Molasses
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I would try something like Nutrena Empower Boost and add that to his senior feed.
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Molasses on its own doesn’t contribute to ulcers. If it did lots of ulcer horses who are put on low NSC feeds with some molasses in it (like Triple Crown Sr), who have their ulcer issues resolved, would frequently have ulcer issues again.
It’s really a sugar and starch level, from whatever source. A 12% NSC feed with a little bit of oats is no more likely to cause ulcers than a 12% NSC feed without oats.
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I disagree. Molasses contains a lot of sugar. IME a feed with no corn and no molasses is best for horses with recurrent ulcer issues, and a low NSC feed with molasses is more likely to cause irritation than a feed with similar NSC without molasses. For my mare in particular, her current feed is no corn and no molasses with an NSC of 13%. A year ago I tried putting her on a feed that had molasses and 12% NSC and she had a flare up in about five weeks. Right back to NCNM she went. Likely it’s mainly a problem for those that are more susceptible to ulcers than others, but it certainly is an irritant in and of itself.
Just like some horses are too sensitive, or outright allergic to alfalfa (or corn or oats or soy), they can have issues with molasses. That doesn’t make it an ulcer issue
Molassses may contain a large % of sugar - 50% ish. But low NSC feeds don’t have significant amounts, and there’s more sugar coming from things like wheat middlings a lot higher in the list of ingredients.
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Honestly OP if you are at a point where you are worried about keeping him at an adequate quality of life, then if he wants to eat the sweet feed, he gets to eat the sweet feed. 
I seem to recall you fed him oil at some point in the past. Could you add that? Maybe oil and alfalfa will be enough of the extras to get him through this.
Also does he wear fly boots in addition to all the other things? Stomping is hard on them.
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He has shoofly leggins and they do seem to help somewhat, but not as much as him getting to be inside during the day. I appreciate your words of wisdom–I was thinking too that if he likes the sweet feed he should get to have it.
I said to myself a few years ago (6 or 7) that my goal was for him to make it to 15. He’s almost there, I’d like it if he made it to there at least. Vet said she doesn’t think euthanasia would be her next stop–her next stop would be equioxx and see how he does, which is reassuring.
Obviously you love this guy and he’s lucky to have you.
Maybe refocus your goal from what age you would like him to live until. Don’t think in years, think in good, quality days for him. I don’t know what his days are like, how he moves or interacts. You know your horse better than anyone. His hind end appears quite wasted in the pic. I agree with those who say to look for better pain management on top of the dietary changes. Kissing spines is a terrible disease and can be so very painful.
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He gets around okay, well enough to gallop out back on occasion, and he’s never been the most stoic horse. But I can see that he’s getting stiffer, and I can see how much better his pasture mate (who is twenty) moves than he does honestly.
He’s really not that thin. As others have said, based on those photos (which never tell the whole story, of course), he looks more like a low 4 to me. The muscle wasting just makes him look worse - probably especially to you, who knew him when he was younger and sounder/fitter. If he likes alfalfa, that’s great - it really can be a miracle worker for some horses - but I doubt he’s ever going to give you the round, show-horse look so many of us are accustomed to seeing due to his lameness.
Equioxx is for sure worth talking about with your vet. It does seem to cause significantly fewer ulcer issues, and 1/2 gram of Bute per day is not a lot of pain control for a horse his size.
Hang in there! You’re doing fine. It’s hard to watch our old partners decline with age, especially prematurely.
Update: we had the vet out. As a few of you said, he really isn’t THAT bad, he mostly just has topline wasting. We are switching him to equioxx but she is really not worried and he’s nowhere near the point where she’d think euthanasia would be on the table unless I was unwilling to continue care (which would be acceptable, but I’m not).
He had his teeth done and those were also okay.
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Based on your first post, I expected to cringe at the photos. Like everyone else, I agree that he really doesn’t look too bad. There’s been a lot of discussion about feed, ulcers, and teeth. All good topics.
I want to know about his turnout. Is he out 24/7 or just at night?
When the sun beats down and the bugs get bad, lots of horses get miserable. I know that he’s stiff, so turnout is good for that, but he may need access to a run in or stall with fans during the day if he’s out 24/7.
Lastly (and this is a general comment) convenience euthanasia is never ok. Owning an animal of any kind is a big commitment with a hefty financial price tag. Anyone unwilling to commit to a lifetime of excellent quality care for the animal in question should simply not own an animal. There are plenty of lesson barns and horses to lease that will alleviate financial concern if one still wishes to ride. Anyone who can take a life just because they don’t want to pay for care is a horrific human being. Yes, euthanasia is the kindest choice when an animal is no longer able to live well due to an illness or lameness, but it doesn’t exist so a nasty person can go get a new, shiny toy to play with.
