Maintaining the Super Senior

[TheAnxiousAmmy]

Hey all!

Reaching out regarding the care of my 27-year-old super senior. I’ve had my retired junior jumper for 18 years now, which is more than half of my life He still gets lightly hacked (walk/trot/canter) 6 days a week and looks pretty darn fantastic. Admittedly, I have always boarded at a full-service show barn and am not very involved when it comes to supplements, grain, hay etc. Clearly he is very well cared for by the barn as he is doing so well.

I have always been of the mindset “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but I also want to do my due diligence with him. I am a very science-minded individual (medical student here), but I know absolutely nothing about horse nutrition aside from the basics. He is currently getting coastal hay 2x a day and alfalfa at lunch. He gets Wendland’s One N’ Only AM and PM (no idea why he was switched to this. I went away to college, and my mom did it at some point). He is turned out for 12 hours (no grass), and I try to graze him 20 min at least 3x/week. This is the first year I am not going to body clip him as he always loses some weight in the winter, and I want to avoid that. He’s never been a difficult keeper. His big issue currently is diarrhea. Right now, we’ve had a 6-week bout of it. He gets the runs when he doesn’t get turned out (bad weather) or if he doesn’t get ridden daily but this has dragged on. Vet is currently treating this extra long episode with metronidazole and wants me to add a probiotic. We’ll see if it helps. Vet has always been impressed with his teeth despite his age and think that is partially why he looks so good.

Anyway, I am nervous about the diarrhea + colder temps and weight loss. I also enjoy finding things to be anxious about—even if everything is (mostly) fine. Is there anything (supplements, digestive aid, xanax for his rider) that you would recommend both specific to his issues and for senior horses in general? This guy is my life, and I am so very grateful he has done so well for so long.

[SMF11]

I board retired horses, and most here are over 27. Horses can thrive in many scenarios, but IMHO the absolute best arrangement is 24/7 turnout with compatible friends and a fair amount of hands on care. Meaning, soaked food twice a day, blanketing, medications, unlimited hay etc. If your horse drops weight in winter, belanket when it’s 30 or below, up the calories. The ones that have lost weight here over winter have been because they can’t eat hay well (and yes, they had their teeth done in the fall). In that case, add soaked hay cubes. Anyway, much of this may not apply to you; there are so many different aspects that go into managing a particular horse.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Hmm. I’m of the opinion to have further diagnostics done.
You say he gets the runs when not turned out or not ridden; has something recently changed in his keeping that would contribute to this current long bout of diarrhea? Is he an anxious-in-the-stall sort?
What kind of diarrhea are we talking about - cow patty splatters or just loose?
Possibly Bio-Sponge might help. There is no harm in adding a probiotic.
Senior horses in general, even if they have their teeth and are eating hay well, are probably not digesting as well as they should. I’d be giving senior feed - specifically senior feed. My personal preference is Triple Crown but there are others.

[Jump314]

How long has he been on that grain? It looks very low quality since the first five ingredients are “products” of some sort. Also, I’m guessing you are in Texas based on the grain and the fact that he gets coastal hay. Coastal is a very common hay in Texas but a lot of people worry about coastal since it causes impaction colic more often than other hays. If he has been getting it for a long time though, it’s probably ok for him.

Regarding senior horses in general, I agree with everything @SMF11 said: they needs lot of hands-on care and close monitoring. It sounds like he is getting great care though, what a lucky guy!

[RhythmNCruise]

@TheAnxiousAmmy

He gets Wendland’s One N’ Only AM and PM (no idea why he was switched to this. I went away to college, and my mom did it at some point).

What was he switched from? Or was it just added to his diet?
When did this take place? Does it coincide with the diarrhea starting?
What is the purpose of the One & Only in his diet? (I read about the product; just wondering why it was chosen.)

[TheAnxiousAmmy]

@RhythmNCruise: He was switched to this from Strategy/Senior mix about a decade ago. Again… No idea. I was away at school. My mom and a former trainer there did it. No correlation with that and the diarrhea. I’m now afraid to make any drastic changes since he is doing so incredibly well.

@Jump314: About a decade for the grain. And regarding the hay, it’s been for the majority of his life.

@Obsidian_Fire: Aside from the weather being trash lately, which kept him from getting his turn out daily a few times, nothing really changed. Oddly enough, he had some liquid in the cross ties today, then soft poop in the ring (most solid than cow patty), and then a second completely solid poop once he was ridden. He was tested/treated for worms a few years ago last time he had chronic diarrhea. The regular dewormer wasn’t cutting it. My vet has been seeing this horse for almost 20 years, so I do trust his judgment, but I definitely will have him do further work-up in 2 weeks when he returns if we are not seeing any improvement.

