Nutrena Empower Boost

[Kiwayu]

Anyone ever try it? I have a 30+ year old boarder I’m desperately trying to put weight on and the nutritionist recommended it. Teeth were checked, blood was pulled, treated for ulcers and nothing seems to lead us to an answer or explain why this horse runs to his food like he’s starving but only eat for 5-10 minutes and then walks from it.

Looking for something VERY high calorie/fat. He eats unlimited grass hay and 8 pounds of Triple Crown Senior & beat pulp. I can’t get him to eat anymore otherwise I’d load him up on the senior. He hates alfalfa cubes, alfalfa pellets and chopped hay.

He’s driving me CRAZY!!!

[whbar158]

My friend has good success with it, she feeds TC complete but once they max out her amount of that, she suggests to the owners they supplement with Empower Boost (because it is carried at a local store, she gets the TC trucked in) and it really has helped many horses who have come in under weight. Good way to get extra calories in once nutrition is being met!

[trubandloki]

I have used it as a fat source. It is not a bad feed. Try it and see what the horse thinks.

Could this old horse have arthritic changes in his jaw that hurt when he chews grain products? Have you tried making his grain into a slurry?

[Laurierace]

It is a good product but is mainly fat. I think a ration balancer with the boost would give him the nutrition he needs with the added fat of the boost in a small amount of feed. Anything else you could get him to eat would be gravy.

[S1969]

Fat and starch; it has an NSC of 26%. The only time I used it (per vet’s instructions) was to put weight on a new skinny pony who turned out to have Cushings, so I think it contributed to his subsequent metabolic crash.

So, be careful if you have concerns of Cushings or IR. I would try adding oil to his TC Senior instead.

[JB]

8lb of TC Sr for a horse like that isn’t much - you have plenty of wiggle room. Can you get him to 10lb/day?

I’d choose a fat supplement like this before going to oil. The NSC IS a bit higher, but you’re looking at only a couple of pounds. You can also look at something like rice bran, 1-2lb, comparing costs to see which looks better offhand.

[Kiwayu]

The horse ate a half pound of boost yesterday, wouldn’t touch it today. I’ve tried everything…soaked food, oil, more senior, etc. You name it, I’ve tried it! I’m tired of wasting food as he won’t eat more than about 1 pound of food at a given time. I feed him 4x a day (4am, 10:30am, 3:30pm and 8pm) but can’t do more frequently. I need a life too and refuse to be a slave to a horse that isn’t even mine. At this point, NSC is the last thing on my mind as I just want the horse to eat. He’s the same with hay…eats for maybe 10 mins and walks away. He seems fine in every other aspect. He’s so epfull of energy that you can never catch this guy and will run and buck until you give up. He’s out 24/7 but definitely losing weight. Not horribly skinny but not plump. :sigh:

[Laurierace]

Have you treated for ulcers? My old guy gets a little finicky and slow to eat and two days of pop rocks gets him back in the feed tub.

[suzyq]

I have an OTTB who doesn’t like TC Senior. He never would finish it. He would eat TC complete though. I fed him that with a little water and a cup of oil and he stuck his nose in and never stopped till he was done.

Right now he’s at a boarding barn and I am using a rice bran supplement called ADM healthy glo nuggets instead of oil. My guy scarfs it up. It smells great.

[Kiwayu]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;6881509]
Have you treated for ulcers? My old guy gets a little finicky and slow to eat and two days of pop rocks gets him back in the feed tub.[/QUOTE]

Yeah we treated a few times for 2-3 months of a full tube of Ulcergard. Didn’t make a difference.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Kiwayu;6881324]
I’ve tried everything…soaked food, oil, more senior, etc. You name it, I’ve tried it! I’m tired of wasting food as he won’t eat more than about 1 pound of food at a given time. I feed him 4x a day (4am, 10:30am, 3:30pm and 8pm) but can’t do more frequently. I need a life too and refuse to be a slave to a horse that isn’t even mine. [/QUOTE]

In my opinion - it’s time for a heart to heart with the owner. You are already going above and beyond for this horse. If the owner wants to pursue additional options, then of course you will support her/him. But at this point, it might be time to admit that this elderly horse is showing the signs of nothing but old age - many animals do decline at the end - and 30 is pretty old. Sure, some horses live longer, but many don’t make it to 30.

