Upkeep on older horse

[fattyboy70]

I have a late teen gelding that I’ll be using for hunting/riding this fall. He’s great and my kids love him. My only concern is keeping weight on him. I’m wondering what some of you have done in similar circumstances with the stock you’ll be using for hunting. What feed supplements have you used that worked? I won’t overwork him but he’s great for my teenage kids to use so I’d like to figure out something that works for both of us

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

For the older horses we mix in lunch grass day and some grain with the morning and evening alfalfa if we want to keep weight on them.

If you’re demanding anything from him work or performance wise like we do, the vet comes out every so often and will inject hocks and stifles as needed. Makes a world of difference. Our 23 year old is still rolling strong and acts like a 5 year old after injections haha.

23 year old in the middle with a 5 year old on him.

 

[wysongdog]

Total equine is what I use. I’ll pack 100# in bear proof panniers to camp if possible. And feed them it a month or so before headed to camp. I use it on my broodmares too.

 

[missjordan]

A mixture between a fortified senior grain like purina or triple crown senior and then high percentage of alfalfa hay mix and/or alfalfa hay pellets . And if they don’t have great teeth water it all down so it turns to mash. You can explore supplements, I’ve had great luck with DAC oil and bloom which also are for weight gain. For packability into the mountains Sr grain and pellet hay probably will be the best combination. I would expect them to loose a bit of weight anyways.

Like someone else suggested I’d definitely look into having the vet inject any combination of hocks/stifles/front feet/ knee joints or at the bare minimum a round of Adaquan. The old guys do so well with a bit of this.

If you’re on Facebook you can also look up a ground called Jim the Feed Guy. He’s full of a ton of great information and is one to not promote supplements but science based fortied feeds and it’s worth checking out the conversations over there


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[Pony Soldier]

I have a 29 year old mare that has never been prone to putting on weight or keeping it on. In sept I will start feeding her twice a day with a 50-50 mix of sweet feed and senior supplement in trying to get a layer of fat on her. Currently she is on all the green pasture she can eat.

I have my other mares on a grass hay ration due to chronic over eating. A reasonable balance is program to follow.