@SMF11: Yes! I wish 24/7 turnout was a possibility. Right now the location, and facility, is a key component for me. It is VERY close to me, and he has lived there almost his entire life. The guys who care for him have known him all that time. It is very familiar and safe. I like being so close to him. I am able to switch different weight blankets in and out easily based on the temperatures since he is so close. I love the people there, the trainer, the grooms. I know one day I will actually have to move him. If he stays as sound, and healthy, as he is now, I plan on fully retiring him when I start my residency training in 2024. He just is in such good condition—I can’t bring myself to stop riding him. He’s genuinely happy… So happy in the crossties when being tacked up, happy in the ring. If he showed me otherwise, I would retire him in a heartbeat, but I really feel he benefits immensely from his current routine. He never drops a lot of weight—I actually feel he didn’t lose any last winter. The winter before was brutally cold, and he lost a little. Never anything dramatic. He isn’t a difficult keeper.

Thank you, all, for your replies thus far. A lot of this is me being a paranoid, worrywart just wanting to do right for my best friend I cannot imagine my life without this horse.

[Mango20]

As my current 28 year old got older, she definitely got cold more easily. Despite being unclipped, if it’s wet and cold, she could need a blanket at 50º or I’ll find her shivering. Otherwise, she’s fine until it’s below freezing. Until the past couple of years, she stayed naked until the weather got VERY cold, and even then she’d only be blanketed for a couple of days at a time.

A previous old pony I had benefitted from having bloodwork done. He was just not quite the same, and I had the vet out to find out if it was just normal aging or something else. He had an elevated white blood cell count, but we couldn’t tell why. Some antibiotics, and a switch to senior feed really helped him bounce back to his old self. Both were done at the same time, so I don’t know how much each contributed to the outcome.

[Jump314]

@TheAnxiousAmmy

He was tested/treated for worms a few years ago last time he had chronic diarrhea. The regular dewormer wasn’t cutting it.

You should definitely have fecal egg counts run more frequently than every few years. My vet recommends twice per year for my low shedders then I deworm with Quest Plus in the spring and with Equimax in the fall. You should deworm based on the results of the fecal tests and not just use a “regular dewormer.”

[TheAnxiousAmmy]

@Jump314 Appreciate the insight. I feel like I need to express again that I am at a full service show barn. I am a lot more involved in my horse’s care than most but in the Hunter/Jumper horse show world, most of the clients are not in charge of food, hay, dewormer type etc. The barn schedules vet appointments/farrier appointments etc. I can ask my vet about how often they run fecal egg counts but like I said, the vet has known this horse almost his entire life and is aware of his prior history. I do my best to be there when the vet comes out, but that is not always feasible for me.

@Mango20 yes! The barn typically puts sheets on when the temperature is in the 50’s and blankets in the 40’s. The majority of our horses are body clipped as they show year round, but I have different weight blankets for different temperatures as my horse goes out all night. I account for windchill etc for him.

[atr]

Sounds like on the whole he is doing great! Change as little as possible…

[hut-ho78]

My old mare developed liquid projectile diarrhea after an impaction colic cleared at a vet hospital. The young vet tried everything to stop it including feeding her the same kind of hay that she could no longer eat and that gave her the impaction colic in the first place. I decided to bring her home to the boarding barn and see if it would settle down on its own after spending a huge amount of money. The owner of the vet clinic walked us out and helped me load her and said to try Metamucil and the probiotic Florastor saccharomyces boulardii from the drug store. My mare turned up her nose at the Metamucil but did like sandclear which also has psyllium. It worked. After that, she tended to sometimes get diarrhea sometimes. I just treated it with the same stuff.

She weighed 1000lbs and it was 5 pills of the Florastor saccharomyces boulardii 2Xday and a normal dose of sandclear. I’d mix the powder in with a little bit of warm water and the vet hollowed out a big syringe so I could give it to her as a paste. She actually liked it.

Check with your vet on dosage.

Good luck.

[Weezer]

This is very useful information! I have a 28 year old gelding who had watery poops for a few months and no other indication of problems. It eventually ended, but I don’t know why. From what I’ve read, senior horses tend to just get watery poop sometimes. I will get the stuff you mentioned above if it happens again. Thanks!

[Jump314]

I understand not wanting to upset the dynamics in a full service barn but if his last bout of chronic diarrhea was caused by worms, that seems like a logical first thing to check this time.

