OP wasn’t talking about just dropping the ration balancer, though. They were talking about dropping both the 6lbs of fortified feed AND the ration balancer (decreasing the total caloric intake by ~10,500kcal).
The rest of the diet described by OP is 24lbs of hay while stalled and free choice hay in the pasture. Hay generally ranges from 800-1000kcal per pound, depending on type. For argument’s sake, let’s estimate 900kcal. The horse would need to consistently consume an additional 11-12lbs of forage per day just to maintain her current caloric intake. ~35lbs of forage per day certainly isn’t impossible, but could present a challenge.
Have you tried Tribute Resolve? My guy (who is not a senior but a somewhat hard keeper) blossomed on Resolve after being on Kalm & EZ and Essential K, individually and as combinations, over the years. It’s definitely not any cheaper than what you’re already feeding but as other people have mentioned, the cost cutting strategy of feeding oats seems to have been debunked.
Are you sure that the farm won’t feed anything but supplements to pasture board horses via feed bag? Because that makes zero sense. Why would they go to the trouble of catching the pasture horses and applying/removing feed bags for just supplements? I think it is worth asking to clarify. Because I guess I can possibly understand that supplements are pretty quick and that they can’t wait around for hours on super slow large volume eaters. Is your mare relatively quick and efficient or a known slow eater? If pretty quick and she eats up her normal ration at least as fast as they require you may be golden. If slow, you may may be sunk. Again, I think it is worthing at least asking about.
more context is needed here though. Average grass forages provide more than enough protein for the average horse eating 2% of his weight a day, so right there, they’re “above requirement”. Then if they don’t need more calories, and you just use a ration balancer, they’re for sure above. If you feed 20-30% alfalfa so you can reduce the pounds of extra feed, you’re well above too
Ditto with forage - right off the bat nearly every forage in the US at least, provides at least double what a horse needs
Yes to the sodium - forages provide little to no sodium, with a reasonable amount of chloride, which is why alllllll horses should have free choice salt, especially if they don’t get “feed”
Selenium is VERY region-dependent, and you can’t make an accurate assessment just based on the diet, most of the time. Yes to the Vit E though, but even then more info is needed - if they’re only getting hay for 3-4 months of the year, and lots of grass the other 8-9 months, they likely have plenty of fat stores to be totally ok through those hay-only months.
This. Winter is coming. The horse isn’t getting any younger. It’s cheaper to pay the feed bill than to pay the vet. What if it’s an unusually cold winter? This seems like a bad time to make a change.
I’m a big advocate of maximum turnout, but more moving around in the winter on pasture board (and if turned out with others, competing with younger horses for forage) will burn more calories. Nutrition can also be more unpredictable from day to day.
It sucks, and I realize money is tight, but in this instance, I’d look to cutting other things in the budget to keep the horse on the diet that’s keeping the horse’s weight.
Thanks everyone for the help! I’ve decided you all make some good points and instead will of reducing the amount of grain, I will either try to switch to a still good, but cheaper brand OR I will stop feeding the essential K and continue to feed the Kalm n EZ. (I’m also going to try to find someone who will half lease and pick up occasional work at the stable to help with costs.)
It is not easy to take care of senior horses, and each one presents unique challenges! Thank you for caring enough to consider what is best. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t worry about money, but the reality it that we can’t take good care of horses if we can’t pay our bills. It may take some trial and error, But I’m sure you’ll find the balance. Good luck!
Not worth a try with a 20 year old TB with winter coming on. She isn’t ancient, but still at an age when things can go downhill fast. I would not chance it if she were my horse.
I don’t have time right now to read all the comments so maybe you have already posted this, but where are you located at and what exactly are you paying in your area for feed? We probably could help you out more with advice with those two pieces of information for your sweetie senior .
