My uncle, who lives near Minneapolis, has a 22 year-old Belgian Draft gelding and a 24 year-old Quarter Horse mare. They live rough on 7 acres of pasture. He only hays them during the winter and even then they usually try to forage for natural grass before they go for the hay. I believe he might use a blanket for the mare, but not for the gelding. He told me recently about how he noticed some weight loss after this past winter, especially on the Belgian. He said that he decided to see if getting their teeth flushed would help. He asked me for advice and I suggested that he use Speedi-beet or Fibre-beet, since that is what we started to use a few winters ago on our older horses to great result at the farm that I work at. But these horses are working horses, unlike his backyard pets.
I was wondering if anyone would have suggestions of feeds and/or anything else that would help them keep their weights during winter and possibly have better nutrition year-round. He lives outside of Minneapolis, if anyone knows what would be available to him nearby. I want to keep these two great horses in great condition for as long as he and I can since they are the horse that got me into the equine world. Thanks for any possible help!
Have their teeth checked, de-worm both horses, feed a better quality hay and more of it,
Beet pulp is a good choice for older horses, but it is not properly balanced in some vital nutrients when fed alone. www.thehorse.com/articles/33471/beet-pulp-faqs
A Senior Feed, designed for older horses, might be a better choice
My uncle had both horses’ teeth checked and he mentioned de-worming them with a de-wormer his vet suggested that goes a little bit above the usual. He gives them the big round bales and they usually go through those in 2 weeks. He said that they should be the equivalent of 50 bales. I’ll ask him what cut the hay is and I’ll look into senior feeds. Thank you!
A 5 gallon bucket of soaked alfalfa cubes twice daily should help. If he will eat oil, add a 1/2 cup of flax or corn oil. Drafts can be prone to PSSM, so you may want to limit carbohydrates when you are adding feed.
These threads almost always have the same answers - they need more calories.
Just because they are on 7 acres doesn’t mean they are eating good forage and/or 7 acres of forage. If their pastures aren’t mowed regularly, it’s likely they have created small grazing areas and the rest is now too tall to eat. My horses have eaten most of their pasture and need hay, even though they still graze. Waiting until winter to give them hay is a good way of making sure they come out of winter being too thin.
Were the teeth floated or just checked? It would be an odd horse that didn’t need them floated at least every other year; if not more regularly. Deworming should be done regularly with a schedule that targets their needs/risks.
If these were my horses I’d probably start giving them good quality hay now, probably not round bales yet if your fall weather is cool and rainy. It’s also easier to measure what they are eating.
I’d be checking their pasture to see where/what they are eating and determine whether they are actually getting anything from the pasture or not. Then decide whether to add more (beet pulp, etc.) I would prefer to give actual hay v. hay cubes/pellets or something else unless they have eaten as much as they can.
What was the deworming product?
that is what we had to go to after the aged pony (40 plus) and the 27 yr old Morgan showed signs of weigh loss coming out of the winter months last year… it was six months before we got them back to where they were. Both are in nice shape going into this winter.
Also did their teeth.
He said that they should be the equivalent of 50 bales.
unless your uncle has a toy square baler there is no way … back in the 1970 there was a small baler that could produce 30/35 pound bails but even at that 50 would equal 1800 pounds which I I kind of question for a round bale (at least around here there aren’t any that weigh any whee close to that, and especially not 2,500 pounds)
1 round bale lasting 2 weeks doesn’t mean there’s enough forage being eaten. I can see 1 round lasting that long, as my 1000lb-ish rounds can last 1 week for 4 horses ranging from 1200/1300 to 1400lb each. But that’s in the beginning and end weeks of feeding hay, when there’s a bit more grass that’s a bit more tasty. The majority of our Winters, which is not nearly what’s up there, those bales last more like 5 days.
If they are 2000lb rounds that would be a different story, IF that hay is actually getting eaten, and not made inedible by walking/peeing/pooping on it, AND, if that draft can actually chew it well enough.
So either there’s not enough hay, it’s not quality enough hay, or the horse isn’t able to chew it well enough.
It’s also possible last year’s hay was not good enough quality for that horse. However, it does point to him starting to need some extra help.
Keep Cushing’s in the back of your head. Sometimes the first sign is having trouble keeping weight on.
