I have a 25+ year old Arab gelding...I acquired him about 10 yrs ago so I am not certain of his real age. He was bought at an auction so I don't have much history on him:(
It seems that this year he is having a hard time keeping his weight on. I have "teeth floating" scheduled next week for him. I now have him on a Senior pelleted feed and add "Cool Calorie 100" to his feed. I also feed him high-quality Alfalfa hay 2x a day. IS there anything else that I can do to "up" his weight and help him live out his senior days as a healthy horse?
PS: he is on our property - in a drylot pasture right now (we plan on planting this next spring).
PSS: I no longer ride him...I want him to live out his "glory" days as my pasture buddy...which poses another question: How do I keep up his muscle tone?
Thanks so much! Any help would be greatly appreciated! (I have experience in horses..just not senior ones:)
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Answers:
My QH was 36 when he passed away. At around 25 years he started to be hard to keep weight on. All the regular stuff, floating, worming, etc was up to date. So we started feeding him a 2 cups of Calf Manna daily, on in the am feed and one in the pm feed, in addition to his regular ration. He picked up weight well, and was healthy and ridable up to the last. (Of course 'ridable' means a slow amble around a flat field for 15 minutes) God, I miss that horse. Try it and see if it helps. Hope you horse hangs on as long as my ol' Moose.
Sounds like you are doing the right things, =-) When he gets his teeth floated, you will notice a big difference, especially if this is the first time he has ever had it done. Don't try to fatten him up too fast, you don't want him to colic. I would give him a dose of ProBiotics once a week to help with his digestion.
As for keeping him fit, once he starts gaining, there is nothing wrong with gently trail riding him 3 times a week at a walk for about 30 minutes. It will keep his mind active as well. If he is trained well enough, just snap a lead rope to his halter and jump on barebacked. No fuss or stress involved.
If you just really don't want to ride him, put another senior in with him. Let them hang out and be old codgers together, =-) There's nothing wrong with being a lazy retired horse.
Later!
C
Try lunging him for a few minutes a couple of times a week...Should help keep up his muscle tone.
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