[Rosie14]

I have a 24yr old horse that was gave to me...I feed her 3x daily and she has grass and hay, I'm new to caring for horses and have no clue why she'd be losing weight
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[blue eyed pony]

If you're new to horses you might be making the common mistake of not feeding enough. Especially considering you have an older horse and at 24 their teeth aren't as good and their guts don't work as well.

So before we can help, could you tell us what she's getting? [amounts by weight please?]

 

[natisha]

The best thing would be to have a vet look at her & give you tips depending on what they see.

 

[loosie]

Hi & welcome!

Yeah, more info please, for any helpful opinions here. Is she new to you? You are new to horses? Has she had a vet check?(If so, what was said?) Has she had her teeth done recently? Wormed? What exactly & how much do you feed her? Is she alone & how is she managed/kept?

 

[Rosie14]

I don't know the weight, but it's a big Folgers plastic jug of sweet feed, and senior feed morning and night I make her fruit bowls in between meals and she has hay and grazes thru out the day
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[Rosie14]

I don't know the weight, but it's a big Folgers plastic jug of sweet feed, and senior feed morning and night I make her fruit bowls in between meals and she has hay and grazes thru out the day...
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[loosie]

'Folgers horse feed' didn't come up in google, so have no idea what the 'sweet feed' & senior is, let alone what size plastic jug. What fruit? How much? How often? What type hay?

All I can speculate from what you've told is that as 'sweet feed' is basically junk food for horses, that's not helping. IF the senior feed is also high starch/sugar, grain based, that's probably not the best either. Depending what fruit & how much, a lot more sugar there. If high sugar & only feeding 2-3 times a day that will also effect the gut more negatively than if fed little & often. And possibly her teeth, worms, ulcers(from the junk food), IR or cushings... has she been vet checked? Need much more info to do more than guess, as you can see.

 

[Rosie14]

Sorry...Folgers can is not the name of the food..that's,Southern Supreme equine nutrition and omc feed..fruits are carrots,apples,watermelon,honey dew,avocados, and bananas
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[Rosie14]

The hay, not sure I jUstinov go to the feed store that knows her(she was given to us) and tells them I need hay...I have talked to them about her losing weright and they added the 2nd feed last week but seems to she still losing wait! grrrrr
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[TessaMay]

I believe she means the Folgers coffee can for the measurement.

Rosie, I would cut out the fruits. Giving apples and carrots as occasional treats is fine, but it's not going to help her with weight and is a lot of unneeded sugar.

I would get a vet out to see what's going on and give you advice on a proper diet. If you are new to horses, it's highly possible you think you are giving her what she needs, when you aren't. Horses are more complicated and specialized when it comes to care than a lot of other animals.

 

[verona1016]

Stop with the avocados asap- they're toxic to horses Avocados Can Be Toxic to Horses | Equinews

 

[loosie]

Rosie, again, you need to provide full info, not just bits & pieces, it's just a waste of time reading & replying to you otherwise. No idea what folgers coffee is, let alone the size of can, weight of food that fits in it...

Ditto to ditch the fruit - esp avocado which is toxic to many animals!! Do some research into equine diet & nutrition, before just feeding anything willy nilly. Get the vet out, teeth done, wormed etc for starters.


NB just noticed you already said avocado toxic Verona. Perhaps it's the effects of this fruit that is causing the horse to lose condition.