I recently bought a farm with boarded horses included. One of the horses is a senior mare who has apparently foundered in the past. A couple of months ago when we moved onto the farm, the mare looked like a rescue case. Her hip bones, spine and neck were hard for me to look at and I was shocked to learn that she was only 22…I was thinking more like 32. I suggested we put her on TCS to see if we could put some weight on her. After a transition period (from
Progressive Advantage) and splitting the meals into 3 feedings/day, the mare is starting to put weight on and looks so much better. I’ve been so happy with it and the boarders have all commented on how much better she looks. However, her trimmer was out today and was upset that I’m feeding her TCS and said that she should be on oats instead because of her risk of laminitis. I tried to argue my case, but she was adamant about Triple Crown being the wrong choice. From what I understand, the mare was on a sweet feed last year and the previous barn owners were not concerned about time spent on spring grass. I feel pretty confident in my decision to switch to TCS, but am open to suggestions on better ways to feed the mare. Thoughts?
ETA: This horse has severe arthritis in her neck and it’s getting hard for her to eat pasture grass so that’s no longer much of an issue. She has grass hay in front of her most of the time either in a hay net or in her manger where she can reach it.
I’ve had to feed a few of these guys and some do well on Triple Crown Senior, it’s not high NSC. I found it easier on my pocketbook to feed soaked beet pulp, ration balancer, and soaked alfalfa cubes. I don’t keep horses/ponies laminitis prone on grass. I either use a dry lot or they wear a muzzle. Feed lots of good hay if able to eat it otherwise they would get buckets of soaked alfalfa cubes multiple times a day.
I wouldn’t give a laminitis prone horse/pony oats, thats just asking for issues. Personally, I would just tell the farrier you are keeping the vet involved and the vet is ok with the new feeding system.
Oats are good for a laminitic-prone horse, but TC Sr is not? 
50% NSC vs 11.7%.
Do you know the cause of the founder? It’s not always metabolic. But if hers is, TCS is as good a place to start as any, and a FAR cry better than oats.
yeah, I couldn’t believe what she was saying! It was metabolic. Sweet feed and all day turnout on lush spring grass. Apparently, they had a horse die last year from foundering 
sigh
Trimmers who know nothing about nutrition and metabolic issues give trimmers a bad name
I would be looking for a new trimmer. She is woefully misinformed and giving you horrible advice. Stick with the TC Senior.
Oh no, no, no! I do not use her and have no intentions of doing so and I will not be taking her advice. I’m happy feeding my guys TCS and I love my farrier 
“Hmm, interesting. I’ll give that some thought.” ignore
:yes:
Luckily, the horse’s owner came out last night (I’ve only seen her a handful of times in the 3 months I’ve been here) and the other boarders were practically gushing with the compliments on how the mare looks better than she has in years. The owner made a couple of comments like, “now that she’s on a good feed…”, so I think she’s happy with my choice.
