I have had my 50 year old Arabian Scotia for over 30 years she is an amazing mover has taught thousands of children teens and adults how to ride and fall. She glides over jumps and has paid the bills for my family for a long time. Her teeth are gone she can't chew and it's getting g hard to keep the weight she suffered a severe impaction I did everything g a vet would do you name I did it but I knew I had to call the vet to be sure I gave her every chance to survive it was 9 days of 11 trips to the farm walking her every 2 hours taking her temp getting water in her body stretching up and out with legs trailer rides till finally I looked her in the Eye as she was flipped over on her back on pain I said girl shit or get off the pot cause I will not have you suffer but I never gave up On her and she on me when I came back 2 hours later I figured she may have died but nope waiting to go for her walk so we did and within 20 mins the most godawful sound and smell had surrounded us for quite sometime but it was over she did it we did it . She is now getting everything g soaked and mashed but she just won't pick up weight her shine is coming back but way to thin I give here 4 tubs of alfalfa cubes soaked a day senior grain mixed with beer pulp and pasture plus apples carrots and cookies please any ideas she has never had a supplement a day in her life just need to get weight on this mate the healthy way and before winter or she isn't going to make it
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It takes a while to gain the weight back after this, my 29yo tbx, has had colic at least once every winter for years, the last bout was 18 months ago, it was 3 bouts between Xmas and the end of Januuary. She took ages to get the weight back on and she's only missing one tooth!!
I don't know where you are but I used Allen and Page Veteran Vitallity and Weight Gain, which all have to be soaked, then she also has hay (which I don't soak, the cold in her gut will spark colic with her)or Haylage. During the winter I drizzle a little veg or sunflower oil on my mares feed, just to grease the gut, she has lots of melanomas and probably some internally which causes a blockage. Her problem was she loves to eat straw so I changed her to Miscanthus(Elephant Grass) bedding which they can't eat. Have a word with your local feed merchant and ask them for some advice, or ring some of the manufacturers and ask them to send some product info to make an informed choice.
It takes a while to gain the weight back after this, my 29yo tbx, has had colic at least once every winter for years, the last bout was 18 months ago, it was 3 bouts between Xmas and the end of Januuary. She took ages to get the weight back on and she's only missing one tooth!!
I don't know where you are but I used Allen and Page Veteran Vitallity and Weight Gain, which all have to be soaked, then she also has hay (which I don't soak, the cold in her gut will spark colic with her)or Haylage. During the winter I drizzle a little veg or sunflower oil on my mares feed, just to grease the gut, she has lots of melanomas and probably some internally which causes a blockage. Her problem was she loves to eat straw so I changed her to Miscanthus(Elephant Grass) bedding which they can't eat. Have a word with your local feed merchant and ask them for some advice, or ring some of the manufacturers and ask them to send some product info to make an informed choice.
Well thanks for your ideas this mate is tough as nails she is feisty and runs with the other mares like a 2 year old I will go and hit the feed store today and see what they have and just make sure I have my glasses so I can read all the labels lol
Also I see I said she was 50 she is 40 years old
Hi
I have, of all things, a Shetland that doesn't hold his weight well (rare I know!)and I am not a fan of anything but grass and hay. My ponies never get anything, and I am hugely sceptical of all the claims by feed manufacturers and their advisors as, of course, they just want you to buy their product and a s a general rule I feel we all mess about with our horses food far too much. However, I have had to re-think my strategy for my little one because the amount of grass mine needs to keep his weight up is too much for the other two so they get too fat and I don't want to split them up. He is not a greedy guts like the other two, is a slow eater, and doesn't gorge, and can be picky about food so I can't feed him large quantities of anything! Tried beet: doesn't like it; laminitic friendly stuff doesn't have enough calories etc. etc so...I finally found what works.
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Shoving more carbs into them is a problem because you are increasing the sugar load, disturbing the natural gut bacteria, it's hard for a toothless horse to get through it all, and what goes in one end must come out the other end! Yours is sounding as if the combination is leaning towards a higher sugar diet: I would cut out the carrots and apples you are adding sugar but no calories. I'm assuming you are using non-molassed beet however if you are using molassed I would switch to non to take the sugar out.