[TheAnxiousAmmy]

@Jump314: Certainly makes sense to me. Like I said, I was not at the appointment this time to ask the vet on Thursday evening why he didn’t check for worms. When he put him on the metronidazole, I was definitely skeptical and was planning on asking when he comes back out in a few weeks—especially if the horse did not respond to the meds. However, like I mentioned, this particular vet treated him previously, so I would imagine he has a reason. I will say that after 3 days on Metronidazole, my horse has zero signs of diarrhea. Like completely solid, perfect poop. So, perhaps the vet was onto something with the Metronidazole. He has known this horse for close to 20 years… I do still plan on asking when I see him next.

@hut-ho78: thank you for the insight! I love Florastor for humans! Never thought that would be utilized in horses… same with metamucil. I will definitely keep that in mind.

[hut-ho78]

I had to switch my mare from Metamucil to sandclear as she hated the Metamucil. Both have psyllium. It worked.

[TheAnxiousAmmy]

Update/Any Other Ideas?

So the initial Metronidazole treatment helped his poo problems, but then it returned. I tried BioSponge paste—That worked for a few doses and then seemed to stop working. Might give OptiZyme a try and have ordered Assure Guard Gold to give as a try as well. The vet had put him on FullBucket Probiotics with no luck there either.

He had his teeth checked/done this week. Everything is all good on that front. All bloodwork is normal. Fecal was negative. He definitely seems to have a mix of fecal water syndrome type symptoms and diarrhea. Poop definitely is loose AND he has random bouts of just straight liquid and no poop.

I’m going to talk to the vet tomorrow about pulling him off his current grain and switching to senior feed. Since all this began, he is very slow to eat his food. AM feeding took him around 4 hours to eventually eat, which wasn’t the case before. sigh I can tell he doesn’t feel his best… And poor guy is having to get a hose down on his back end daily in the winter with all this poo.

[lintesia]

Not sure if this will help your horse but it helped mine who developed very minor diarrhea due to hay changes at the boarding barn he was at. I added a small amount of pellets (Stable Mix) (1/2 scoop) which was fed at the same time as the hay. He would eat the pellets first and I think it provided some sort of buffer for the hay. The diarrhea went away and for the past year I haven’t even had to add the pellets.

What helped my previous horse was adding a cup of Aloe Vera juice to his supplements. I would buy it by the jug at Trader Joe’s. (This horse had also been treated with Metronidazole periodically for bad bouts, but I found that the Aloe Vera juice pretty much kept it at bay.)

[walktrot]

@SMF11

I board retired horses, and most here are over 27. Horses can thrive in many scenarios, but IMHO the absolute best arrangement is 24/7 turnout with compatible friends and a fair amount of hands on care. Meaning, soaked food twice a day, blanketing, medications, unlimited hay etc. If your horse drops weight in winter, belanket when it’s 30 or below, up the calories. The ones that have lost weight here over winter have been because they can’t eat hay well (and yes, they had their teeth done in the fall). In that case, add soaked hay cubes. Anyway, much of this may not apply to you; there are so many different aspects that go into managing a particular horse.

It is your knowledge of the aspects of care and your ability to create a plan for each horse, exactly what I wanted for my 28 y.o. Paint gelding. He was on pasture board for 19 years. I had to move him when the BO was developing a significant health problem. He wasn’t getting proper care. We moved to a terrific barn that didn’t have 24/7 turnout, but he had a nice stall always open to a large runout by the parking lot. He loved to observe. He had turnout during the day. Unfortuantely that farm went on the market and sold quickly. The rookie BO who bought it knows next to nothing. I had to put him down in July. His knee gave up.

There are too few of you around.

[Weezer]

Updating this thread because this week my 28 year old gelding has developed watery poop again for the second winter in a row. It is definitely a seasonal thing. After doing some reading, I ordered the probiotic supplement from Madbarn. Lots of reviews said it cleared up loose stools so I’m hopeful. It also costs only $20 for two months! I’ll let you all know how it goes.

[Pico_Banana]

I’ve said this before on other threads, but what worked for us was Uckele’s powdered psyllium husk fiber. One scoop (included, which is probably about 1/4 cup) with breakfast and dinner (mostly soaked speedi-beet).

Also, I believe Dr. Kellon recommends psyllium as a probiotic of sorts for senior horses in general.

Note, my mare only suffers from FWS when she’s on a hay only diet. It goes away once I get her back on grass during the daylight hours (and then hay for dinner and overnight).