How to get my senior to gain weight?

[cutter99]

Just going to throw this out there- since he is boarded, are you 100% sure he is actually getting those amounts?

I am a veteran on the feed industry- have done many, many farm calls over a 15 year career in the industry. I worked with a woman who could not get her horse to gain weight, even with being on 10 lbs. of Triple Crown Senior.

She had the vet out, ran tests, teeth checked, dewormed, you name it. Vet cannot figure out why this horse isn’t gaining.

She sells the horse, and he immediately starts gaining weight. It was then confirmed by a farm employee and another boarder that the horse was never fed the amounts recommended as the farm owners did not want to spend the money on feed.

[WildGooseChase]

This is 100% the reason I self care board. So much more control.

[S1969]

@Shadowmercy37

He has unlimited time to eat he gets fed out in the field

Alone? No one else is eating his food?

[lenapesadie]

@Shadowmercy37

He has unlimited time to eat he gets fed out in the field

If he’s alone in said field, I’d think more soaked alfalfa cubes is the way to go as a first step. It won’t matter with hay cubes if they get a bunch at one time. It might be nice to put them in a separate feeder than his TCS though.

Again, if he is alone in said field.

[lenapesadie]

@pony_baloney

Any pre/probiotics?

Included in the OP’s grain, Triple Crown Senior, but possibly more or maybe different “strains” might be helpful? I’m not sure if one can OD a horse on pre/pro biotics? Might be a good question for @JB? Interestingly, I was looking at the fine print on some probiotics package and noted it said “for best results store below 86 degrees F”, made me curious if the probiotics in the Triple Crown Senior would be negatively impacted by the heat in my climate which regularly exceeds 86 degrees.

[hoopoe]

Agree with the probiotics, they can increase digestive efficiency. Blood work baseline. And totally agree that there might be an issue with your boarding situation. Check the scale , if they use one.

Sadly condition loss like this can be a sign of internal issues, like cancer. Seniors require more frequent routine blood panel to track changes

[trubandloki]

I am not sure why (do not have any human kids at all), but every time I see this thread title I think to myself - Just wait until next year and the freshman 15 weight gain happens, then they will be fine.

Back to the regularly scheduled topic.

[SMF11]

I have a very old horse here struggling with weight gain too. In his case he had ulcers last year, due, we think, to years of daily equioxx, so consider whether you could stop the equioxx for awhile.

Side note, I haven’t found feeding a lunch meal helpful. If I do, he eats less at dinnertime – basically he eats the same amount of food, whether it’s 2 or 3 meals, and 3 meals is tough for me, so 2 meals it is.

My vet has this horse on Ultium Gastric care, plus Outlast for his ulcers, as well as a powder from purina called Well Gel. You have to get it through a vet. It’s pricey, $250/tub, not sure how long a tub lasts – a month? – since I’ve only been feeding it a couple of weeks. Oh, and 2 cups of Empower per meal.

I can’t see weight gain yet, but this horse is eating better; in the past he ate about half the food offered to him. I board retired horses, and this horse’s owner doesn’t want to pay for GastroGuard, so this is the best we can do for him.

I would be guided by your vet, who I hope will know more both about your horse as well as equine nutrition, than most people online. Not that it’s a bad thing to get ideas etc.

[JB]

@lenapesadie

I’m not sure if one can OD a horse on pre/pro biotics?

You definitely can! More is not necessarily better. An overload of lactobacillus can be just as harmful as a deficit.

I wouldn’t be tossing more biotics at this horse. TC Sr already has a hefty profile, especially at 10lb.

@Shadowmercy37

He has unlimited time to eat he gets fed out in the field

Awesome! Then you can definitely do more alf cubes. The trick then will be how long does it take him to eat a given portion, in the Summer heat. Winter, not a problem (unless the issue then is how quickly it will freeze).

There are some chopped forage options if he can chew those well enough, where heat and cold wouldn’t matter.

There are also some “crumbly” hay cubes, brand is escaping me atm. But there are definitely some that are soft enough that if there are any chewing teeth at all, regardless of the quality of the grinding surface, could easily be used - he just has to smash them, he doesn’t have to chew all that well. I’ll come back here if I can remember what brand(s) that is

[JB]

@SMF11

I would be guided by your vet, who I hope will know more both about your horse as well as equine nutrition, than most people online.

You’d be shocked how little a too-large % of vets know about nutrition They freak out about 30% protein in ration balancers. Someone in a group I’m in has their vet telling them to go higher fat lower carb than the feed their on (with blood work that is pointing to symptoms, not an actual diagnosis) who suggested a feed that is entirely the reverse - lower fat higher carb. A vet first has to prove to me s/he’s done real CE on this, before I would start trusting their thoughts on the topic.

[JB]

I had to check with my “hive”, and apparently the Triple Crown Timothy Balance cubes are smaller and softer, so you could try a bag of that and see what it’s really like in relation to your horse.

[JB]

Apparently Standlee chopped forage is quite nice, so if that’s available, maybe try a bag of that.

Also, Chaffhaye could be a great option for cooler weather. You’d need to use a bag within 3-4 day (not hard for what you need), and the first bag might have some waste as the horse slowly gets used to it (fermented alfalfa), but it is AMAZING for helping older horses with dental issues keep weight on

[Shadowmercy37]

This is all soo helpful thank you so much. I’ll look into it and see what I can find! Usually tractor supply is the only convenient place to get my horses feed from so I’ll see what they carry

[JB]

My TSC pretty much keeps the Timothy Balance cubes in stock, so hopefully yours does too. They have quite a few brands/types of hay pellets. The 1 bag of Dumor alfalfa pellets I got take FOREVER to soak, the longer pieces look like green crayons they are pressed so hard. But I hear their hay blend pellets (berumda blend?) are actually pretty nice, softer, so that’s another option to potentially try (I have no personal experience)

[lenapesadie]

@JB

I wouldn’t be tossing more biotics at this horse. TC Sr already has a hefty profile, especially at 10lb.

Do you think the biotics in TCS are harmed when stored in higher temperatures? Curious as my own senior horse has chronic loose manure that clears up if I add Doc Pro Biotics to his TCS. He also eats 10lbs a day of TCS (down from 12 which was down from 15). I discontinued the Doc Pro Biotics and the loose manure is back.

Here is a picture of the bag. At the bottom it advises not to store above 86F. This got me to wondering if the biotics in TCS might also be negatively impacted by high temps.

[lenapesadie]

My Tractor Supply keeps the Standlee chopped forage so hope yours will have some options for you

[CowgirlCoffee]

Do you have access to Triple Crown Senior Gold? If so, I would make the switch. My old gelding did well on the original senior, but has absolutely bloomed on the Gold. It has slightly more calories per pound and has gastric buffering included (along with electrolytes).

[Atlas_Shrugged]

I swear by Purina Well Gel powder - used as a top dress it turns older horses into Superman - It’s truly amazing - Expensive, but lasts awhile as a top dress - great for the belly too

[Wyndwolfe]

Another suggestion that I did not see mentioned here is Rice Bran. There are several brands of stabilized rice bran available, and I have used it for years to keep weight on TB’s and my 31 y.o. appendix QH.

[SMF11]

I agree, I use Empower Boost (rice bran) which generally reliably puts weight on the old horses living here. But I have 2 that did not gain after adding the Empower. Given that they are both 30, and winter’s coming, we stepped it up a notch with the Well Gel,. I would start with rice bran but if that doesn’t work, consult with your vet about Well Gel.