New Feed Question - Managing the *Picky* Hard Keeper OTTB

[Amy3996]

I went from owning a senior WB who was practically an air fern to the complete opposite end of the spectrum, and I’m a little out of my depth here.

New pony is a 5yo OTTB gelding. He’s shipping up from Florida to my barn in New York this week. He’s currently being fed 9qts of Seminole Wellness Dynasport per day (1560 kcal/lb, 1.5lbs per qt). That puts him at ~13.5lbs of grain a day. He’s out on grass at night and gets 3-4 flakes of coastal while stalled during the day.

Plan is to switch him to Ultium Competition (1900kcal/lb) since the Dynasport isn’t available in my area. He’ll have 24/7 free choice hay here too - good quality grass round bales in turnout and 20-25lbs of alfalfa mix in a slow feeder while stalled at night. They’re sending a bag of Dynasport with the shipper to transition, so this is the tentative switch I had mapped out:

Grain: AM+PM
12/3+12/4: 3qts Dynasport
12/5+12/6 2qts Dynasport, 1 qt Ultium
12/7+12/8: 2qts Dynasport, 2 qts Ultium
12/9+12/10: 1qt Dynasport, 3 qts Ultium
12/11… 4qts Ultium

I wanted to keep him on just the Dynasport for the first couple of days since he’s going to have to switch hay cold turkey. If my math is correct, this should make a 50lb bag of Dynasport stretch for a 7 day transition period. Does this make sense? How soon after he arrives should I give him a grain meal? Same day? Next morning?

He’s getting a preventative dose of GastroGuard daily for the week prior to shipping and for a week after to hopefully help prevent ulcers. He’s not showing any symptoms currently, but we’re prepared to treat more aggressively for those if need be.

Anything else I should be keeping in mind? Any tips for acclimating a FL horse to western NY winters other than blanketing the poor thing like the Michelin Man?

[EmilyM]

When mine go from warm to sudden cold temps, I offer warm/hot water to drink. They tend to guzzle warm water when it’s cold outside. It’s pretty cute watching them enjoy it.

[ClassyJumper]

I think your plan looks good! The only thing I would say would to also ease him on to the alfalfa as well. Can you get your hands on some squares of grass hay to feed for a few weeks in the stall and slowly add in the alfalfa?

[Red_Barn]

@Amy3996

Anything else I should be keeping in mind? Any tips for acclimating a FL horse to western NY winters other than blanketing the poor thing like the Michelin Man?

My TB came to Maine from SoCal when he was almost-4, and his transition winter was . . . interesting.

On the one hand, his first experience of snow was hilarious and charming in every way. On the other hand, he somehow developed this weird habit of pawing through snow to eat sand, which resulted in three minor colics in a two months. Yeesh. He did get over this, thank God, but it was pretty damn crazy at the time.

And yeah - I’d be ready will a variety of blankets. My guy never has grown a Maine-level winter coat, and stays perfectly sleek all winter. He needs more blanketing than others, though he really seems to enjoy winter now - mostly, I think, because there aren’t any bugs.

Good luck and have fun!

Oh! And I almost forgot: don’t be surprised if your hardkeeper loses a bunch of weight in transit. Mine did - even more than average - and it took a while to get it back on. You’re already planning on free choice hay and a high-fat/moderate sugar grain, which is what I did too, so I can’t think of anything else to recommend food wise.

You sound very well prepared.

[S1969]

I think your plan looks good. You might find he’s not really a hard keeper once he’s on good round bales. Grass in general might be great or not so much…so you might find he actually gets more forage with your setup than he did in FL. And, many horses don’t love the heat. It will take some time to acclimate, but he may do better in NY weather.

But yes - blankets…lots of options for this winter as he won’t have a good winter coat and it will be new for him. You will probably just have to pay attention to him and some trial and error.

[Amy3996]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! Pic of aforementioned new pony for tax.

Note: deleted prior post because I wanted to crop out the people in the background of the photo to protect their privacy.

[Obsidian_Fire]

He’s a good looker!! Enjoy!

[Red_Barn]

Whoa! PRETTY! I’m very jealous of that lovely boy!

Dappled gray is my favorite color ever, yet I somehow ended up with three chestnuts . . .

[Amy3996]

So… he’s been here three weeks and is settling in beautifully. We’re learning that he’s quite picky, though. He’s getting 4lbs of Ultium AM+PM but he’s not finishing it. We pulled all of his supplements to see if he was sifting them out, but he’s still not finishing the plain Ultium.

I’m thinking that a feed switch might be necessary. I’d love to put him on TC Senior Gold but it’s too difficult to get in my area. The regular Senior is pretty similar to the Dynasport he was getting in FL, so I don’t think it’s calorically dense enough to keep weight on him. He’s maintaining on the Ultium and as much hay as he can eat.

I’m looking at the Triple Crown Complete - thinking he might prefer a textured feed like the Dynasport. It’s higher in calories than the Senior, slightly higher NSC than the Ultium. It’s readily available in my area.

Any reason why I shouldn’t give it a try and see if he eats it better? Other feeds I should look into?

[ClassyJumper]

TC complete is a good option but if it is easier to stick with Purina, I really like Strategy Healthy Edge if you have access to it. NSC is 16.5 I believe and it has a pelleted/textured consistency that mixes well with supplements and is super palatable.

[suzyq]

TC complete is my picky tb’s fav food. He never goes off it. I would definitely try it!

[Texarkana]

If you haven’t done so, you may want to consider doing the more aggressive ulcer treatment you mentioned earlier. Also check for obvious health issues, namely teeth. But I’m not implying you haven’t done those things, just repeating for the sake of COTH CYA!

Otherwise, there is no reason not to try something else. The only downside is buying different feeds and possibly learning he doesn’t like them any more than the current option. .

[Amy3996]

@Texarkana Thanks! His teeth were just done, no issues there. He’s not showing any other signs of ulcers, so that’s why I’m wondering if it’s a palatability issue. He’s holding weight, happily eating a massive amount of hay. He’s not girthy or reactive while tacking or grooming, and he’s going exceptionally well under saddle. I certainly won’t rule it out, and I’ll check in with my vet, though.

[Wyndwolfe]

I have found that my picky TB’s all prefer textured feed. Both Tribute and Seminole make textured feeds that are good if you cannot get TC.

[endlessclimb]

My picky TB would not finish Ultium either. Went to TC, and they were cleaning up.

I’d go ahead and try something new.

[candyappy]

If he is eating a lot of hay or it is better quality than what he is used to he may not want to consume 8 pounds of feed . If he is doing well on the Ultium maybe try dropping the amount slightly and see if he finishes it before switching to something else?