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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
  
Location: Kansas | I have a senior / retired 25 yr. old barrel horse. In the past this hasn't been a problem, but now he has issues with chewing hay. Seems to be wadding it up and not able to chew due to teeth being worn down. Vet says no sharp edges just worn / old teeth. What suggestions does everyone have for a hay replacement. He loves his Safe Choice Sr. feed and gets that 3x / dy.. I did have him on Equine Sr. but the pellets were much harder. He was never a heavy built horse more tall and lean so I would like to get the weight back on him. Keeping him blanketed so he doesn't have to work as hard to keep warm and stalling overnight. He does have a round bale of good brome for day turn out, but doesn't seem interested in eating it much. Suggestions?? |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
| Chopped alfalfa in a bag. If u can't find it you can also soak alfalfa cubes until they soften and come apart. Had a gelding that my daughter ran until he was 28 and he did great on senior and either of the alfalfa options. At 27 he ran in the 2D at Jud Littles. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Have you tryed Alfafa hay? |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Google Chaffhaye its easy to chew for older horses. |
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 Cool As Ice
Posts: 4632
Location: Black Hills, South Dakota | We have an older horse that has like no teeth just a few in the front. We have had wonderful luck with purina sr grain with amplify with alfalfa pellets. We soak the grain and pellets for him so it is very soft. He is looking a feeling great. We also gave him detox this summer for 3 months. :) |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | I would get a Senior feed and add water.. equine sr is a good feed and I add soaked beet pulp to it.. .I would work up to 2 to 3 qts a feeding of soaked beet pulp..thats about 1 and 1/2 qts DRY and add water it should swell to about 3 qts . or add soaked alfalfa cubes..Id put the sr grain in bucket and add the soaked BP and then add a lil more water.. it will get mushy..
Edited by Bibliafarm 2015-12-17 8:50 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 899
| We give our senior mare with no teeth alfalfa pellets,beet pulp,senior feed and MaxiGlo all soaked in warm water. She gets fed 4x a day and looks really good. An equine dentist said she could have a round bale in front of her 24/7 and starve to death. So, feeding her this way is a necessity and she is worth it!! Good luck with your senior :)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: Kansas | Thank you for all the responses. I will look into all the suggestions. I feel bad that he doesn't get to eat hay in between feedings. Makes me feel like he is missing out. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: Kansas | Flashin The County - 2015-12-17 8:22 PM Chopped alfalfa in a bag. If u can't find it you can also soak alfalfa cubes until they soften and come apart. Had a gelding that my daughter ran until he was 28 and he did great on senior and either of the alfalfa options. At 27 he ran in the 2D at Jud Littles.
So if you soak alfalfa cubes...how much do you put out at one time? I would love to find something that he could graze throughout the day. Or do you just put a limited amount like a feed ration? Is there any issue with choke? When given hay he just makes wads of it and spits it out. |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | You can still put hay out for him so he has the satisfaction of chewing even though he wads it up and spits it out, when feeding what others have suggested. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: Kansas | Southtxponygirl - 2015-12-17 8:40 PM Google Chaffhaye its easy to chew for older horses.
I like the idea of Chaffeye hay and the website. Nearest dealer is a couple hours away, but if that is what works I don't mind making the drive. I worry about buying Alfalfa here (Ks.) as we do have blister beetle issues in some areas. Not sure I want to risk that issue. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: Kansas | Nevertooold - 2015-12-17 9:26 PM You can still put hay out for him so he has the satisfaction of chewing even though he wads it up and spits it out, when feeding what others have suggested.
I still have a round bale of good brome because his girl friend (she's 21) has no issues. I feel bad that he just stands by the bale and she eats like a piglet. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | with soaked beet pulp the horses arent usually interested in hay.. their belly s full..lol |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
| runnin hard - 2015-12-17 9:24 PM
Flashin The County - 2015-12-17 8:22 PM Chopped alfalfa in a bag. If u can't find it you can also soak alfalfa cubes until they soften and come apart. Had a gelding that my daughter ran until he was 28 and he did great on senior and either of the alfalfa options. At 27 he ran in the 2D at Jud Littles.
So if you soak alfalfa cubes...how much do you put out at one time? I would love to find something that he could graze throughout the day. Or do you just put a limited amount like a feed ration? Is there any issue with choke? When given hay he just makes wads of it and spits it out.
I fed about 1/2 to 2 coffee cans twice per day. No issue with choke if you fully soak them. I would totally cover them with water and let them set while a did all my chores. Sometimes even have to add more water. In the winter I used warm water sometimes. You will be surprised how much they swell and come apart, pretty much turn into a mash. My horse loved them.
When I fed the chopped hay, it was basically free choice. I fed it in a big tub and he grazed on it all day. After a few days they get there fill and won't eat all of it at one time. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: Kansas | Thank you everyone!! |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | Bibliafarm - 2015-12-17 9:33 PM with soaked beet pulp the horses arent usually interested in hay.. their belly s full..lol
My old horse loves his soaked beet pulp. He prefers that over soaked alfalfa cubes, but he gets both. |
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| Flashin The County - 2015-12-17 8:22 PM
Chopped alfalfa in a bag. If u can't find it you can also soak alfalfa cubes until they soften and come apart. Had a gelding that my daughter ran until he was 28 and he did great on senior and either of the alfalfa options. At 27 he ran in the 2D at Jud Littles.
