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Expert
Posts: 1477
  
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | I have a gelding that’s 22 and still being rode but he’s really struggling with keeping weight on this winter. Teeth have been done and he’s been wormed. What’s something that will put weight on but won’t break the bank?
Edited by TessBelle 2017-12-27 11:21 AM
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Expert
Posts: 3514
 
| Dac Oil and DC Bloom |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | I really like Amplify to add weight to seniors. Yours might be ready for a partial soaked diet. Does he chew his hay and spit it out in balls? Doing teeth on seniors is tricky as their root is shallow. Take much off to level and the tooth can fall out sooner. I had my 24 yr old geldings done last month and he still has great teeth. They were sharp as we lost track of time and skipped a year, but she fixed that and he is carrying a lot of weight. His dam was nearly 30 before her teeth were ever checked and she didn't even need much done, but they were starting to fall out so she went to a mush diet. She was thin too. |
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Expert
Posts: 1432
| I have a 27 year old mare that I could never keep weight on. We started feeding her Common Sense feed and she looks AMAZING! I tried absolutely everything else and nothing worked for her. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | What is the current diet? |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | winwillows - 2017-12-27 12:16 PM
What is the current diet?
Scoop(I believe it’s 5 pound scoop) and half high protein feed twice daily. Free choice hay 24/7. |
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Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | TessBelle - 2017-12-27 11:20 AM
winwillows - 2017-12-27 12:16 PM
What is the current diet?
Scoop (I believe it’s 5 pound scoop ) and half high protein feed twice daily. Free choice hay 24/7.
So roughly 10 lbs of a grain? That doesn't sound ideal to me, more hay if he eats it and processes it good. I have used Active Senior on my old ones for a few years now and have been very happy with it. It's affordable and they look great. |
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Expert
Posts: 1477
Location: In the land of peanuts and cotton | wyoming barrel racer - 2017-12-27 12:23 PM
TessBelle - 2017-12-27 11:20 AM
winwillows - 2017-12-27 12:16 PM
What is the current diet?
Scoop (I believe it’s 5 pound scoop ) and half high protein feed twice daily. Free choice hay 24/7.
So roughly 10 lbs of a grain? That doesn't sound ideal to me, more hay if he eats it and processes it good. I have used Active Senior on my old ones for a few years now and have been very happy with it. It's affordable and they look great.
Our problem is getting feed. We can only get a Co-Op brand which is what I feed or they sell Triple Crown but it’s triple the price of other places and I’ve seen where people’s been complaining about TC not being good anymore. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | wyoming barrel racer - 2017-12-27 12:23 PM TessBelle - 2017-12-27 11:20 AM winwillows - 2017-12-27 12:16 PM What is the current diet? Scoop (I believe it’s 5 pound scoop ) and half high protein feed twice daily. Free choice hay 24/7. So roughly 10 lbs of a grain? That doesn't sound ideal to me, more hay if he eats it and processes it good. I have used Active Senior on my old ones for a few years now and have been very happy with it. It's affordable and they look great.
This^^^^^I would do away with the grain and put this horse on a good senior pelleted diet that will be easy to digest and free choice hay. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| My senior is retired, looked great this summer on pasture and alfalfa. He started dropping a little weight this winter so I added 2 cups of Renew Gold to his diet twice/day with the alfalfa and he immediately started gaining weight. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | I had really great luck with the Tribute Kalm ultra (its super high in fat) and you dont have to feed nearly as much as you are now. I also top dressed with DAC oil and it did wonders for my boy! He just got one pump am and pm on grain and he loved the taste. very affordable too! He was also on unlimited hay. |
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 Semper Fi
Location: North Texas | Soaked beet pulp has been effective for me. |
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 Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | Scorcho lost weight. It was his teeth. I started soaking alfalfa/oat cubes (which he prefers to other cubes). I soak Nutrena Performance (but, honestly, a good Senior pellet would work. I just like the results from the Performance). I like Amplify too, but currently I mix a little rice bran in his mash. He is, also, getting Chaffhaye. Another suggestion is give a cup of oil with your feedings for calories. Introduce it slowly. It can cause loose stools at first if you give too much.
