Feeding a veteran horse?

Question

My welsh cob is now in his late 20s,I feed sugar beet, molichop and a veteran mix, however he will not eat hay or haylage.If I add flaked barley will this help to keep /add weight on and any other suggestions.

Answer 1

I assume that the reason you are asking is because he is losing weight.  What you are feeding sounds like a good program. If losing weight is the problem you might have his teeth floated. The other thing you might try is pelleted feed with a higher protein level. The pellets stay in the digestive track longer allowing the horse to get more benefit from it, is breaks down easier and since you are feeding soaked beet pulp it will be softer and easy to eat. The older horse can have higher protein without causing any problems

I use corn oil to add fat, fat is for energy, I used it to help my endurance horses fuel up for miles.

My horses really didn't like the taste of corn oil either but after a few days they would start to accept it.

You might also try a bag of dengy with alfalfa. My old guy (27) would eat that better than regular hay.

EM

Answer 2

Senior feed, corn oil. High protein hay like alfalfa