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Discussion on Question about weight on a 27 year old horse
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Member:
dakotab
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Posted on Friday, Oct 19, 2007 - 11:20 pm:
There is a 27 year old horse at our barn, who has a huge hay belly but is very thin every where else. He is on pasture (but not much this time of year.)Also have him on plain oats and safe and easy for his vitamins, about 24 oz. twice a day. And he gets timothy and grass hay. Would corn oil give him diarrea. How safe is it to give him?
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Member:
shirl
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 12:32 am:
Hilma,
I'm not sure about the corn oil, but need to ask, has he been wormed recently?
Shirl
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Member:
cheryl
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 9:27 am:
I had a 28 yo TB mare - same description - take away the big belly and she would have appeared as a walking skeleton. I put her on Canola oil 1/2 cup twice a day mixed with 1 cup soaked beat pulp and 1 cup LMF Low Non-Structural Carbohydrate Complete horse feed. In just a couple months she had picked up close 75-100 pounds - and obviously felt better. She did have loose manure for about a week - nothing serious and it resolved on it's own.
Have his teeth been checked?
Cheryl
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 10:24 am:
Hello Hilma,
It depends on many factors if this is the right (safe?) thing to do. The article on taking care of older horses with weight loss that is associated with this forum gives a step by step nutritional guide which includes how much and how to correctly add fats (vegetable oils) to the diet. When done this way I would not expect diarrhea from horses without other problems. Be sure to follow all the steps to insure your horse gets good nutrition.
DrO
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 3:22 pm:
Hilma, First check teeth and see if he needs deworming. As he gets older his teeth and digestive system may not be good enough to process his food properly and a good senior pellet may help a lot. As my mare reached her 30's I fed a lot more senior feed and she ate the leaf of all the alfalfa hay she wanted ( all her life she ate alfalfa and refused anything else). I gave the leftover stems to the younger horses. She also ate a bran mash with corn oil, molasses, joint and vitamin supplement. She looked and felt good right up to the last couple weeks of her life, when her hocks gave out. The plain oats may be too hard to process and may not be doing him much good. Of course whatever you do make changes gradually.
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Member:
dakotab
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 20, 2007 - 9:58 pm:
I really love this site everyone is so willing to help.
I will find out about the teeth and worming. He is on plain oats and Safe and Easy. The Vet here said Safe and Easy will give him the protein he needs. Should we put him on Safe and Easy only? He has no problem eating his hay.
The horse has just come to our barn.
He gets ridden on a regular basis, and seems very happy.
Thank You
Hilma
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Member:
cgby1
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Posted on Monday, Oct 22, 2007 - 11:15 pm:
Hilma, I would let him eat all the hay he wants, my 33 year old mare was very unhappy if she did not get her hay when the others did. I am not familiar with Safe and Easy. Is it a complete feed pellet? A senior feed is cooked so that it is easily absorbed by the digestive system of older horses that can't chew properly. It also has the beneficial live cultures like L.Acidophilus that help the digestive system function in the senior horse. Bran can also put weight on, when my mare was younger I had to be careful because she would put on too much weight.
Cynthia
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