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Regular
Posts: 89
| my mare is 28, she gets 2 1/2 lbs triumph senior 2x's a day. about a cup of soaked alfalfa cubes 2x's a day. I also add a little corn oil. All the hay she can and will eat, I keep a round bale in the pasture. She is starting to get hard to keep weight on this winter. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| My 23yo appendix gelding is on Purina Equine Senior Active, THE Muscle Mass, and Alfalfa/grass mix, heavy on Alfalfa. He was to the point I couldn’t ride him bareback without a thick pad. Now I can ride him just fine with nothing. |
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 Saint Stacey
| High quality alfalfa. That’s the only thing that has literally saved the life of our now 30 year old show mare. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 764
Location: Stephenville, TX | My old gelding was 33 when I put him down last spring. He was on prime alfalfa hay, pasture, equine sr., soaked beet pulp and Fastrack.
The probiotics in the Fastrack really helped him to utilize his feed. I also kept him de-wormed regularly and kept his teeth in good shape. He also had another senior pasture buddy to help him from getting depressed and eating good. He earned it and deserved the tlc. |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Pay attention to teeth and parasite control. Plenty of alfalfa. Renew Gold at one pound per day. Redmond salt. |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| Staying on top of the teeth, soaked alfalfa cubes and FORCO. |
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 Living on the edge of common sense
Posts: 24138
Location: Carpenter, WY | My old rip, Teehaha will be 35 in a few months and she looks pretty dang good. A little sway back but is holding her weight well. She gets a scoop of Total Equine twice a day mixed with and her evening bucket also includes a generous scoop of soaked shredded beet pulp and mix it all together. She watches you mix her bucket and attacks it when you hang it LOL Free choice grass/alfalfa hay. I make sure she gets Sand Clear or physllium this time of year when the grass is gone.
Edited by teehaha 2017-12-28 8:04 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| Soaked alfalfa or rice bran. Mine have also done really well with rice bran (like Max E glo you can get from Tractor Supply?) |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1118
| I never really had issues keeping weight on my old mare until I let a girl keep her for roughly 8 months to learn barrels on. She came back a pile of bones. I got her back to good weight , but this winter she started losing a lot quicker than normal. She is struggling eating regular hay this year, so I started giving her 5 lbs of soaked alfalfa cubes daily along with 6 lbs of senior feed (8% fate), and a 1/2 scoop of beet pulp. She is gaining her weight back nicely, and its been really cold for our area lately.
I feel like with the oldies, they don't digest the hay or eat as much as they should be due to different things. The hay cubes and beet pulp really helps more than additional grain products. They burn through those calories too fast. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 527
Location: afton, mn | I sell forco, go to www.forco.com to read about this product for putting weight on your older horses, just add 2oz per day to their feed. We pay all shipping on orders, PM me for price and information , ordering in 50lb bags , equals $15.00 per month per horses. I have a a lot of customers with 25-30 year old horses feeding Forco.
Edited by runhard 2017-12-29 12:02 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1207
| I added Purina Amplify to my 27 year old. He is in good shape and has grown a lot of winter hair and I didn't up his regular feed. I just added the Amplify and I also feed the Forco. |
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Veteran
Posts: 160
| Triple Performance works wonders. It has 40% protein and all the amino acids. Increases nutrient absorption as well as getting the hindgut working properly. |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Alfalfa cubes & rice bran are my go-to things for weight. I'll feed beet pulp to stretch hay. Here's an old blog post of mine - https://qheventer.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/old-horses-hard-keepers/ |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 589
| My 26 yr old appendix is 17H and is so hard to put on weight... I recently switched him to Purina Impact Professional Performance with his THE Muscle Mass... It's a night and day difference!! The PIPP doesn't have corn in it and is a pellet... I know alot of people don't like Purina but I have tried EVERYTHING to put weight back on him and this has been a HUGE blessing!! I was so worried about him and his weight for this winter but he has definitely blossomed!! |
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Putting weight on a senior horse