Winter Feeding of the Older Gelding

[Dragonfly]

Seeking suggestions for winter feeding ov an older gelding. He's a bit of a hard keeper but as we are going into winter, he has lost weight and is a bit ribby.

Currently getting a LOT of free choice hay and hot mashes (beet pulp, oil, BOSS, Hoffmans) 3x per week. I can get the barn to add a feed to his AM feeding, but am looking for suggestions.

[Fatcat]

Cool Calories 100. That's a great fat supplement that really puts the weight on. Make sure he's not losing calories staying warm, I don't know where you are, but I'd blanket any oldsters that are hard keepers.

[Avola]

I had really good luck with adding rice bran pellets to the beet pulp/oil mix. Cool Calories 100 is supposed to be awesome but my gelding didn't care for it one bit and wouldn't eat it so I guess it depends o how much of a picky eater your horse is. Another great supplement (a bit pricey but in my opinion worth it) is the Omega Horseshine. Also second Fatcat, make sure he's warm. Blanketing the older horse is usually a good thing

[Dragonfly]

Oh yeah, it cooled, blanket went on. As it gets colder, I'll keep adding layers. He is a picky eater, so I will look at adding the rice bran pellets and check out the Cool Calories

[Canyon]

My WB used to stay fat all winter on grass hay. He is 26 now and not such an air fern anymore. Last winter I started adding a hefty flake of alfalfa with his pm feeding, and that was enough to keep him in good flesh. I need to go pick up his mini-stack of alfalfa soon!

[pawsplus]

Beet pulp is really just the junk that is unwanted after the sugar is taken out of beets. I don't feed it. Best thing, IMO, is soaked timothy pellets (or alfalfa, but I don't feed that at all) with a vit/min supplement (I feed Horsetech's Grass plus) and ground flax. I get stabilized ground flax at the feed store, which lasts a long time in a feed bin--no reason to spend extra money on Horsetech stuff or Cool Calories (which you really can't feed in the amounts that would make a bit of difference in a large animal). You can give up to 2 cups of flax twice a day (work up to that), and it's a far safer and more natural fat source than oil, which is highly processed and inflammatory. The timothy pellets are nothing but hay, so far safer than grain products, but in a more concentrated form, and when well soaked, they ensure that the horse gets extra moisture.

This is also really good for horses with dental issues.

[pawsplus]

It's also really important to make sure that older horses are seen by a dentist (a real dentist, not just a vet who floats teeth) every 6 months.

[nightlace]

Lots of good suggestions. Old horses can be so finicky. I'm feeding my old guy lots of alfalfa cubes, soaked in hot/warm water. He loves them & has gained weight on them. I've recently added Rice Oil & that may help as well. Good luck. I check how my oldster looks every day to tell if I need to adjust my feeding program.

[kande50]

Start out with free choice grass hay and if that isn't enough keep switching more of it out for 2nd cut and/or alfalfa. Once the 2nd cut/alfalfa is no longer enough start doing the same thing with grain. Start with the safer stuff and feed as much as it takes, and when that no longer works start adding more of what they will eat. I have two that get free choice 2nd cut hay and grain in the winter, and they get about half their calories from the hay and half from the grain, depending on which appeals to them more each day. Sometimes they'll leave the grain and just eat hay, but that seldom lasts more than one feeding and then they'll go back to eating more grain again.

[Perilous]

Love the free choice grass hay, but would add a flake of alfalfa AM and PM. Since you can't be there everyday, this is fairly easy for a barn to do.

[Logan's Mom]

I have had good luck with Farnam's Weight Builder.

[heddylamar]

My 35yo gets soaked senior feed with bran mash (2/day), soaked Timothy pellets (2-3x/day), free choice orchard/Timothy forage (she will not eat the alfalfa). We're holding rice oil and rice bran in reserve for this winter. She's so finicky, I hope she'll cooperate!

[Rhianon]

It's also really important to make sure that older horses are seen by a dentist (a real dentist, not just a vet who floats teeth) every 6 months.

