Yeah, Calf-manna is a good thing!
A really inexpensive supplement to try is Diamond-V yeast culture. I started feeding it on a whim, and after about a month I noticed “Gee, these horses have gotten fat.” Nothing else had changed. It seems to improve feed efficiency.
My old mare who was euthanized when she was almost 34 got pelleted feed with forage products in it,oatmeal,milk,and a corn-soybean oil mixture 4 times per day and I sometimes added some microwaved grass and during the night if she was near the house I put some pellets in a tub for her. She could not eat grass or hay unless it was microwaved because she could not chew properly anymore. Microwaved grass crumbles easily. Sweet feed or adding molasses to feed could possibly lead to insulin resistance and/or laminitis which can be caused by too much sugar. Grass at certain times can have too much sugar for some horses.
Safe Choice did nothing for my geriatric pony (13.3 hands). She does great on Senior Mix twice a day with a scoop of water added to it to soften it. In summer she drops some weight also due to heat and humidity and insects.
If she looks thin in summer I add in a bucket of soaked alfalfa cubes at lunch time I fill a gallon bucket half full then fill it to the top with water, in five minutes its soft enough for her to eat and keeps her busy. She wont eat alfalfa pellets, I have read they are bitter thats why many horses wont eat them but will eat cubes.
I dont think Safe Choice is enough for seniors/harder keepers.
Also the feed rep said most people dont feed ENOUGH volume wise of senior feed, if your horse is thin up the amount. My mare eats about 4 pound three times a day.
If you are in an area that sells poulin grain, I would get some FibreMax and switch to that. This feed is amazing for seniors and hard keepers. My previously hard keeping mare went from 5 quarts 3x day of a 12% fat feed of high quality to only 2 quarts twice daily of fibremax and she is FAT!!!
I’m having trouble keep pin weight on my 30 year old mare this year. Dose any one have any suggestion on weight gain in a horse that’s has to be on a low starch low sugar diet. Due to on an issue with founder
Add oil, 1/4 cup per day to start for several days. Increase slowly to no more than 2 cups per day distributed in several feedings.
Help help help! I have a 25 year old gelding who does no work anymore( was a ranch and cutting horse until 2 years ago). He only does easy kid rides now! 16
hands and very big boned but was always an easy keeper. Suddenly can’t keep weight on. Ran blood work all is good; regularflats and teeth are good. Gets free choice excellent grass hay and 3 gallons purina senior per day which has always worked. Plus pasture at will. Looking for a weight gain supplement that works!
If he’s loosing weight on 12+ pounds of senior a day. I’d add either rice bran or oil or a fat supplement (gradually).
And this is a very very old thread. Best to start a brand new one.
I have a friend’s older horse who was skin and bones at a boarding barn. He is gaining well on Purina Ultium, Purina Equine Senior, alfalfa hay and good grass. He will not eat flax, beet pulp and many other foods. Don’t forget to worm and have the teeth checked.
rice bran oil and beet pup, in addition to senior feed.
Start with asking a vet, be sure there is not other going on that needs addressing, like teeth problems or organs failing, liver a common cause.
If vet agrees, add alfalfa hay.
That is the simplest way to add the right kind of protein profile in large amounts.
Generally that is what helps best, if it is well tolerated by the individual horse that needs weight, especially older horses that need better quality proteins than younger horses can get by without.
All other supplementation should be after the basics are covered and using alfalfa will do that.
3 gallons of feed?!
Try the Equine Senior Active- it is 10% fat whereas regular Equine Senior is 5% fat.
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