Senior horse....trying to decide

[2DogsFarm]

Horses are amazingly adaptable.
My WB was bred in Queensland, Australia - climate like FL.
Imported to FL at 6, I brought him to the frigid Midwest when he was 15.
He arrived December 1, showslick, with just a cotton sheet.
I put my 78 midweight blanket on his 84 self. Plumbers Butt
I had him 5 years & he never got more than plushy in Winter & never needed a blanket.
His pony companion- bred & raised here - became a yak, WB hardly hairy

We get some hot & humid Summers w/90s for days.
I’m a walking sweat ball, horses never seem overly sweaty

[JB]

@lenapesadie

If my horses grew enough coat to keep warm in your temps they’d heat stroke out here lol! It’s supposed to be mid 70s again later this week with full sun.

Same! Living farther South means less of a coat since we have more daylight hours than farther North (after the Summer Solstice, of course). And, air temps are often warmer, and the combination means less of a coat, all else equal.

Our horses are not acclimated to the conditions typical of farther North, so often need more help in what would be considered “mild” by other standards

[Pico_Banana]

@lenapesadie

If you can source the Gold line locally, I’d try that. Here it’s just $1.50 more per bag and has more calories per lb.

Holy cow! What are you paying per bag for TCS Gold then?

IIRC, regular TCS is about $28/bag. I pay $37/bag for the Gold!

There’s only one place close to me that is willing to special order it for me and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one buying it, so I feel like I can’t complain too much, but maybe I should at least ask if they can lower their price a little!

[Marla_100]

Central Fl.- TC Senior is $26.95, TC Sr. Gold is $28.95 per 50 lb. bag.
I think you’re paying extra for special order.

[Wyndwolfe]

Original post raises two issues: blanketing (to conserve calorie loss), and adjusting feed. As horses get older, it often makes sense to blanket for warmth, rather than increase feed. I started blanketing my old guy when he just could not (or would not) eat enough additional feed to keep weight on as the temps dropped. Start with the lightest blanket you can - a fleece or breatheable light turnout - so that his body adjusts to the blanket, and you do not flatten his coat too much. As for feed, I agree with other posters that Triple Crown Senior (or Gold) is a wonderful feed, but there are others as well, and your horse has to be willing to eat what you feed. My old TB mare flatly refused to eat anything other than Equine Senior, and whenever I tried to “trick” her into eating more, she would leave almost exactly the amount of the increase. Very frustrating. I have also fed soaked (but not mushy) alfalfa cubes mixed with the Senior feed. Amount of feed also depends on availability of hay and pasture.

[lenapesadie]

@2DogsFarm

We get some hot & humid Summers w/90s for days.
I’m a walking sweat ball, horses never seem overly sweaty

Lol, walking sweat ball, lol. That’s the story of our life down here come summer

[lenapesadie]

@JB

Our horses are not acclimated to the conditions typical of farther North, so often need more help in what would be considered “mild” by other standards

Exactly. We all about froze to death Monday. It misted rain and never got out of the 40s. Me and the ponies needed a little help staying comfy!

[lenapesadie]

@Pico_Banana

Holy cow! What are you paying per bag for TCS Gold then?

IIRC, regular TCS is about $28/bag. I pay $37/bag for the Gold!

Yikes! Don’t tell my feed store! I’m paying 28.50 for regular Senior and 30 for the Gold!

Keep after them. It took a while to convince my feed store to even special order it, but then others started getting it too. Now they are stocking it! Still gotta special order the Gold balancer and I think it’s a slightly bigger jump price wise between the TC 30 and the Gold Balancer. The Timothy Balance cubes are out of sight though.

Also in FL. Maybe it’s not on the same supply line or whatever in your area causing the price increase? Even why I got it special order it came in same truck and I didn’t have to pay any surcharges.

[Pico_Banana]

Okay, COTHers, thanks for the info on pricing of the Gold! I am definitely going to talk to the grain store. Wish me luck!

[CowgirlCoffee]

Another vote for Triple Crown Senior Gold. My senior gelding hasn’t looked as good as he does now in many years - And he’s 34!

[mscapen]

My mare for the first time this year requested a stable blanket ( we call this a puffy) when temparatures went down below -5 C. In previous years I would only put it on when the temperature outside ( she stands by the window open about 2 inches) went under -10C. But this year she became irratable when being brushed, and had raised hair on her body when the weather was colder. Despite being a TB she is normaly a wooly mamoth, but I realised even in the fall that her hair was not as dense this year. I also think she lies down to sleep a lot more than previous years. Staff and other boarders that take care of her in the morning have comented that she was happier with her ( very light weight) stable blanket.
We have not changed her feed but as I was lunging her tonight, I was just thinking that she might need a little more. She is always a chuncky gal, so difficult to convince myself or others that she needs more food.