This. And deworm for encysted strongyles--Quest. I know it has iffy reputation, but my old guy Ace simply would not keep weight on not matter what we did. And he was a finicky eaters. His fecals were clear every time we tested, and his paddock/field picked up twice a day. Bit the bullet and did Quest, and he's now packing on the weight--eating everything in sight.

[Rhianon]

Start out with free choice grass hay and if that isn't enough keep switching more of it out for 2nd cut and/or alfalfa. Once the 2nd cut/alfalfa is no longer enough start doing the same thing with grain. Start with the safer stuff and feed as much as it takes, and when that no longer works start adding more of what they will eat. I have two that get free choice 2nd cut hay and grain in the winter, and they get about half their calories from the hay and half from the grain, depending on which appeals to them more each day. Sometimes they'll leave the grain and just eat hay, but that seldom lasts more than one feeding and then they'll go back to eating more grain again.

Yes--this is how we got Ace eating enough.

[bascar]

I had 2 very senior geldings with me last year, both with no, or very few, teeth. So, alfalfa pellets, rice bran, equine senior and beet pulp all soaked with top dressings of cool,calories and fresh ground flax seed. I used heated 15 gallon water buckets to both soak the feed in and to keep it from freezing in between fresh feeds. They would have loved to have hay but choke became an ever increasing worry.

[Hoof'n it]

Sometime with these older horses you really have to take a step back and ask yourself "why is he losing weight."

Is it physical, has his teeth been seen to? Has he been wormed / do you need to take a fecal sample just to make sure? He is in pain? Is he stressed? Has anything changed in the environment at around the time his condition started to drop?

If it is just winter setting in, are his rugs enough? Is he getting fed enough?
I would look at increasing the hay intake until he leaves some behind. He should never be out of hay, and always have some on hand.
The next step is looking at his feed. He is dropping weight, what is he currently on? How can I increase his calorie/fat/fibre intake?
Beet Pulp is a great feed for fiber intake and bulking up the feed, but has bugger all else in it. But the likes of some Rice Bran Oil feeds, they can have a huge percentage of fat content in them. I have found one, that has over 20% crude fat. You feed very little and it's insane how the horses condition improves.
So when you next look at his feed, look at the nutritional analysis on the feed back and go how much fiber is in here? How much crude fat is in here? how much crude protein is in here? The higher the values the higher the chance that it will put weight on your horse.
The other thing is, that you may want to try changing to a senior feed, which is formulated with digestion in mind, along with allowing extra calories for the older horses.

[khall]

For me it is Triple Crown SR or the Complete along with free choice grass hay and adding in alfalfa as needed. Add in fat Cool Calories is a good one and have used rice bran extruded pellets as well for my SR horses.

[DsMom]

My old guys teeth are done. He's also been a hard keeper his entire life. He's getting senior feed, rice bran pellets and soaked hay cubes. There is some grass left in the pastures and it's supplemented with hay during turnout. Seems to work.

[Pippigirl]

I wonder if adding some yea-Sacc to his meals would benefit him. It could help with better feed conversion. If you're in the states you can get a bag of something like a Diamond V product or a smaller bag from something like a Smartpak.

[Tuddy]

[quote="pawsplus"]I get stabilized ground flax at the feed store, which lasts a long time in a feed bin .......You can give up to 2 cups of flax twice a day (work up to that), and it's a far safer and more natural fat source than oil, which is highly processed and inflammatory. quote]

This... Make sure the flax is stabilized, and I would avoid using oils (veg/canola) as they are very unstable and highly processed. I know people have a lot of luck with tho, just I personally like a more organic/less processed option.

[WBLover]

My vet concurs with pawsplus that beet pulp really doesn't have much caloric or vitamin value. It's basically roughage. I'd supplement his hay with alfalfa as suggested. I had REALLY GOOD grass/alfalfa mix hay last winter and my hard keeper was FAT. Other than that, he's on an alfalfa based complete feed (ADM Alliance PrimeGlo) and fat supplement (Nutrena Empower Boost). He's never looked better! He's not an older guy, but he's a sensitive worry-wart and burns a lot of calories that way!