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When it comes to helping your super senior horse or pony gain weight there’s a simple solution — increase their calorie intake!
However, this can be tricky to get right, especially as our wise seniors often have their own opinion on what they will or won’t eat. The following overview of effective management strategies will help you do best by your own senior horse.
Condition vs weight
First establish whether your horse truly needs to gain weight or simply improve their condition/topline or shape. In equine nutrition terms, ‘condition’ refers to fat coverage, rather than overall wellness and appearance.
Conditioning feeds are higher in calories to promote weight gain or maintenance in poorer doers.
Ageing can impact the shape of some senior horses dramatically, especially for those that are no longer able to work.
A lack of topline doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of fat. Building true topline and muscle is tricky once a horse has retired and has no exercise programme.
Fabulous forage
Forage is key to supporting digestive health and mental wellbeing, it also provides a significant source of calories.
Assuming your horse’s teeth are still good, provide as much forage as your horse will eat, although be mindful of waste. Provide hay or haylage in the field as necessary.
If they struggle to eat enough forage to maintain their weight, consider introducing a (partial) hay replacer.
Terrible teeth
Dental issues are a common cause of weight loss in seniors and regular dental checks are vital. Horses with very poor teeth may need 100% of their diet replaced with a mash.
Practically, replace like for like. So if, for example, they used to eat 6kgs of hay overnight, then feed 6kgs of a hay replacer overnight.
Remember to weigh this out dry before you add the water.
Energy = Calories
Remember, energy and calories are the same thing — calories are simply a measurement of energy.
Feeds containing 7-10 MJ DE/kg can be described as low calorie (similar to average UK hay), whilst those containing 12-13MJ DE/kg are high calorie.
This means that underweight horses need more energy, while overweight equines need less.
Maximise calories in the bucket
To do this, you should:
- Feed enough: Ensure you are feeding the recommended amount of feed, as stated on the back of the bag.
- Use conditioning feeds: Underweight horses may benefit from higher calorie feeds.
- Include balancers: Due to the small amount fed, balancers provide few calories, making them better suited to good doers.
- Check meal sizes: Weigh each horse’s feed to ensure you’re feeding the right amount. Feed no more than 2kgs per meal (dry weight) for horses — less for ponies.
- Choose fibre-based feeds: Choose feeds that are low in starch and sugar to support digestive health and reduce the risk of excitability.
- Feed high calorie chaffs: Assuming the horse’s teeth are still good, choose fibre feeds high in oil to help maximise calorie intake.
Sugar Beet and mashes
Sugar beet is high in calories, low in starch, and an excellent source of digestible fibre. However, after soaking, sugar beet is approximately 80% water and so provides few calories.
High-fibre soaked feeds, like mashes, are a popular alternative. Many ensure a balanced diet, and some can be used as total or partial hay replacers.
Utilising oil for bonus calories
Oils are another feed option for owners of poor doers in need of more calories. Oil is starch free, making it a useful addition for those prone to laminitis or Cushing’s disease (PPID).
All oils provide similar calories and can generally be fed at up to 100ml per 100kg of bodyweight per day. Consult with a nutrition specialist before adding more than 100ml of oil per day.
Management tips for a poor doer
Regular body condition scoring
This is an important tool that enables you to monitor their condition. Check poor doers fortnightly; you can also use a weigh tape weekly.
Rugging
Change rugs as needed to prevent a poor doer wasting energy keeping warm or sweating.
Worming
Some seniors may be more susceptible to worm burdens and regular faecal worm egg counts are recommended.
Behavioural observations
Watch your horse’s behaviour so that you don’t miss changes in their ‘normal.’ Pain or discomfort anywhere in the body can reduce appetite.
Bullying
Older horses slide down the pecking order and it might become necessary to feed them separately.
Keep them happy
Stable and feed a poor doer somewhere they’re happy and relaxed so that they don’t worry the weight off.
Seek advice
Contact a vet, nutrition specialist or other expert if you’re unsure about anything to rule out problems and gain helpful advice.
Tips for tempting fussy eaters
- Try not to chop and change feeds, instead offer them a buffet and separate different feeds.
- Feed little and often rather than large meals.
- Add warm water.
- Consider adding small amounts of grated apples/carrots, garlic, mint or fenugreek to feeds.
Prepare for winter
Be proactive this winter and introduce a higher calorie diet before your poor doer begins to lose weight. You can then increase the amount of calories they consume as necessary, according to the weather and as grazing deteriorates.
If you would like any nutritional advice for your senior horse or pony, the SPILLERS nutrition team are on hand. You can contact them by phone on 01908 226626 or complete a Care-Line form here and one of the team will be in touch.
