Anyone else have a horse that has lost his teeth at the age of 23?

Anyone else have a "toothless" arabian?


My polish arabian is 23 years old and the vet came out a few months ago b/c he was dropping weight like crazy, and when she floated his teeth, she informed me he basically has no more teeth to grind his food with. Since then, I have been feeding him 10 lbs of Purina Equine Senoir daily, soaked in water (5lbs 2x daily) and some beet pulp soaked in water over night. I have heard that that arabs are hard keepers in their older years, but I also have a 26 year old egyptian arab and her teeth are great! Why is this? I have always been good about keeping both of their teeth floated once a year in their younger years, but 2x per year for the past few years. What could have caused my polish arab to lose his teeth so much quicker? And could I be supplementing him with something else also b/c i can't give him hay anymore, so I'm wondering about the winter months coming up...

Anyone else have a horse that has lost his teeth at the age of 23?
I had a 40 yr old pony mule that spit his last tooth out during a float... I had no clue he was in that bad of shape actually.





He survived on alfalfa, the leaves were enough to give him the calories needed.





Equine senior and beat pulp are great supplements and you are doing what i would recommend.





If you see little rolled up hay balls around the paddocks, that is a sure sign that either your horse is toothless or is in dire need of a float.





Congrats on your old man and lady, you are doing everything right.
Reply:He probably lost most of his teeth a little early. It's not uncommon for them to be missing about 1/2 of them at that age, and most gone by 26 or 27. He's just a little ahead of the curve.





You are doing the right thing about giving him the senior. I would start giving him more soaked beetpulp. Beetpulp is a roughage not a concentrate-so it's quite similar to hay. I would suggest adding a lunch feeding over the winter of a full 5 gallon bucket of soaked beetpulp.





Also, I soak my older horses food in warm water during the winter, it helps keep them toasty. I would make sure you have a blanket on him too.





As far as supplements-try adding a little vitamin E into his feed. This will be one of the main things he'll loose by not eating hay/grass.





Good Luck! :)
Reply:I usually keep my horses till they drop, so yes I have kept horses that have had hardly any teeth, up to no teeth. ONe of those "hardly any teeth" horses lived to be 40. He ate a processed horse feed along with the other horses and was as fat as a seal when he died. He got no other special attention. No beet pulp no warm mash, and he did try to eat grass and hay but as mentioned in a previous post...you could see the balls of mashed up hay or grass on the ground.


I now am feeding a 30 year old gelding that has no teeth of any value..the bottom fronts ones that are still in his head are not upright, but sort of jutting out, poor guy. He also looks like a million dollars. He gets the same feed that my old 40 year old was fed and is doing very well on it. He will try to eat grass and hay, and does a pretty good job of it with out teeth.
Reply:wow. thats actually strange. the only thing i have ever owned are arabians and i have never heard they are hard keepers in theyre older years. my oldest didnt really started having trouble with his teeth until the past couple of years and he's 31! but still has plenty of weight on him. i think they actually tend to live a little longer than other breeds. you should ask your vet what you can do in particular to this horse. every horse is different and if he loses his teeth at 23 then so be it i guess. as long as what you are giving him now is gaining him some weight back, stick with it and keep plenty of blankets on him in the winter so he wont get cold
Reply:Well i have a 31 year old horse with 3 teeth but i give him a supplement in a purple jug, its like suryp but i cant remember what it was but if you message me ill tell you wat it is tomorow kk
Reply:He probably 'has' some of this back teeth, but they are so warn down, they are useless.





At my barn, we soak 1-2 scoops of hay cubes in water overnight. Makes a whole bucket of hay! The oldies then get their nutrients from hay on top of beet pulp and soaked grains. You can feed more hay cubes and make your horse feel fuller.





There are many senior equine supplements if you feel he needs them.
Reply:I had a mare who had no teeth. Horses teeth only grow a certain amount, then they get ground down, eventually the teeth fall out, or are ground down to the gums.





My mare was about 26 when this happened? I fed her Equine Sr, let her out to pasture with as much grass as she could want, as well as hay. Eventually she could not eat regular hay, she would roll it around in her mouth and later it would fall out or be spit out and I would find it in a little ball on the ground. Eventually I gave her alfafa that was chopped up into smaller size. It was not pelts, but it was in a bag at the feed store.





She was a really easy keeper and didn't have to be blanketed in the winter until she was 30ish. She lived to be 32, before I had to put her down because her arthritis was too bad.





I would see what you can do to keep weight on him, but if can't keep weight on and is not having good quality of life, it might be time to put him down :-(
Reply:this lady i know horse has the same problem. she feeds her horse strategy. I think it is also made by Purina. What this does is disolves in the horses mouth so they dont have to chew it. good luck.
Reply:What? He aint got no teeth. Dont put him through all that. It may sound cruel, but I would put him down.


But thats just me. I do understand that it would be like me putting down my best friend, or a family member.


Then again, I aint got a horse, so I dont know all the possibilities you have.


I am sure you love your horse.


What would cause it?


My uneducated guess would be to ask you if he is out in a field where he can eat the vegitation? Maybe the dust on that vegetation has worked like grit against his teeth.