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 Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
    
Location: Minnesota | My old mare is almost 23 and I'm trying to figure out why she drops weight in the spring and summer months. She's on ADM SeniorGlo, Aloe Vera juice, good quality hay(round bales in winter, small squares year round) and in the summer she has access to 12 acres of pasture. The only thing that differs from the summer months and winter months is she gets a heavy duty winter blanket. Is there something extra I can or should be giving her through the summer? Alfalfa cubes maybe? |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | rice bran |
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 Perky Gal
Location: On a paint horse... | Are her teeth ok? My mare had no chewing teeth left at that age so I had to soak her food which consisted of senior feed, rice bran, and alfalfa pellets. Soaked it to a mash every day. Could she be getting chilly at night?? Maybe a sheet in the spring/summer in case she is using her energy to stay warm??
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Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | skeeter 777 - 2013-12-26 12:08 PM
Are her teeth ok? My mare had no chewing teeth left at that age so I had to soak her food which consisted of senior feed, rice bran, and alfalfa pellets. Soaked it to a mash every day. Could she be getting chilly at night?? Maybe a sheet in the spring/summer in case she is using her energy to stay warm??
Her teeth are good. She eats her hay great and seems to have no issue with her grain. I will try a sheet this summer to see if that helps. She's navicular and not rideable anymore so she's got very little muscle ton but I just feel like she looks to skinny. I will try and get a winter and summer picture loaded. |
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Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | Top picture is last winter(January), I took off her blanket to get the picture. Bottum picture is this summer(August). |
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Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | Sorry, photos won't load. I should also add she is stalled at night. |
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  Texas Lone Star
Posts: 5318
Location: where ever my L/Q trl is parked | what does your vet suggest or say? |
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 Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | Two of mine about her age drop weight in the summer too. It seems the heat is harder on them than the cold & fighting flies doesn't help either. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | I think it could also be the Glycemic issues that some horses have to fight on spring and summer grasses. The insulin gets all out of wack. Try to keep her in till the dew is off the grass then turn her out for only 2-3 hours bring her in for the same amt of time and then back out for a couple of hours. See if this helps her. If so buy a muzzle put her out after the dew and work from there. Rice bran will put fat on one. I have a very skinny border collie ranch dog he is ten, he would eat the rice bran and a little of the Forco in the feed room he is no longer a skinny dog. Vet saw him working goats the other day and told us the fat dog is going to be at risk of heart attack. He couldn't believe he was the same old dog. |
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 Cute Little Imp
Posts: 2747
Location: N Texas | SaraJean - 2013-12-26 1:04 PM
Two of mine about her age drop weight in the summer too. It seems the heat is harder on them than the cold & fighting flies doesn't help either.
I have the same issue with my 26 year old. The past couple of summers, he's dropped weight, but puts it right back on in the fall. Next summer I'll have to supplement his feed a little more to hopefully prevent it. |
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Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | I'm going to try and put a light sheet on here at night and add some rice bran. My vet doesn't think she is too skinny but I just don't like the fact that sue drops weight in Tue summer. Thank you all for the suggestions. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Ctrygirl14 - 2013-12-26 1:51 PM I'm going to try and put a light sheet on here at night and add some rice bran. My vet doesn't think she is too skinny but I just don't like the fact that sue drops weight in Tue summer. Thank you all for the suggestions.
I am sure she looks just fine, I think that you'ur just being a worry wort, cause I know you will make sure every body is well taken care of, but sometimes old age will start catching up with out older friends, and then theres not much we can do about it but just make them as comfortable as possible.  |
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Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | Southtxponygirl - 2013-12-26 1:58 PM
Ctrygirl14 - 2013-12-26 1:51 PM I'm going to try and put a light sheet on here at night and add some rice bran. My vet doesn't think she is too skinny but I just don't like the fact that sue drops weight in Tue summer. Thank you all for the suggestions.
I am sure she looks just fine, I think that you'ur just being a worry wort, cause I know you will make sure every body is well taken care of, but sometimes old age will start catching up with out older friends, and then theres not much we can do about it but just make them as comfortable as possible.
Haha you know me pretty well. I do tend to worry far to much but I just want to make sure I do right by here and get her whatever she needs. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| SaraJean - 2013-12-26 1:04 PM
Two of mine about her age drop weight in the summer too. It seems the heat is harder on them than the cold & fighting flies doesn't help either.
This was my thought. Sometimes it is better for them to be a little thinner in the heat, they need the weight in the winter. If her weight is still good, and she picks back up easily in the fall, it is probably nothing to worry about. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | rice bran or cool calories 100 both work very well on all my horses. Young and old. I have had several during the years that for some reason or another lost weight and either of these products put it right back on them rather quickly.
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