Q's about electrolytes and feed.

I know there are a ton of threads on feed, but I couldn't find one on horses in their younger teens.....

Anyways, I have been told that my horse needs to be on senior feed because she is in her teens (she is 12 almost 13) but I would prefer to have her off of any grain type products if I can get away with it.

I was hoping to ease her off of the feed I am giving her now (I believe it is called Gro-Strong, just what the BO has been feeding her) when I move to the new barn I am going to (she has been on a dry lot and now she is going to a pasture) and once I have some more info, I don't want to shock her system or not give her what she needs, so I was hoping someone on here could give me some advice (the people I have talked to around here so far have wanted me to give her a sweet feed which I didn't really think she needed) .

She is slightly underweight and on light work about 3-4 days a week. Once the weather gets better we are going back to 5 days a week and slowly upping the workout.

I have also been told to give her electrolytes, but I have been hearing so many opinions on it that I really don't now what to think. In the summer she sweats like no horse I have ever seen she could just be standing outside and be sweating. In the winter I try not to work her so that she sweats. Any opinions?

Kudos to whoever reads this and thanks!

Why do you want her off grain if she is under weight and getting worked that often? If you want something that isn't hot like a sweet feed I use Safe choice pelleted feed or strategy. Do you give her free choice minerals, salt block and or mineral block?

By barely underweight I mean that when I upped her work her she lost a little weight (I have been upping her feed to find the right amount) at this point she is pretty much back to the weight she needs to be at.

I also wasn't to fond of the grain she was on before we switched barns so I had been looking around at other feeds and noticed some people on this forum were mentioning other alternatives and was interested, they used other methods of feeding that kept weight and gave them energy. Some things I saw come up were

Copra
Soybean hull
Micronized lupins
Speedi beet
Stabalized rice bran
Platinum performence equine
Nutri plus
Omolene 200

But I have no clue where I could get that stuff and which ones I should get.

Yes, she does have a mineral block ^.^


I was being told she needed the senior feed in a way that made it sound like I was harming my horse by not giving it to her and I was curious to see what other people thought and if they had any feed suggestions for horses in their teens, I mainly see threads on like what to feed my super old or super young horse.

Thanks :)

I would definitely give her a senior diet if she is underweight. I keep even my younger horses that are hard keepers on a senior diet. I also always make sure that they have access to salt/mineral blocks at all times and in the summer I do add electrolytes to their diet. I am not sure you can maintain her on a grass only diet if she is a little underweight already and is worked routinely.

I am sorry I need to clarify...I don't want her on grass only diet, I put a list of things that I have seen people mentioning that they feed their horses and their horses are being worked harder then mine AND they apparently are keeping their weight. I have tried looking for a few of the things I mentioned but I have not been able to find them, so I was hoping someone could tell me more about a non-grain feed and tell me where I could get the stuff if I choose a non-grain feed. ^.^ thanks for the help!

I have three horses, ages 16, 17, and 30. None of them are currently on senior feed. However, I do feed alfalfa and grass hay. In the summer, when I ride the teenagers (the 30yr old is retired) I give them about 1- 2 pounds of sweet feed, once a day. In the winter, when I can't ride as much, and don't want them to get too much energy, I usually feed something like a couple pounds of alfalfa pellets with a little vegetable oil drizzled over the top. Maybe a little rice bran in there too. I like to soak them a bucket of pellets and make them a warm mash when the weather is cold.

Strategy, in my opinion, is a great feed too. The only thing is, around here the Strategy costs almost as much as the senior feed, so if you like giving her senior feed there isn't much difference price-wise between that and Strategy. They say beet pulp is also very good for keeping weight on a horse, but I have never fed it myself.

I never considered a 12-13yr old a senior. I really don't call them seniors until they hit 20.

PS. You should be able to find both grain and non-grain feeds at your local feed dealer.

Thanks for the info! I have just let my BO feed her what she had been feeding all the other horses and never really thought of studying all of the different aspects of feed types (I know I should have) O.o so now I am trying to find out what would be best for her situation..

I also never considered her a senior lol!