Since he is 20, I second my own suggestion of asking your vet to check his ACTH for Cushings/PPID. It is manageable with the drug Prascend. If you google it, you will see many symptoms he may have that you’ve not recognized. A dropped back-pot belly can be one.
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My 24 year old does great on 20 lbs of Orchard hay a day, 2 pounds Purina senior, 1 pound of Purina Enrich Plus, with assorted supplements. When he dropped some weight this winter, I switched him to Purina senior active and man did he put the weight back on fast.
Good Luck!
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Getting old sucks! I’m sure that everyone has offered great advice but I’m going to give a shout out to my two favorite choices (obviously hay by body weight is a must) Triple Crown Senior Gold and Alfalfa hay. Triple Crown Senior is good if you don’t have access to Gold. Gold offers a great gut support. I don’t know about you but as I age, my gut can use it 
why shouldn’t we be supporting their gut too.
There’s so much debate about Alfalfa but I’ve brought emaciated horses back with it, feed it to my OTTB without his mind exploding, everyone gets it. Amount they receive is based on the horse. Definitely worth adding!
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This itself might have a great impact on his weight and his nutrition.
Also, do the vets in your area do lameness exams?
At age 20, doing barrel racing and pole bending , there are bound to be some aches and pains that can be better addressed. If he has pain anywhere, it can hinder him wanting to travel collected and build the top line because, well, it hurts!!
Two of my horses are age 19 this year and they are mostly retired for my kids (ages 7 and almost 9) to enjoy. They mostly walk and trot on them. I try to ride once or twice a week when I have time (after my own horses) just to make sure they are still feeling good, tuned up, and get some exercise. And let me tell you, I spend the most money on my retirees every year!! Front shoes with pads, Osphos (for navicular), joint injections (when needed - usually front feet and hocks most years), Adequan, Equioxx during the competition season … and I’m sure I am forgetting things.
I guess I know how they used to feel in their younger years, so I do my darndest to keep them as close to that as I am able, so my kiddos can enjoy them for the next 10 years (if they make it that long!).
Now you obviously don’t have to jump into the deep end of the pool, but a quality lameness exam with a good performance vet would be another thing to check off the list at some point, to make sure he is feeling as good as you can get him.
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Think about amino acid supplementation. * Muscle Growth:
Amino acids, especially Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) like leucine, isoleucine, and valine, are important for stimulating muscle protein synthesis and promoting muscle growth.
My guy is a very easy keeper and in trying to keep his weight down, I had been inadvertently cutting back on the nutrients his topline needed. You need a full spectrum
If this has already been mentioned, sorry.
Another suggestion might be to add hydrohay (SmartPak and Tractor Supply carry it - here is SP’s link: https://www.smartpakequine.com/ps/hydration-hay-15115 ). There are some older horses at the barn I’m at that get this at night, along with their regular hay and grain. It’s a bit easier to chew if there may be teeth issues.
Great suggestions by all posters! I agree ~
- get his teeth checked
- check for pain (ulcers, joints, chiropractic issues, shoeing, saddle fit, etc.)
- add calories, omegas & use a scale - I’ve had great luck with Total Equine, Renew Gold Senior along with Forco, rice bran oil or flax oil
- make sure he is warm in the winter & cool in the summer with limited annoying insects
- ride him correctly so he is rounding up
- deworm regularly
- consider bloodwork
Good luck to you & kudos for gathering info in order to help your horse!
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You’ve had really good advice and yes, you coming out here and asking for help is so good. You are the kind of owner every horse wants. Your guy is very lucky.
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That dental exam is so important and we’ll be so curious what they see and find. You need a really good dental vet too. So much damage has been done to horses with power tools that sat on teeth too long or they took them down too far or the wrong angle.
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Slowly switch off that feed. The sugar and starch level is way too high in addition to too low zinc and copper etc. There have been really good suggestions above. Me? For my base, I just feed hay pellets and KIS Trace which is a vitamin mineral supplement. Also add 2 TBL iodized loose salt per day - split between meals.
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I’d also run a course of Vitamin E - is he on pasture for hours every day? I didn’t see that. You just couldn’t go wrong to give him 4,000/day for a month. You’d order from Santa Cruz - Natural Vitamin E in powder.
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Have you done a FEC? (fecal egg count) - would be curious to see that number. My poor topline guy that arrived 3 years ago had his FEC 2100 which is very high/bad. You want under 100 ideally.
What has been your deworming schedule? -
Can you post pictures of his feet? Up very close - fill the screen on your camera. Right down on the ground. From the front, from the side, from the back, and a shot of the sole. Just one foot to start would be OK. It would tell us quite a bit.
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Saddlefit. What are the odds your saddle fits? Unfortunately low and it means so much in them using their body correctly. And yes, riding well matters. And not pulling in their mouth.
When my latest horse arrived he had no topline and I wasn’t about to put a saddle on and add my 150 lbs. I spent a month walking/trot on the lunge and long walks around my property. Active walk, trot just at his natural pace so he would stretch down. Lunging is an art. And a very important skill and part of rehabbing a topline. I also agree with the idea of adding BCAAs (branch chained amino acids) for a month. Again, Santa Cruz has a nice product - pellets.
- Turnout. Is he stalled? We know movement matters so much to overall health. How many hours a day is he turned out?
