.

[Horselover5]

To put some pounds on the horse quicker, give them lots of grass hay mixed with alfalfa and beet pulp . Feeding them high-fat commercial grain mixes will also help speed up their growth. Please make sure they always have plenty of clean water available for drinking too!

[JB]

Gotcha, that’s a tough one with the Prascend I’d say the first thing I’d do is ramp up to the recommended feeding amount of the Step 8 since that’s already in the picture. <13% NSC is good for a PPID horse.