I don’t know what brands he has access to, but Triple Crown is available most places. The Sr feed would be an excellent starting point, aiming to work up to 5-6lb. That’s still under-feeding a bit, I suspect, unless he’s a small draft, but it’s more than he has now, both in terms of calories and nutrition.
“he mentioned de-worming them with a de-wormer his vet suggested that goes a little bit above the usual” - what does this mean, exactly? Are they wormed at least twice a year, with some combination of ivermectin, moxidectin, and praziquantel ie Equimax, Quest Plus?
Being your in southern minnesota there’s no way those rounds are any good sitting out for 2 weeks. It’s been hot/humid rainy now for last week or so. I feed rounds had 1 out and it went moldy here because of weather. That was after it was sitting out for over a week. So i’d say the hay probably is less than great and horses are probably not eating much and wasting more then they eat. If there left with no choice but to eat crappy hay they will but not ideal.
TC senior is good feed i feed it and it has really helped my skinny horses. One who is 33 years plus has gained close to 100 pounds now,on TCS and alfalfa hay plus pasture.I’m sure you have access to TC feeds being in southern mn.
And for pasture it needs mowing quite regular to keep it so horses eat it. 7 acres isn’t much for 2 horses so i’d say pasture is probably not enough, and probably eaten down pretty short by now.
He said he only hays them during the winter
And for pasture it needs mowing quite regular to keep it so horses eat it. 7 acres isn’t much for 2 horses so i’d say pasture is probably not enough, and probably eaten down pretty short by now.
Depending on the density of the grass, it’s quite a lot for 2 horses. The general rule of thumb is 2 acres of good pasture per horse if you want that to be their sole source of forage.
But that does mean “good pasture”, and if even 7 acres for 2 horses is never or rarely mowed, not dragged or otherwise cleared of manure, not reseeded regularly, there may be more weeds and unpalatable grass, than grass they are willing to eat.
Yes, 7 acres of tended pasture would be so much for 2 horses that they should be fat. But if it’s not mowed, dragged, etc; it could actually be <1 acre which would explain why they are losing weight all fall and coming out of winter “too thin.”
Missed the only hay during winter. From first post i doubt any maintenance is being done on pasture. Just because one mows. Picks up manure and re seeds doesn’t mean horses thrive on pasture during summer. If there fighting flies all day they aren’t eating. Even if they eat all night they’ll burn off any calories they ate that night fighting flies all day…i know from experience on this.
There living rough on pasture ,good hint nothing is being done pasture wise.
I agree with most of the posters who said “more” and “better”. But, just in case, Equishure worked wonders on my 30 year old who was not eating what he was given (which was good quality alfalfa and TC Sr). Mine is a WB, so distantly related to your uncle’s Belgian–maybe the big boys need a little help in taking advantage of what they’re given?
Any pasture in MN ( even with rain and warm weather now) has gone well past it’s prime. Alfalfa is abundant and fairly economical there, so maybe your uncle will be able to find that? Do they have shelter? If he has a covered feeder for his bales that will make them last longer , keep them more appetizing as it keeps the rain, snow, ice off.
Does he replace a bale often enough? So many will expect them to " clean it up" before putting a new one out, and in a MN winter they will lose weight quickly without good forage available.
I have 2 horses , 1 Jersey/ Angus cow and 21 Boer goats sharing 5 acres of good pasture ( 12 hours on/ 12 hours off). It is still going strong. I feed hay in the overnight hours to all of them when they are dry lotted.
7 acres for 2 horses is very doable.
When he dewormed them any chance he under dosed them? A lot of people still deworm with one wormer per horse despite the horses weight. Pretty good chance a Belgian needs more than just one dewormer.
Wow. that’s a lot of information! Thank you all for the critiques and suggestions. I live in New Hampshire and work at a stable that puts horses in stalls or small pens with shelters and every horse gets the proper hay, grain, and extra supplements needed. I find my uncle’s land to be wanting, but its not mine to fix. I’ll make a list of everything you all said and then give it to my uncle. Its up to him what he does with it. Thank you again!
I absolutely love Envision by Progressive nutrition. It can be given in bulk (along with another fortified feed) and it is a fat supplement. It’s a pelleted feed, which makes it simple to feed. It successfully put 50 lbs on my chronically ill senior, so it gets an A+ from me
Another supplement I found that works well is cool calories. That can be found at tractor supply, and (correct me if I’m wrong) is 99% fat
