Nutrena Empower Boost

[Kiwayu]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;6883571]
Have you had the vet check to see if there are jaw issues?[/QUOTE]

Vet did a complete exam in January with blood work. Denists (who’s a vet specialist) looked at his mouth in December.

[Kiwayu]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;6883571]
Have you had the vet check to see if there are jaw issues?[/QUOTE]

Vet did a complete exam in January with blood work. Denists (who’s a vet specialist) looked at his mouth in December.

[Wordplay1832]

Have you tried beet pulp? I’ve seen several skinny horses do really well on a combo of a hearty helping of soaked beet pulp and empower (with Nutrena SafeChoice usually). I have found you don’t need to feed a ton of the safe choice or empower, just a normal ration if you add the beet pulp. Some horses love it.
My mare isn’t old, but as a picky thoroughbred that had to move twice last fall/winter due to me getting a job and moving had a bit of trouble keeping weight on last year, even with free choice quality hay. The beet pulp/safechoice/empower combo (plus her smartpak with SmartGut and smartshine) helped her keep a decent weight with only the one feeding a day that I’m able to give her since she is pasture boarded.
She doesn’t usually get beet pulp in the summer because she keeps weight beautifully on grass. But in the winter when they are back on hay I put her back on the beet pulp and empower, she loves it and licks her bowl clean most days, and I am able to feed a lower amount of safe choice.

[mg]

I tried Empower Boost for my hard keeper and it was okay, but not great. It was too expensive to keep feeding for the mediocre results. Beet pulp was also a waste of time. It was annoying to make and my horse stopped touching it after a month or two. Hay stretcher pellets have made the biggest difference in keeping weight on. I feed a combination of TC Complete and Blue Seal Hay Stretcher, soaked as a mash, and it keeps my hard keeper at a great weight.

[TBPONY]

[QUOTE=Kiwayu;6883394]
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. :)[/QUOTE]

Haha yes, sleep is definitely over-rated. I recently switched my gal from 2 meals a day to 3. If she ends up needing 4 meals in a few years I may have to move up your way!

[Kiwayu]

[QUOTE=TBPONY;6884877]
Haha yes, sleep is definitely over-rated. I recently switched my gal from 2 meals a day to 3. If she ends up needing 4 meals in a few years I may have to move up your way! :)[/QUOTE]

Come on up! I have 2 stalls left that i wasnt planning on filling but should you need it, you can have one.

[Sue_CJ]

I am using Empower for my horse that has EMS. She cannot have food in the spring, summer , fall until winter. I soak Timothy pellet than I add 3 cups of Empower. My vet said it’s great ingredients of vitamins and it supports her immune system as well. She looks wonderful and she for sure is way healthier. As far as my 25 yr old spotted saddle horse he gets the boost for more fat content to help him maintain. I add it to his nutrena senior and beet pulp soaked pellets with orchard grass pellets. He is really looking fabulous too.

[jawa]

A local feed company (Culpepper Feed Company) makes a “Hay Mate Cube” that can be fed to horses as well as other livestock. It is basically a distillers grain that is balanced for Ca and Phosp and a few other additives, but doesn’t have all the bels and whistles of a regular horse feed. My older horse loves the flavor. A bonus is that it soaks really well and can be mixed with hay cubes. Something like a “hay stretcher” may enhance the flavor of the cubes or pellets enough that the horse will eat them.

[HPFarmette]

@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.

Wow I want to board with you. And I have my horses at home!

[NaturallyHappy]

@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.

I, too, have an older horse who is PPID but not IR and behaved very similarly to your horse. We chose the “whatever he will eat approach” as well. He loves Omolene 300. He will eat Smartpak flax, and at late night check, he bet BOSS and Standlee alfalfa pellets. Now he looks great.

[enjoytheride]

I found it much more cost effective to feed the Manna Pro rice bran pellets. I felt that Nutrena Empower Boost and Renew Gold were just fancy bagged rice bran.