I have two seniors with little to no teeth left. I have been feeding hay stretcher as a replacement.
Im curious to hear what others feed and how much? What’s more economical? Id like them to gain some more weight (vet and feed rep said the amount and type of grain im feeding is correct, so that’s not the issue). I’m finding hay replacement options to be more expensive than feeding just hay. 
Soaked alfalfa pellets in a mash. Looks nasty, but evidently its very tasty! My senior licks his feed bucket clean.
Especially if made with hot water. Just give them a couple of minutes to cool down and they’ll be ready to gobble. Or, alfalfa (or alf/timothy) cubes. They take about 10-15 minutes to soak in hot water, and a couple of hours in cold. The feedroom smells heavenly and the bonus is you’re getting extra water into their guts!
I also use hot water and soak for 15/20 min (the time it takes me to feed/hay/check on my 2 other horses). You can use whatever pellets/cubes (Orchard, Timothy, Alfalfa). Big cubes do need to soak a bit longer.
Hay cubes are the only true substitute for the “long-stem roughage” that hay provides. They do require a bit of planning ahead, as they need to soak. You can hurry the process with HOT water, but just be sure to cool the ENTIRE slop down before feeding. Stick your hand in there and mix it up good to eliminate the “hot spots”.
I have had Seniors that have flourished on just TC Sr, and did not ever receive soaked cubes for whatever reason, so roughage doesn’t have to be a necessity in every case.
I am not a fan of hay stretcher. I never have been. To me, it is glorified floor sweepings that just provides junk nutrition. It baffles me how it deserves the name “hay stretcher”.
Any bagged hay substance is going to be more expensive than the baled variety. I try to justify it by considering the fact that my seniors no longer consume baled hay, so that helps the budget. And, my old guys have served me, or someone else, for DECADES and they deserve to be taken care of until their time comes… My oldies are 43, 26, 23, and 23 right now.
The label on the bagged chopped forage I bought most recently for the goats said something to the effect of not replacing long-stemmed forage. But, with the aged and toothless equine, what else can you do? There was a non-GMO brand of alfalfa pellet that I used to feed to cattle as part of finishing them out. It was truly amazing. A few unopened bags made the whole machine shed smelled like fresh alfalfa. It was more than sufficient quality for horses (I used to choke at the price given how much the steers could consume) And even the old guys would stampede to the fence when I offered it. I’ll see if I can look up the product name.
At first, I gave my old guy bagged chopped forage, which is hay pieces about 2" long or less. That worked for a while, then he started leaving the stemmier bits of that behind. Then, I switched to a mixture of soaked hay pellets and beet pulp. The hay pellets (timothy or orchard for this pony) were not that cheap, but the beet pulp was, so that helped stretch the budget. He also got a significant amount of Triple Crown Senior, and refused to eat anything that was soaked until it was soupy.
This was going to be my suggestion, too. I fed my old man TB (who was missing several teeth and would quid hay) soaked alfalfa pellets as his forage for a couple of years. He’d eat 12-15 lbs/day in the summer and about 20-25 lbs/day in the winter. I didn’t feed him a great deal of grain. He was fat and happy.
we one pony who is over 40 but less than 50, he is in good weight and health… cannot eat hay… eats only Purina Senior which can completely or partially replace the hay or pasture in the horse’s diet when dental problems or missing teeth that prevents them from eating forage
I don’t know your location, but where I am I can get a product called Haystack and it is a pellet consisting of: Alfalfa, beet pulp, timothy, flax, rice bran, canola oil. You have to add your own vitamins, and I always add Triple Crown Sr. to it. I make a mash of it for my old guy. I like it because the pellet has everything I’d buy separately already in it! So less cans in the feed room!
At another barn, the old guy with no teeth we always fed him soaked beet pulp with hay pellets added along with a V/M supp. He was always in good weight right up til the end.
Anything not in “bale form” is going to be more expensive.
Hay cubes take forever to soak and even when you think they’re done - chop them open and they are still dry inside! The worry I’d have with the toothless ones and cubes – do they still have their molars for grinding? If so, then yes they can have the cubes and they can also still chew soft hay. But if they don’t… I’d be worried about the cubes - the length of the forage stem - causing an impaction because it is not ground up enough (by their teeth) before reaching the gut.
If you post your location, people can give you more specific recommendations.
I have head good luck with hay cubes.
And yes, it costs more than feeding hay, but the oldies are worth it.
On the topic of cubes not soaking well, I recommend trying various brands. Some seem to take forever and never soak until soft, others soak far more easily and when soaked you have a nice bucket of tiny hay bits.
If you can find them near you try the Ontario Dehy Balance Cubes. Wonderful product in a soft small cube that soaks almost instantly. Intended as a sole ration if required.
http://www.ontariodehy.com/tab02-07.htm
TIMOTHY-BALANCE[SUP]®[/SUP] CUBES [INDENT] [INDENT] [INDENT] [INDENT] [INDENT][SIZE=1]A consistent, convenient, low in non-structural-carbohydrates (ESC plus Starch) feed. Made with our very best Premium grade Timothy hay, Non-Gmo Beet Pulp (no molasses), and specific minerals and amino acids. Timothy Balance[SUP]®[/SUP] Cubes are fully NON-GMO.
Specifically formulated for horses with Equine Cushing’s Disease, Insulin Resistance, and other related conditions where a nutritious diet low in non-structural carbohydrates (ESC plus Starch) is recommended or essential.
Timothy Balance[SUP]®[/SUP] cubes are made quite soft in order to facilitate soaking and chewing by older horses. A fair amount of cube breakage in the bag is natural and to be expected.
Crude Protein: (Min) 8%
Crude Fiber: (Max) 35%
Crude Fat: (Min) 1.8%
Moisture: (Max) 12%[/SIZE]
INGREDIENTS: Premium Timothy; Beet Pulp (no molasses); Hydrated Lime; Sodium Phosphate; Magnesium Oxide; Copper Sulphate; Zinc Sulphate; Manganese Sulphate; Selenium; Iodine. RECOMMENDED FOR: All horses as a forage replacement or supplement. Specifically formulated for horses with Equine Cushings Disease and other related conditions where a nutritious diet low in non-structural carbohydrates (ESC plus starch) is recommended. FEEDING: Feed at 1.5 to 2% total body weight per day. Feeding in a bucket or feed tub, preferably at ground level is recommended.[/INDENT] [/INDENT] [/INDENT] [/INDENT] [/INDENT]
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