Hey guys
I had a quick question... I need to put some extra pounds on my 25 year old thoroughbred. He is already on senior feed, rice bran, corn oil, and all the hay he can eat. He had his teeth floated recently and also has been dewormed recently (worming has never affected his weight previously). I was thinking about starting him on some pro-biotic to see if that would help him... Thoughts??
Eventhough all Senior products contain some probiotics, it would never hurt to add more. As horses age, they loose their digestion efficiency so by adding a pre/probiotic you will boost his hindgut bacteria.
Freechoice hay is great but you have no way of measuring how much he is eating. He might be doing more pushing around and sucking on it than actually eating it. I'd want to measure how much he is eating in hay before changing anything else. How good is the hay? He needs high quality, high calorie, low fiber hay that is easy to chew and digest. I don't know an aged TB that doesn't need some alfalfa in the diet to encourage eating and to help keep the weight up.
I feed the hay out of a feeder and I make sure to pick any loose stuff off the ground so I know if he is leaving any behind. Which he isn't. And I have measured all the hay so I know how many pounds he is getting... I normally give him more in the afternoon if he hasnt finished all of his breakfast yet. Yes its good quality hay I wouldnt buy anything less than that... I have had him on alfalfa pellets before so maybe I will switch back to that...
How are his teeth? They shouldn't generally be too bad yet, at age 25 but if they are too worn, he may have difficulty chewing the hay & be petter with chop.
If the senior feed is too starch &/or you're not feeding it little & often, this could be causing him digestive problems. Adding some beet pulp or other roughage to the hard feed is also a good idea. I agree the probiotics are also a good move.
Alfalfa is a good feed generally, high in energy. It's also very high in calcium, protein & other nutrients that can lead to imbalances if not fed as part of a balanced diet, and the high protein can be problematic for some horses, especially older ones. I'd therefore probably feed little of this without consulting a nutritionist about it or otherwise analysing his diet first.
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