I’m looking for an alternative to powdered vitamin E. Is your vitamin E a liquid product? Is it d-tocopherol succinate? My horse is on a medication that has put her off supplements, especially powdered ones. I’m looking for a very bioavailable, liquid vitamin E supplement for her.

Does EO-3 have any omega-6 fatty acids in it? Is it good for weight gain?

My 22-year-old gelding has had free fecal water syndrome for many years. It has been somewhat under control. I am always looking for soft grass hay. Is timothy a good choice?

I am seeking your expertise in feeding a horse with myofibrillar myopathy (MFM). My upper-level eventer was recently diagnosed with MFM by muscle biopsy. I have ordered MFM Pellet, the supplement that Dr. Stephanie Valberg recommended. My horse has extremely high levels of vitamin E, so that is not needed now. Are there any other products that may help him?

I have spoken with some local hay producers, as I am trying to purchase hay appropriate for my metabolic horse. One producer mentioned his hay contains significant broomsedge. Is this OK?

I have a senior Paint mare (23 years old, 14 hands, 700 lb or 300 kg) that needs to gain weight. Daisy spends most of her day in a stall (20 hours) and the rest in a drylot. She is fed orchardgrass hay (8-9 lb or 3.5-4 kg) two times a day, rice bran (1 cup two times daily), and a dried vegetable fat supplement for weight gain once a day. I tried switching Daisy to alfalfa to get more calories into her, but she came up lame in the front. I use her for lessons three or four times a week, and I am becoming more and more concerned about her weight. Her dentist sees no sign of obvious trouble, just an aging mouth. Help, please.

Do hydrogenated oils in horse feeds lead to increased inflammation and possibly arthritis?

Ruby is my 24-year-old Quarter Horse mare. She weighs about 1,000 lb (450 kg), and she’s in moderate body condition. She has insulin dysregulation and Cushing’s disease. She’s rehabbing from an injury, so she’s in her stall all but six or seven hours a week. She consumes about 16 lb (7 kg) of hay per day; most of the hay is timothy, though there is some alfalfa and orchardgrass in it. She is fed 5 lb (2.3 kg) of an easy-keeper feed per day, and I supplement ground flaxseed, salt, natural-source vitamin E, and a digestive aid. She also receives pergolide. I am happy with her weight, but ever since I started the pergolide, she is picky, sometimes not finishing her grain. I want her to have the best diet possible given her health issues.

Everything I’ve read indicates that grain should not be fed to growing draft horses. I know specially formulated foods are available for large-breed dogs so they don’t grow too fast, but what about horses? I have a Percheron yearling gelding, and my vet says that grass, Bermuda hay, and alfalfa pellets are not enough to give him what he needs, even though he is in good flesh and acts healthy. What does the research say?

I own a 16-year-old pony gelding (14.2 hands, 985 lb or 450 kg) that needs to lose weight. I’d assign him a body condition score of 7. He has been diagnosed with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID or Cushing’s syndrome) but is otherwise sound and healthy. He spends most of his day outside munching on sparse pasture and round-baled fescue. He gets 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) of ration balancer daily as well as some soaked alfalfa, electrolytes, bran, levothyroxine sodium, and pergolide. When the grass gets greener, I put him in the paddock until the other horses eat it down. What can I do to reduce his weight?