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  Discussion on Care and feeding of a Geriatric Horse
Author Message
New Member:
Palmare

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006 - 3:21 pm:

I have a 36 year GH gelding that I have owned since 1972--few months back he stopped eating his hay and feed--I got my vet out and she said his molars we shot and he couldnt chew--I had him on senior feed and the vet failed to mention that I should be soaking his feed--after 8 hours of a web search on geriatric horses I found ONE senior feed that mentioned you should soak it (Dr O I did reading on the discussions and was unable to find your article on Geriatric Horse: Problems and Care--- tried 10 different searches and only one article had the word "geriatric" in it)
for those of you with older horses what kind of name brand senior complete feed are you feeding your old horse and what results did you get from these feeds? also what supplements do you have them on?
Member:
Annes

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006 - 5:04 pm:

You have certainly been doing everything right for your gelding to get to this age - you should be giving all of us advice! I feed my older TB Golden Years Supreme which is a pellet. I buy it at my local Co-op. I add water at the time I feed - it does not need to be soaked because it breaks up fast. He has been on this feed for years and is doing great. In the winter I make a bran mash with warm water for him too. My horse is not on supplements. He has no trouble grazing even though his front teeth are down to the gums. Others will be able to tell you more I am sure but I have been very happy with the Golden Years Supreme and he has no choking and it keeps his weight on.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006 - 6:33 pm:

Hello D.,
The article on geriatric horses actually got rolled into Diseases of Horses » Colic and GI Diseases » Weight Loss in Horses » Overview of Chronic Weight Loss which deals with the problems of older horses having trouble eating. As for specific recommendations for supplementing the older horse it can be found at Care for Horses » Nutrition » Equine Nutrition an Overview of Feeding Horses.
DrO
Member:
Erika

Posted on Wednesday, Jun 28, 2006 - 10:29 pm:

D, I have had other threads concerning my 30+ gelding, too. Cannot eat hay. I believe that most any major brand of Senior food would be fine as long as it says "complete". I personally feed Triple Crown Senior. Summer grass seems to hold him fine. But winter means five or six times daily with wet warm mash of Senior and warm water to keep the weight on.

Thank God I found a reliable helper to do some of the winter feeds. Good luck!
Erika
Member:
Paul303

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2006 - 3:03 am:

D: I've been blessed with a number of over 30's. My best luck has been with Kwik. One horse I cared for was in his early 40's. My pinto was 38 when he was euthanized due to 2 lipomas that strangulated his intestines. Neither of those 2 had any molars. They were fed 3 meals of Kwik a day that was doused with water and corn oil. They had hay and grazing daily, but that was more for mental health, since all they did was quid. You can read about the paint if you run a search on
"Tonto"
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2006 - 9:22 am:

D. Elmquist
One more for your list of feeds to try... Senior feed by Seminole. It is a pelleted(soft) beet pulp based feed. It has beet pulp, of course, and a fat additive, and much of the nutrition that a horse who cannot eat hay needs to maintain weight. Their literature says that a horse on this product does not even need to eat hay. I don't know about that, and still feed hay with it, but....And, when I was searching this site a couple of years ago for help with an older citizen, some one told me about Empower, by Nutrena. It is a high protein, high fat additive. I added it to my routine with another older horse, and have really been happy with it, also. Good luck with your guy! You have come to the best place for help! This site has incredible info, as I'm sure you are finding out, as well as members who are ready, willing and able to help you find your answers!
Nancy
New Member:
Palmare

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2006 - 3:22 pm:

thank you all for you advice but by the feeds you are mentioning most of you are on the east coast---I am in s calif--guess I should have told you what feed I have him on----this all started about 6 months ago when Chuck stopped eating most if all of his feed--this included the senior horse feed I had him on--I called the vet when he stopped eating hay totally and most of his senior feed---I should have caught the problems months before I did but he has always been a fussy eater as well as a slow eater---there is always feed left over when I do my next feeding and I have historically changed his feed cus he likes a variety--also it was the old cant see the forest for the trees antage---he doesnt like any feed that has shredded beet pulp in it nor soaked beet pulp pellets by themselves--he will eat senior feed that is a complete feed that is pellets and has beet pulp in the pellets---you have NO idea how many senior feeds I have tried over the years and especially these last few months---only Nutrena bothers to mention soaking the feed in their web site----anyway I presently have him on TDI(has shredded beet pulp but I dont feed him much of it), Purina Ultim, Nutrena senior horse with molassses, and Natural Glo rice bran pellets---it all goes in one bucket and is filled with water additionally I feed him crimped oats, alfa-mo,and oat-mo---these are fed dry----he gets one small coffee can of each feed except for the Purina Ultim and nutrena senior--he gets 2 coffee cans of those and 2 cans of crimped oats and a 8 qt bucket of alfa-mo/oat-mo combined--I feed him this twice a day--also I toss a bit of alfalfa and bermuda hay his way just to humor him--there is no way for him to chew forage hay---I have no pasture---not about to pay the water bill necessary to have even a small one---he had 2 major dental surgeries in the early 90's---one the vet cut down his top front teeth cus his molars werent meeting and the other she cut his wolf teen off down to the bottom jaw cus they were stabbing him in the upper jaw---I floated his teeth annually till he got a wave mouth a few years back---so Ann I guess floating his teeth all those year might have alot to do with him reaching this age---Erika Chuck wont eat Triple Crown feed---dont know what he doesnt like about it but probably the fact it has alot of shewdded beet pulp in it(did I mention he is a fussy eater? lol)---I have read about Kiwi, it is a nutrena feed but NO feed stores stock it here--guess I could ask one of them to special order it for me---Nancy Seminole feed isnt sold here in s calif---I have searched all the major feeds web site and never saw Empower by Nutrena---will look again----the Purina Ultim is a new feed that is high in fat for performance horses---my vet recommended it and I have him on it---the other feed I might go back to is ADM Senior-Glo--he wouldnt eat it dry but might eat it soaked --it is another senior feed---they are also the makers of Natural Glo---major producer of animal feeds--took me quite awhile to go thru their web site on horse feeds---looked into Farman Platform Senior but it isnt to be fed with any other feeds--I tried to get Triple Crown alfalfa/timothy cubes but ran into the not carried in s calif problem with it---I tried soaking hay cubes and hay pellets but he wouldnt eat either--thank god I have another gelding that is a "Mikey" he will eat anything--course Charlie is about 21 by the vet estimate and is a relatively young horse---thank you all for you posts--any other assistance will be greatfully appreciated
Member:
Palmare

Posted on Thursday, Jun 29, 2006 - 4:12 pm:

there is an error in my first post Chuck is a reg Quarter horse (dang g isnt anywhere close to q on my keyboard--so much for that excuse)
Member:
1sally

Posted on Saturday, Jul 1, 2006 - 11:38 am:

I have the same problem with my 38 yr old stud. I feed hay cubes soaked in HOT water for about an hr. then broken up by hand. To that I mix a senior horse feed which has been soak in HOT water for about a half hr. I also add vit., about a 1/2 cup corn or canola oil, an Corta-Fles. He's been doing great on this concoction for about 6 yrs now.
Member:
Palmare

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 4, 2006 - 3:27 am:

thank you all for your assistance--Chuck has been putting on weight and is looking better--the only thing he wont eat is soaked cubes and soaked hay pellets --- so have him on water soaked Nutrena Senior, Purina Utim, Natural Glo rice bran pellets, and nonsoaked oat-mo,alfalfa mo and oats
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