As the barn owner/manager, you need to be sure you have a plan - so that you are neither nursing an elderly animal for several hours a day, nor are made to watch it decline into an unacceptable state. Sounds like a group meeting with the vet for an end of life plan would be a good thing to do now.

[fordtraktor]

We had one 30+ mare who lost her teeth and didn’t care for senior feed, hay pellets, or anything else “good for her.” Our vet came up with the “dump anything with calories in her that she will eat” plan – which kept the horse alive and looking good for 3 more years. She was eating huge amounts of a sweet feed – not a healthy one but the only one she had interest in. Working with the owner and vet, we figured that the rules can slide a little with these oldsters because the alternative (going downhill) is not acceptable. If she’d foundered she’d have been put down – but without the sweet feed she would have been put down anyway so it was definitely a net gain for her. She looked good until her sudden death well into her thirties.

One thing that worked well – we fed her in a round pen twice a day and left her there for a couple of hours at a time to finish her huge portion, so she didn’t feel rushed by pasturemates or us. It didn’t take several hours a day to care for her – just a quick dash out to turn her loose. To me, this was better than feeding 4 times a day and the horse did better with it too.

As for Boost – I’ve used it before but despite its yummy smell, the horse (a different one) did not find it palatable.

Finally, do have her teeth checked – with the mare I described above, she did much worse when she was losing one (which can take a while), but after it was gone she’d perk back up again. Maybe your old guy is losing something and eating hurts right now.

[S1969]

I just want to reply that I don’t disagree that there could be more good years in this old guy - but at some point the extra effort should not fall upon a barn manager/owner, unless they are a retirement facility and that is a normal part of their job. I think it’s great that the OP is trying to find solutions, but that there is a limit to the care/effort that the BM/BO should have to make. They have a big enough job already.

[Kiwayu]

Thanks for the replies. It’s definitely not his time as he is full of life and still looks good, but not that chunky QH look anymore. I feed all the horses 4x a day and care for them like my own, so that doesn’t bother me. But I can’t do anymore feedings as I work full time. The boarders I have for some reason don’t see their horses. Either they trust me completely, don’t have the time or don’t care. I will continue to try different things and hope he eats enough.

[TBPONY]

I switched from regular rice bran to the Empower Boost about 2 months ago. It smells delicious and has made a difference in helping to keep weight on my mare, I feed her 1 Cup twice daily.

OP, when do you have time to sleep with all those feedings?! Wow!

[Kiwayu]

[QUOTE=TBPONY;6883338]
I switched from regular rice bran to the Empower Boost about 2 months ago. It smells delicious and has made a difference in helping to keep weight on my mare, I feed her 1 Cup twice daily.

OP, when do you have time to sleep with all those feedings?! Wow![/QUOTE]

Sleep?!?!? What’s that???

I sleep from about 9pm-3:15am. I’m a full time teacher so I’m exhausted come Friday. I have a 27 year old and like him eating small frequent meals so I feed all the horses often.

[pheasantknoll]

Cowboy way: equal parts alfalfa pellets, cracked corn, and wheat bran in a mash. Don’t start with it too soupy or he won’t eat it.

[morganpony86]

I’ve used Empower Boost on my young TB for years, only recently weaning him off of it as he’s now 6 and appears to be out of the fast growing stage. Loved it; it kept weight on him with minimal grain requirements, allowing his feed to be a majority of forage. I fed him ~1-1.25lbs 2X a day (17h+, about 1400lbs).

[LauraKY]

I’ve used it, back when I was feeding Safe Choice. I switched to TC Senior, feed less overall with no Empower and everyone looked great.

[trubandloki]

Have you had the vet check to see if there are jaw issues?