February 2018 6 Arizona REAL COUNTRY the magazine Mike Barna Publisher mbarna@963realcountry.com (602) 622-3695 Erika Smith Royal Editor erika963realcountry@gmail.com Misty Voitovski Creative Director Contributing Writers Desiree’Byrne, Kimmie Dillon, Arman Ghazi, Charlie LeSueur, Linda McNulty, Jim Olson, Robert Piekow, Bob Roloff, Buddy Uldrikson, Michele Wilson, JolynYoung, Janna Zepp Arizona Real Country is owned and published by Barna Broadcasting LLC. No person, organization or party can copy or reproduce the content on our website and/or magazine or any part of this publication without a written consent from the editor’s panel and the author of the content, as applicable. The publisher, authors and contributors reserve their rights with regards to copyright of their work. Ask the Vet FEEDING A SENIOR HORSE Q: My 19 year old mare is eating well but starting to lose weight. What does feeding a senior horse entail? A: This is a common problem that many older horses face. Despite the fact that their appetites are good and they appear to be eating well, many horses will suffer weight loss as they age. This can occur for various reasons, perhaps the most common of which are poor nutrient absorption in the GI tract and poor dentition. For proper digestion to occur, horses must chew hay to an appropriate (small) size before swallowing. These small pieces are required for the bacteria in the GI tract to properly digest the hay and extract all of the nutritional components. As horses age or develop poor dentition, they lose the ability to chew hay into the appropriate size needed for digestion. Despite eating large amounts, the system is unable to utilize the hay appropriately and therefore it provides little nutritional support. Additionally, some aged horses have a harder time absorbing nutrients from the GI tract. That being said, the goal with feeding senior horses is to maintain a well-balanced diet in a form that is easily digestible. There are many viable nutritional options available ranging from hay cubes/ roughage chunks to complete pelleted feeds. Hay cubes are often a good place to start, as they are preprocessed into small pieces and therefore do not need to be broken down, or chewed, into smaller pieces. In an older horse, especially one with poor dentition, it is a good idea to soak hay cubes prior to feeding to avoid any choking hazards. Many feed companies also produce a senior feed, or a complete pelleted feed. These feeds are labeled ‘complete’ as they contain complete balanced nutrition including forage, vitamins, minerals etc. These products can be used in combination with a hay/hay cube diet or can be used as the sole source of nutrition. Most horses tend to do very well on these feeds, but it is important to remember that many of these feeds are high in sugar. If your horse has had metabolic problems such as Cushing’s disease or laminitis, these products may not be appropriate. Another excellent, safe source of fat and fiber is non molasses beet pulp. Non molasses beet pulp is especially good if your horse has had metabolic or laminitis issues, as it is very low in sugar but very high in fat. High fat/high fiber pelleted products are also suitable in some situations, but again care must be taken to assess the energy and sugar content before feeding. There are various supplements available containing flax seed and omega oils that can also help with weight gain. On the topic of supplements, we can never forget the importance of a well-balanced vitamin and mineral mix – every horse, especially geriatric ones, should be supplemented in some manner with vitamins and minerals as a straight hay diet is often not sufficient to meet these needs. As pointed out, there are many products available for senior horses, but each product is not necessarily appropriate for every horse. You should always speak to your veterinarian about your individual horse’s situation so that he/she can help you formulate an appropriate diet. Finally, diet alone may not be responsible for such a dramatic weight loss in a short period of time. There can be many other causes for weight loss in aged horses, and so it may be worth having a veterinarian do a physical exam +/- bloodwork to ensure there are no underlying health issues that need to be addressed. FEEDING A YOUNG HORSE Q: Can you feed alfalfa to young horses? A: You are correct, alfalfa hay is quite high in calcium and can result in an inappropriate dietary calcium:phosphorus ratio. In addition, alfalfa is considered to be fairly rich forage. You want to be careful with a big young growthy (warmblood?) horse, because over nutrition and rapid gain can predispose them to developmental orthopedic disease as well as overloading immature joints. It sounds like you really want to do things right with this horse, so my suggestion is that you consult your local feed supplier for a nutritional consultation. Most good feed dealers will provide a reasonably priced hay analysis that will give you a basis from which to determine the most appropriate concentrates and supplements to add in order to reach a balanced ration. There are also independent certified nutritionists who can help you, and I am sure they would also appreciate the information that the hay analysis would provide. The foundation for any feed program is hay, preferably good quality and lots of it. Every crop is different, so a hay analysis will remove the guesswork and give you peace of mind that you are feeding your young athlete appropriately. Overall body composition and fat distribution are important indicators of health. If you are not sure where your horse falls on the scale, take a look at several web documents available on “body condition scoring in horses”. Here is a link to one example: admanimalnutrition. com/webcenter/content/conn/WCC1/uuid/ dDocName%3awctrprd_003885 Follow Arizona Real Country for news, events, giveaways and more! 801 W. Wickenburg Way Wickenburg, AZ 85390 (602) 622-3695 ArizonaRealCountry.com