Monday, May 17, 2010

Weight gain supplements/advice for older horse?

I have a 22 year old AQHA mare who recently dropped alot of weight for no reason. She is with her daughter [9 year old AQHA mare] in the same pasture [the pasture is eaten down with little grass left] and they get the same amount of hay [1/2 bale a day] and the same amount of senior feed [appox. 4 cups a day w/vitamin mixed in] but the older horse is underweight and the other one is perfect. I dewormed both appox. 2 months ago [will do again soon] and checked their teeth. I also watched the older mare eat and made sure she wasn't dropping food or having any pain swallowing/chewing. I just can't figure out what to do because for the past 3 weeks I increased their hay a little and for the older mare I added more senior feed, corn oil and a weight gai supplement and she has barely gained an once on her. If you have any tips on how to get my older mare to gain approx. 50-90 pounds or any great products to help let me know. Thank you!

Weight gain supplements/advice for older horse?
A sudden drop in weight in a 22 year old horse at this time of year is very unlikely to be a feeding issue so don't begin to spend heaps of money buying expensive supplements just yet.





1) Did you have a dentist/vet check the teeth? If not then this should be done first.





2) Have a faecal worm egg count done - just because you have wormed her doesn't mean she can't have worms. Also, have you wormed for all 3 classes (roundworms, tapeworms AND encysted redworms)?





3) Failing the above two you need to have her seen by your vet. She needs looking at physically and also blood testing. Top things that cause sudden weight loss in older horses are liver disease, enteric disease (guts, intestines etc) and Cushings. Your mare is the right age for all three. There may be something else evident on examination such as a tooth root abscess.





Please don't pile lots of food into her yet - rule out the above problems first as most of them are entirely treatable and it's a waste of money over-feeding your mare if she can't use the food you give her.
Reply:First, you should probably have the vet out to check her, especially her teeth even though you don't see any problems there.





Second, can you separate them at feeding? The younger mare could be chasing the older one away from the hay. Or the older one might simply eat slower, and not get enough. And give your older mare more hay. Soaked beet pulp might be good too. I use it for my 22 year old TB, and she's done great on it.





Comment on the above post: sugar is BAD for horses. You are risking founder if your horse is eating sugars.
Reply:I highly recommend Nutrena Senior...and I don't think that 4 cups per day is enough. Ask your vet to recommend how many POUNDS of feed and hay your horse needs to gain weight...and advance her slowly to this amount. Vegetable Oil added to the feed is a good source of fat...and remember. shivering burns valuable calories...is she getting enough hay to stay warm (it's what keeps them warm)..is she out of the wind and cold...does she have a warm blanket. These things can save precious calories. Hope this helps
Reply:Molasses and alfalfa or beet pulp. Beet pulp really helps to fatten them up and they love it. Has your horse been sick lately? Diarrhea or colic or anything? If she has then she may have just not felt like eating. It also could have been a bad reaction to the wormer. Was it a new brand or type? My horse wouldn't eat for a day and had diarrhea for the next few days after I wormed him. Did she lose the weight all at once or gradually? If it was very sudden, and is still happening, I would call the vet.





Best of luck!
Reply:Cool Calories 100 or Cool Cal is DEFINATELY the best fattening supplement you could get for your money and quality's worth. =] I have a 10 year old thoroughbred gelding and he had lost some weight (since thoroughbred's can lose like 100 lbs. in one day!) :O and I put him on Cool Calories and it worked miracles. He not only gained weight but it also made his skin shiner/not dry and he appeared healthier and so on. =] I would also up her grain beacause 4 cups is not enough for an 1,000 pound animal. :P I think you did that...? lol. =] Well I hope this was helpful! God bless you! And I hope your mare gains weight soon! =]]
Reply:If you have a LMF distributor in your area try Lmf taco pellets it is great I have used it on several starved horses including a ex rave horse we rescued that was about 400 pounds under weight and it plumped him up pretty quick.
Reply:Change her hay to haylege, seniors find it easier to eat and it contains more calories than hay. It will also help with her water intake as it is more most than hay, and they love it too! I would also add oil to her feed, this will give her a lot of extra slow release calories and you can slowly build horses up to take in quite a lot of oil, alot of people use this for weight gain. If she still isn't gaining weight phone the Vet and get a second opinion.


Also this website has some good feeding advice:


http://www.veteran-horse-welfare.co.uk/
Reply:I would feed her a Senior feed and supplement with a soybean based supplement for weight gain. I agree that you should have a Veterinarian check her out as older horses need to be checked out more frequently. (Like older human )
Reply:I would suggest the above advice about teeth and worming. I feed several senior citizens and they get a mash of their senior feed, beet pulp, and hay cubes as well as their usual hay. Softening it up helps them get all the benefit of the food. Though, 22 isnt all THAT old. What I do is mix all the dry items in the feed tub, then I cover it with hot water and let it sit until room temperature. About 20 minutes. Then feed. They slurp it up and all my old horses look slick and sassy.
Reply:Everything you are doing sounds just fine, however I would have a vet check her teeth just to be on the safe side if you havent done that yet. The other thing that I have done for my older mares was I put them on a calf manna supplement. It was suggested to me with a 21 yr old mare about 6 yrs back.She was getting ribby and I thought for sure it was getting close to her time because of her condition. I didnt know what this horse had been threw because she was givin to me a few months before this by a guy who said he was going to shoot her if knowone tookher. His problem was the horse kept jumping an breaking the fence. I went over and got her and brought her home as a rescue. It was suggested to me about the calf manna supplement by a lady at the feed store. I had no hopes it would work as it sounded so wierd and I thought that was only for calves. Boy was I wrong and she gained her weight back within about 2 1/2 months. I dont know what else I can suggest to you but I wish you good luck.... oh yeah I sprinkled the supplement over the feed.

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