Horse Question

[Angie]

I was woundering is anyone can help me. I have a quarter mare, she isnt an old horse, but she has now back teeth. Last winter she some weight. We figure out, that it looks like she wasnt eating the hay. I dont know if she couldnt chew it up or digest it. Anyway could someone give me some suggestions on what i could feed her this winter, to keep the weight on. Thanks

[Sheree Nikstaitis]

Without knowing more details, such as the hay type and quality, and information / photos of the horse, it's hard to be exact.

Horses won't always eat the icky old hay you see lots of people feed to cattle, and way too many feed to horses. And much of that hay isn't very high in nutrients, which would cause a horse to lose weight even if he was eating it regularly, unless you fed a lot of supplemental concentrates as well.

Equine complete senior feed is probably the best choice. It contains fiber as well as nutrients, usually in an easy to digest pellet form. There are several different brands available.

You could also soak alfalfa cubes in water, or use soft, leafy alfalfa hay (hard stemmy kind will be tough to chew if she's having issues). If your horse is sensitive to high protein hays like alfalfa, then you can try using soaked beet pulp in addition to a chopped forage source like hay (timothy) cubes.

First thing you should do is have a qualified equine dentist take a look at her mouth and perhaps perform a dental float. When I say qualified, I mean someone who is educated, not just who says they know horses. Very bad things can happen when you let well-meaning people do things they don't understand to your horse. It wouldn't hurt to have a fecal count done, and start the horse on a dewormer program, along with an overall veterinary assessment as well.

Here's an article that talks about feeding a senior horse, and getting them up to weight.
http://fuglyblog.com/?p=1124

[Linda Grajewski]

I feed my older horses Equine Senior feed from the Coop. It does a great job. You probably need to have a equine dentist check her teeth also. Good luck.

[Nancy Ave]

Angie, did you mean to say she has no back teeth? Due to teeth problems (or lack of teeth), my friend fed her 34 yr old the Triple Crown forage. They make it in several types, it is softer so the horse could process it.