My 10-year-old Rocky Mountain Horse gelding (14.3 hands, 800 lb or 365 kg) is a body condition score of 6 (moderately fleshy). He is fed unlimited grass hay with 1 lb (0.45 kg) of a high-fiber feed and 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) of alfalfa pellets twice a day. I ride him two to three hours a week, light to moderate trail-riding. I’ve owned him seven years, and his behavior has become more of an issue with each passing year. He is a crabby horse, pinning his ears and threatening to kick when approached. Further, he’s very sensitive to touch in the cinch area. I’ve spent years trying to diagnose the issue, employing various veterinarians, chiropractors, and other body workers. Though I never had him scoped for gastric ulcers, I put him on a 60-day regimen of omeprazole to clear any ulcers he had. I’ve seen no change in his behavior. As it stands now, I’d like to just support his digestive tract after the omeprazole treatment. What should I do about that? Also, I am happy with his weight, but I know some would consider him overweight. Is he OK at a solid score of 6?

I own an 18-month-old Quarter Horse yearling with a body condition score of 2 or 3. She has lost an incredible amount of weight for her size (13 hands). Five months ago, she required surgery for a severed tendon in her pastern. Along with stall rest, she was given antibiotics. Once stall rest was over, she was allowed turnout. She seemed to be doing well enough within the herd, though she was at the bottom of the pecking order. She ate from hay piles once the other horses had wandered away from them. The pasture is sparse. Six weeks ago, I noticed she was quite thin. I fed her separately for a week and then consulted with my vet, who made the diagnosis of liver failure with elevated white blood cell count. The vet prescribed more antibiotics and suggested a low-starch grain. She is also fed unlimited coastal Bermudagrass hay and a flake of alfalfa each day. She prefers the grass hay. I added some milk thistle, alternating it with a commercial herbal liver-support supplement. She’s not a fan of actually eating the supplements some days, however. She still isn’t gaining weight, although her attitude seems better. She also had diarrhea but that has improved from pure liquid to cow-plop consistency with a probiotic. I read about vitamin E, but I don’t want to overload her system or do more harm than good. Surely there is something more than just low-starch grain I can be doing?

I own a Friesian mare in moderate body condition (1,000 lb or 450 kg). She is turned out 24/7 with unlimited access to a round bale (mostly timothy) and a mineral block with added selenium. She is also fed a small amount of textured feed (1 lb or 0.45 kg) to which I add digestive and magnesium supplements. I exercise her three or four days a week, mixing up the work between trail-riding, low-level dressage, and groundwork. She suffers from high anxiety that has not improved with any amount of training. I have tried multiple ulcer, calming, and hormonal supplements. Magnesium has helped some mild muscle spasms she experiences, but those spasms still occur when she is stressed. Could you verify nothing in her diet is likely spurring on this unrelenting anxiety?

I’ve recently purchased a horse for my daughter, which will be kept at a local boarding stable. I work in the dairy industry. Because high-quality nutrition fuels milk production in cows, I have a working knowledge of ruminant nutrition. When I was looking over the ingredients listed on empty horse feed bags at the stable, I noticed that horse feed doesn’t ever seem to contain non-protein nitrogen sources. The few bags I scanned seem to contain a single protein source, soybean meal. Why?

I have a 27-year-old gelding that has lost 60-70 lb (27-32 kg) in the last four months. He is fed 2 lb (0.9 kg) of a low-calorie senior feed and has access to both coastal Bermudagrass and orchardgrass hay. In addition, he’s fed flax and a coconut-soybean oil. His ribs are visible, so I’d put his body condition at a score of 4 (1-9 scale). His teeth have been routinely floated for the last 10 years and he is dewormed routinely. He is now rejecting the coastal Bermudagrass hay, which is worrying to me. Should I try to add stabilized rice bran?

I own three Rocky Mountain Horses, all mature, chubby geldings. In the winter, they spend seven or eight hours in a five-acre pasture. Because we get little snowfall and I keep pasture grasses taller in the fall, there’s always some forage for the horses to nibble during those hours, but they do not have access to hay during turnout. In the evening, they come into the barn where they have as much middling grass hay as they like until the next morning. If the weather forecast includes sleet or snow, they remain in the barn for the day. That’s the extent of their diet in the winter. They are dewormed and vaccinated on schedule, and are tended to by the farrier every six weeks. I recently had a conversation with a knowledgeable horsewoman, and she raised her brow at the number of hours my horses went “without” forage. All three horses look robust and dappled, even in their winter coats; all have pleasant dispositions, happy to be at my side. But now I am second-guessing my management. What am I missing?

Why would my four-year-old mare start eating her own manure? She has plenty of hay at her disposal, and she’s fed a high-quality vitamin and mineral supplement, stabilized rice bran, and a bit of beet pulp. I am currently strip-grazing to minimize pasture intake, but the paddock still has plenty of pickings. We have been riding her a little bit more, and she is lazy. I would say she is perfect weightwise. What is going on with the manure-eating?

I have an aged Arabian broodmare that weighs about 950 lb (435 kg). She’s fed both alfalfa/orchardgrass and teff hays. While she has 24/7 turnout, she has no access to green grass. Because of an injury sustained during endurance competition, I decided to breed her, and she’s now four months pregnant. Blood test results suggest a vitamin A deficiency, but when I look at the diet, she should be consuming plenty of vitamin A. Should I ignore serum vitamin A levels, or should I try a supplement in an attempt to raise this?

Murphy, my 15-hand, 1,200-lb (545-kg) aged Morgan gelding, is obese and sound now but at risk of laminitis, according to my vet. Keeping him at a boarding facility makes it hard to gauge how much hay he was fed during the slow lead-up to his current state. In an attempt to curb calories, we reduced the amount of hay to 12 lb (5.5 kg) per day. I have been given mixed advice on whether to feed alfalfa or grass hay, so I give him half of one and half of another. He has been on this diet for three months, and we’ve noticed no change in his weight. The barn manager suggests I reduce the hay further, to only 6 lb (2.7 kg) a day split into two meals. Other things worth mentioning: Murphy has not had access to grass in years, and he is housed in a sand corral where he is able to move around a bit. Weather permitting, I am able to exercise him a few times a week, but the winter sometimes precludes additional exercise. With the temperatures starting to drop, I am very concerned about Murphy’s health. What is the best diet for him?

I train in very hot, humid conditions in Australia. One of my Thoroughbreds pulled up with a mild case of the thumps after her last two starts. Though she won her races, this obviously concerns me. I have tried to make sure the mare’s dietary calcium-to-phosphorus ratio was acceptable, and subsequent bloodwork seems OK. She eats 15-17 lb (7-8 kg) of a high-energy micronized sweet feed a day, 4-9 lb (2-4 kg) lucerne (alfalfa)/oaten hay, ad libitum Rhodes grass hay, and almost 1 lb (0.9 kg) of lucerne (alfalfa)/wheat chaff. I’d like to use a custom feed mix that contains corn, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, and tick beans.