Hay replacements for older horse

[MissAriel]

Friend’s older horse has reached the point where he needs to not be fed hay any more. Despite dental work, he is still struggling to chew his hay, is quidding and had a minor choke.

She would like to switch to hay cubes or another hay replacer, but the horse is sensitive to timothy and gets diarrhea when fed timothy. Most of the hay replacers are either all or predominantly timothy. The other options seem to be heavily alfalfa and she has already replaced the horse’s alfalfa hay with pellets (soaked), and is worried about all of his forage coming from alfalfa.

Are there any other options out there that aren’t timothy or alfalfa based? Something that will get him the long stemmed forage, and some longer chewing time would be great.

[Simkie]

Beat pulp counts as long stem, I think–what’s he think about that?

It’s also possible to chop your own hay. Maybe that’s an option? If she’s got grass hay that works for him otherwise, dropping it in a chipper might be perfect.

[MissAriel]

@Simkie - good to know about beet pulp! He already gets a good sized amount of beet pulp shreds, soaked. I don’t know if she will go the chipper route, but maybe if cubes and beet pulp are ok, that will be enough.

[csaper58]

She may need to soak the hay cubes as well as the beet pulp.

Here we have straight alfalfa, or alfalfa/oat mix, cubes by StandLee, at Tractor Supply

[ToN_Farm]

I wouldn’t worry about feeding pure alfalfa. The hay pellets are not really forage, and the hay cubes are a pain in the neck to soak, especially in winter. I think the rule of thumb is that the forage should be 2 inches minimum. I feed my senior horse Triple Crown Senior, Beet Pulp, and Triple Crown Alfalfa Forage (bagged). The bagged forage does have a grass hay mixed with the alfalfa. I wet it to get it together and feed it in a bucket. It’s expensive but quality is good and the horse loves it.

[JB]

How much alfalfa hay was he getting before, which was replaced with alf pellets? I would make THOSE the hay cubes - alfalfa cubes - and then use a quality complete Sr feed for more fiber and calories and just as importantly, nutrition. Triple Crown Sr would be excellent

And then yes, beet pulp does act like a long-stem fiber. The only downside to it is that it’s a high volume:calorie feedstuff, which can be a problem for horses who need as many calories as they can get. 1lb of shredded beep is roughly 9c, and when you soak that, it’s a lot of food.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

@MissAriel

@Simkie - good to know about beet pulp! He already gets a good sized amount of beet pulp shreds, soaked. I don’t know if she will go the chipper route, but maybe if cubes and beet pulp are ok, that will be enough.

Good, I too prefer the shreds. Go buy a good type of alfalfa cubes and soak them well and use them also. Timothy cubes are also good. Try to find the freeze dried alfalfa cubes as they are better for the horse and easier to soak and definitely not as hard and old as the regular brands of alfalfa cubes.

[SLedbetter]

Alfalfa/Bermuda grass cubes. Primarily alfalfa, but won’t have the Timothy that upsets his stomach. I can get a 50 lb bag for $13 at the local feed store. I soak mine in hot water, takes about 20 minutes or so. My senior also gets a soft pelleted senior feed. He has teeth issues as well, and has maintained his weight well.
I’d cut out the alfalfa pellets, and replace with the alfalfa/grass cubes.

[Mango20]

My old pony’s first hay replacement was Triple Crown Safe Starch forage (chopped hay). The website says it’s a mix of timothy and orchard grasses, but they also have other chopped forage products that might work for you. Once he stopped eating the stemmier pieces of that, I switched to Standlee Orchard Grass pellets, along with beet pulp with no molasses (both soaked) and all along he got TC Senior as well.

[Obsidian_Fire]

My old guy gets a mash of TC Sr & Haystack pellets - but I doubt HS is available for you. However, if I were not able to get this product - it’s a blend of beet pulp, alfalfa, timothy, rice bran, flax - I would buy pellets/cubes of each individual product and make my own blend. Standlee does make Orchard Grass pellets.

Beet pulp + alfalfa, or even too much BP on it’s own = a very lopsided Calcium/Phosphorus ratio. If you go that route you may need to add a phosphorus supplement.

Longer feeding times/chew times are nice, but when these guys get that old/toothless, they just can’t. Many have lived long and happy lives on wet mash, once they get used to it. If you can manage it, more frequent & smaller meals are helpful.
It took my guy awhile, and a little trial and error, to “like” his mash, but nowadays he literally whimpers for it. He loves it, licks the bowl clean, and begs for more. (and he can still eat hay).