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Hold up… OP’s horse has basically never been safe to ride, and the OP has done a LOT to try to help him live a happy and comfortable life, including buying her own horse property. He also suffers from an incurable painful condition and requires very personalized care. At some point in time, it will be the kind thing to let him go, and the OP knows this may happen sooner than later with this horse. It’s ok for her to be concerned about his sub-optimal condition and to wonder if this is the beginning of the end. That’s a pretty unfair rant to go on here,@Dressagelvr
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Wholeheartedly disagree!
Are there times when it’s amoral? Sure - healthy happy sound horse and it’s just inconvenient to go out to the barn every day and feed him because you chose to cheap out with a low end co-op barn? No, you don’t put a horse down for that (but hey, your horse, your choice).
How about the “inconvenience” of having to put all your money and time into catering to the special needs of a horse who will never be pain-free and whose care is keeping you - a human being with 10-20-40-70 years left to live, from actually living and taking care of yourself and/or your family, who is keeping you from saving for your financial future?
We should NEVER own an animal on the off chance that at some point, the time and/or financial cost is enormous and unsustainable? REALLY?
Don’t “want” to pay for care? Who are you to decide what constitutes want and need? If someone wants to spend every spare dime they have every single month to keep their “useless” horse reasonably happy, go for it, no judgement here. But who are you to judge someone who does not want to do that?
What does “live well” mean? You did read that he’s got an incurable painful condition, right? At what point do YOU deem the pain level or duration enough to be PTS? And why do YOU get to decide that for someone else?
I cannot believe you actually implied dungrulla is a “nasty” person insert eye rolling
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How TF is putting down a lame, unrideable horse a “convenience” euthanasia??
This whole thread details an owner going above and beyond to make sure this horse is comfortable enough to live his life, and you post this HERE?
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Do you have a detailed list of rules to go along with your judgement? That way everyone can know exactly when it is OK to Euthanize or to buy a horse, because clearly you are the expert.
You do realize that even great people have things in their world change.
Loss of job for example.
Where before they could afford long term care for that animal they bought but now they can not even afford to house and feed the humans and the animal is not place-able because it is now retired and not sound. How dare they lose their job and think that what little monies they have is better spent than housing a lame animal that lives in the moment, that is not standing around dreading being PTS, that will just think it is a good day when their human comes, loves on them, gives them a ton of treats and then humanely lets them pass.
Euthanasia is a gift for many reasons, not all of them a tragic medial issue.
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I would take a look at the OP’s posting history. She’s posted about this horse on this forum, a lot.
At this point, I know more about her horse’s life (and his injuries, ailments, and care) than I know about some of my IRL friend’s horses. His history on COTH is very well documented.
There’s a time and a place for what you are saying – but it isn’t here.
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Kudos for putting such a large quantity of sanctimonious nonsense into one relatively brief post.
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I understand how frustrating it is to have a horse that will turn his nose up to food. Hang in there OP. This wasn’t a problem I was able to fix immediately, but he improved overtime. Started doing his teeth twice a year, treated for ulcers, and when he completely refused to eat his grain I just fed him alfalfa pellets (for forage he lives outside 24/7 on pasture/hay depending on the time of year). Once I found a grain he’d eat, started incorporating fat in any form possible - canola oil, rice bran, and cool calories. He’ll tolerate small amounts of each, but not large amounts of any of them. I just slowly increased the amounts until I hit his “unacceptable” threshold. What really made the difference though, was eliminating his pain. He looks like a different horse now that his lameness has been addressed (has been a long road figuring out what was wrong with him). He’s not nearly on the amount of grain that he used to be and he looks (and feels) fantastic.
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Inability to maintain healthy BCS due to chronic pain could hardly be considered “convenience.”
It’s also none of your business what someone does with their horse, and it’s not your place to dictate what other people are required to dish out
financially to provide “excellent quality care.” You might be willing to take out a second or third mortgage on your home for a major medical expense for your horse, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to do so in order to be worthy of owning one.
Even a sound, healthy senior horse can be difficult to sell, and IMO it is far more immoral to sell or “give away” such a horse than it is to euthanize. Once it is out of your possession, you have zero control over where it goes - slaughter, a neglectful or abusive home, etc. Let’s be real, most anything over 18 has a high chance of bouncing around and ending up in a terrible situation.
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