That’s a great idea actually. I am going to input that into feed xl to see how much it recommends for the daily. Was your thought to use that to replace the alfalfa pellets completely or in addition to those?
it might come down to taste. It’s around a 40% increase in calories on a per-pound basis, which is great
Yes thats quite a big difference. Thank you for your knowledge! I know this may sound naive but I have always had BEYOND easy keepers. Horses that I have to actually do the opposite with and keep weight off. So this is a whole new world for me.
So far I am struggling to find a balance (using FeedXL) to come up with an accurate nutrient sufficent breakdown between the products. I will keep at it. Phew!
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My barn has an older horse who has improved a lot on the UnBeetable Forage. He doesn’t like super wet foods and this will soften up enough for him to eat it with his remaining teeth.
Have you tried probiotics or digestive enzymes? Focus Sr. includes both and helped my previous horse fill out.
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I have only one experience with refeeding and taking care of a 28-year-old starved horse until he lived to be about 37. it took about a year to get him baseline I am also in Florida And he had about 12 teeth left top and bottom He ate at the fancy Seminole wellness, senior feed. Twice a day. 5 pounds soaked. X2 in the in between he ate, soaked, alfalfa cubes free choice. Probably 2 pounds. I offered three times a day. He could not graze. in the first year he went from a maybe probably a one to a six on the Hennekke scale. After that I could back way off. And only fed him 5 pounds wellness senior twice a day. And at noon 5 pounds of alfalfa cubes
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I am reading great things about the unbeetable acutally. I was honestly just trying the ultracruz weight gain but I dont think I have come across focus Sr as of yet. I will have to check that out but no, I have not explored that or probiotics etc yet!
Oh wow! Its crazy to me how different horses require such different feeding styles. From what you are saying, my girl is getting so much more currently and Im having a hell of a time getting her to gain any more than she originally did…I guess its similar to people so I shouldnt be that suprised, but I obviously wish the current method (or a less expensive feeding routine) was the hand I was dealt
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What is your horses health status? Has your horse been properly wormed?
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Blood work great, yes properly wormed oringally and then we have kept up with the worming every few months
I know with age there can be malabsorption issues. Has your vet discussed that with you?
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And hey. Good on you for trying fro save this senior horse. And kudos for trying to figure it all out
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My main point to post was to assure you that if it’s possible …once you refeed a starved senior , you can back off for maintenance. Do you have any photos to share?
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Yes.
That’s what I was asking about, what they did a year ago.
.
It’s been tough I tell ya!
I believe we did speak about that but if I recall correctly it was in the beginning of our journey with her… I can definitely bring it up. Every suggestion at this point is something to consider and hopeful we will land on the right thing, so thank you!
Hey Angela! I honestly can’t remember exactly what we had tried in the beginning. I know that may sound bad but we have done so many different things. Something I now know to keep track of. It took a little bit to figure out she couldn’t graze and then we did try shredded forage and she hated that. She has always been on the Seminole senior wellness but we have changed the amounts to try and find that sweet spot.
She was in the beginning on soaked alfalfa/ Timothy cubes vs pellets. I do remember that. Where are right now she’s on straight alfalfa pellets.
We tried beet pulp for while also but I can’t remember the amounts.
The oil was introduced about 5 months ago so that is fairly recent.
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I have a now almost 30 year old mare who I adopted about 3 years ago. She needed to gain weight when I first got her and then we’ve had some weight fluctuations since then. I had been feeding her 6 lbs triple crown senior spread over three meals daily (breakfast, dinner, night check) plus alfalfa cubes at dinner. She can eat some hay but not particularly well. She can eat grass. Anyways she lost weight over last summer and I bumped her grain up to 9 lbs a day. That helped but still wasn’t enough, so I bumped her up to 12 lbs. that got her weight to a good point and I brought her back down to 9. Vet was just out for spring shots and rated her a 5.5 body score.
So what worked for us was more senior feed. Even at 12 lbs per day, it’s about $250 a month so less than your current costs.
I played around with flax as an added fat source but just increasing the grain was the most effective.
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Often on the marathon journeys it helps to buy a cheap notebook and keep a journal to remind us where we started and how far we’ve come.
Pictures taken regularly can help too.
Now you know about UC Davis protocol for the next one. 
I’d contact then or your local university to see if they have guidance for going forward.
I had my first horse 24 years, until 8 days shy of his 30th birthday. He was the very most expensive after retirement, his last six years.
Properly keeping old horses is a lot of time, energy and cost.
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Yes for sure! Thank you for the new info too. I really appreciate it. I’ll research my little heart out
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I have a 32-year-old retired mare with no teeth left. I feed her soaked chop. It comes in alfalfa, timothy and grass. My understanding is that it’s not available in all areas. She does well on it.