Brome hay is a coarse hay and tuffer to chew than most hays use the suggestion below on alfalfa. During drought years here in Ok and tx we bought brome hay and our horses almost starved to death before they would eat it ..
50 lb bag of either type of alfalfa equals one 65 lb bale of alfalfa due to lack of moisture in the bagged alfalfa. There are generally 11 flakes of alfalfa in a 65 lb bale. (~6 lbs per flake)
Soak time .. overnight for morning feeding and between feedings for evening)
Feed 1/4 of a bag of dried alfalfa after soaking ='s ~16lbs of "hay"
(20-30lbs of hay needed per day by a horse and let him chew on the brome)
In another bucket soak a scoop of whole oats.. per the above soak times
Use purina 200 14% pellet per scoop 3 lbs as your base or your choice of a good 14% pellet ..
Feeding Time .. pour water off of oats .. add the 3 lbs of pellets.. stir it up to dampen the pellets .. and feed horse ..
Pour the water off the alfalfa and feed it in the bucket or in the trough after he has eaten most of his oats and pellets ..
The whole oats provide a good weight gainer and fiber along with the energy and fiber in the alfalfa to keep his digestion in good order ... these two have the food value that all feeds are benchmarked too ... excellent horse nutrition .. period .. balances calcium and phosphorous naturally .. Vitamins A, D, C ... selenium
Pellets will have some minerals and vitamins with nutrition for a horse with bad teeth .. with several of my older buddies I have mixed pellets into a slurpy to keep them in good shape ... hearing them suck it up is funny to hear ..
With a good worming program and the above three items should keep him fat, happy and sleek ...
also keep in mind ... a chewing horse is creating saliva that aids in their digestion ...
As you know the fiber is what generates heat in the colon for a horse during bad weather and keeps his BM making normal horse apples ...
GOOD LUCK ...
stay away from Beet Pulp .. it contains heavy metals and chemicals used in processing beets into sugar .. i.e. any horse feed that comes from processing human food has harmful residues in it or it would be fed to humans .. lol
Edited by BARRELHORSE USA 2015-12-17 11:08 PM
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 Maine-iac
Posts: 3334
Location: Got Lobsta? | I give a bucket full of Blue Seal hay stretcher - its hay pellets all soaked up. He has put on a lot of weight since adding it - he's almost 32. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | BARRELHORSE USA - 2015-12-18 12:06 AM Flashin The County - 2015-12-17 8:22 PM Chopped alfalfa in a bag. If u can't find it you can also soak alfalfa cubes until they soften and come apart. Had a gelding that my daughter ran until he was 28 and he did great on senior and either of the alfalfa options. At 27 he ran in the 2D at Jud Littles. Brome hay is a coarse hay and tuffer to chew than most hays use the suggestion below on alfalfa. During drought years here in Ok and tx we bought brome hay and our horses almost starved to death before they would eat it .. 50 lb bag of either type of alfalfa equals one 65 lb bale of alfalfa due to lack of moisture in the bagged alfalfa. There are generally 11 flakes of alfalfa in a 65 lb bale. (~6 lbs per flake ) Soak time .. overnight for morning feeding and between feedings for evening ) Feed 1/4 of a bag of dried alfalfa after soaking ='s ~16lbs of "hay" (20-30lbs of hay needed per day by a horse and let him chew on the brome ) In another bucket soak a scoop of whole oats.. per the above soak times Use purina 200 14% pellet per scoop 3 lbs as your base or your choice of a good 14% pellet .. Feeding Time .. pour water off of oats .. add the 3 lbs of pellets.. stir it up to dampen the pellets .. and feed horse .. Pour the water off the alfalfa and feed it in the bucket or in the trough after he has eaten most of his oats and pellets .. The whole oats provide a good weight gainer and fiber along with the energy and fiber in the alfalfa to keep his digestion in good order ... these two have the food value that all feeds are benchmarked too ... excellent horse nutrition .. period .. balances calcium and phosphorous naturally .. Vitamins A, D, C ... selenium Pellets will have some minerals and vitamins with nutrition for a horse with bad teeth .. with several of my older buddies I have mixed pellets into a slurpy to keep them in good shape ... hearing them suck it up is funny to hear .. With a good worming program and the above three items should keep him fat, happy and sleek ... also keep in mind ... a chewing horse is creating saliva that aids in their digestion ... As you know the fiber is what generates heat in the colon for a horse during bad weather and keeps his BM making normal horse apples ... GOOD LUCK ... stay away from Beet Pulp .. it contains heavy metals and chemicals used in processing beets into sugar .. i.e. any horse feed that comes from processing human food has harmful residues in it or it would be fed to humans .. lol
Beet pulp has been fed for a very long time and I disagree with BH statement as does many on here. |
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 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | You can also feed purina equine senior free choice. |
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