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So you need high calorie in small, palatable quantities, low in sugar. I found this - Bailey's Outshine
http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/whatproduct/supplements/outshine.htm
It can be given on its own or with other feed. My boy loves it and after one daily feed for a week his weight is back to normal and it means they can all stay on their "low calorie" paddock so the other two stay healthy and he has a top up if he needs it. He now only needs a bit every week or so and is holding his weight well. Oil is the key but in careful doses, you don't want to cause other problems and in particular, an excess of linseed can cause liver problems so important to follow the feed guidelines carefully. I would also check the oil content of your senior feed so that you don't accidentally overload as Senior feeds tend to have oil added.
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One final thought, your horse is an amazing age; an old horseman once said to me "You can't put new meat on old bones" - it is an uphill struggle and at the risk of sounding insensitive when it is clear this horse is such a special one and you clearly love her dearly there does come a time when we have to let go and no matter what we do, they just get tired.
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I hope you find a solution that suits her - keep us posted :-)
sorry, our messages crossed ---ok, ignore my last comment, if she is fit and forty go for it :-)
Hi. My old boy was 38 when his melanomas blocked his bladder tube & our 24 years together came to an end, in 2005. He too had weight loss problems. I know Vicci will disagree but I can only report my own experiences - buying whole barley & boiling small amounts, so it is fresh when fed, kept both my old boy & several others that I've been involved with, going for many years. I fed small amounts. A pint of raw grain bulks up about x4 & that was sufficient for 2 days at 2 feeds per day. Perhaps mashing the cooked grains immediately before feeding would assist a toothless horse to digest it. My boy had most of his teeth. I know this is effectively junk food for horses but it is a possible solution when you balance up the options. An underweight horse, long term, has a limited future. Having reached 40 your horse has done incredibly well. Even if you employ the barley short term & once the bulk is built up stop it, at least you have extended her life through this current difficulty. My old boy was always full of life. Word of warning - introduce slowly & in small amounts as too much causes exuberant behaviour (naughtiness)! Good luck. Cheers. Jo.
Saying about Barley Jo, I did feed the old Dragon some barley rings for a time until her weight improved, forgot that!!
Vicki
I had someone pass on a message to me that, they hoped I would "do" the right thing by my girl, I don't think they realised her age, so I gave her a bath at the weekend and took some pictures, posted to fb asking for honest opinions from all my friends, some have known her since she was 7/8 years old, all gave lovely me comments, and some reiterated this at a show the following day. I hope mine goes onto be 40!!
I have been going over all the things and I do believe she is getting a high sugar content I am going to get that in order and try the suggestions I have used oil but to be honest with you she doesn't enjoy as much. She has always had fantastic bowel movements and has never colic on me in the 40 years she has been alive no supplements just grain once a day hay all day long if not out in pasture as well as alfalfa hay portion for the winter. All my horses are maintained easily. I do
Realize eventually this will happen again and I will have to
Make the decision of letting her go so she can make thunder in heaven but if you could just see her she is something else thanks for your help and I will update all
Jo - I'm not going to disagree with you I value your experience and if it works it works - it would be a boring world if we all did the same! :-)
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Tiggy - I hope so too, they live much longer in kind and caring environments so I'm sure we will all have old horses!
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Conjo (what is your name?) ...oil can be a bit yucky but the Baileys outshine comes in very small pellets and after the first mouthful where he wasn't sure he then wolfed them down! I hope you find a solution quickly; good luck
Conjo, The Horse.com just had an interesting article about feeding a toothless horse. Maybe you can get some advice from them as well.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/36029/mind-the-gap-feeding-the-toothless-horse?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=nutrition&utm_campaign=07-06-2015
My name is Joanne lol I just got done reading that article that is so funny and I appreciate everyone's ideas and suggestions I didn't mean anything by what I had said about how easily maintained they were You forget all the things to try when they rarely have issues Vicci ya know so that's why you go to the horse people cause everyone is always trying something and I am always open for suggestions so thank you all
Now a friend of mine has a fb page and someone posted about feeding their 19yo Tb, mate suggested substituting sugarbeet for copra, others suggested Topspec ulsakind, yea sacc, spillers conditioning chaff and cubes, and pink senior, lots of products out there it's finding what works for your horse. But some other products to look at.
Thank you so much everyone