I have a hard-keeping event mare that is recovering from EPM, which has only made keeping her topline more problematic. Despite a ton of forage and feed, she continues to drop weight. Would an oil be the best way to add more calories? Other than the EPM and low weight, she’s healthy. Here are the specifics of her diet: nine quarts of an oat-based feed divided into two meals, grass hay fed in two meals, and turnout 16 hours a day (grass seasonably available). She is also fed Total Wellness, a supplement that addresses antioxidant, joint, and hoof and coat support. 

My 14-year-old Icelandic gelding (13.2 hands, 715 lb or 325 kg) is moderately thin, a body condition score of 4. He currently has 24-hour access to round-baled hay that he shares with herdmates. He also receives 1 lb (0.45 kg) of balancer pellet, 2-3 cups of soaked beet pulp, a selenium supplement, and 2,000 IU of Nano-E (a natural-source nanodispersed vitamin E). He’s a hard keeper for his breed with a history of dropping weight in the spring. His vitamin E levels are consistently in the adequate, but not normal, range, regardless of what supplement I use. I’d like to see a sustained rise in his vitamin E levels as well as consistent weight year-round and a fuller topline. Otherwise, the horse is sound and healthy.

I have an idle mature mare (1,250 lb or 570 kg) that would be considered moderately fleshy. She is in a drylot during the growing season and in a pasture during winter. In the drylot and during winter, I place one bale of grass-alfalfa hay into a haynet with half-inch holes, and this lasts two horses two to three days. The bales weigh about 60 lb (27 kg). In addition, I give her two flakes of hay in a haynet at nighttime; she doesn’t have to share this, as she’s kept by herself then. She’s also fed 1 lb (0.45 kg) of a low-calorie feed daily. She’s given fatty acid and hoof supplements, too. In addition to her weight, she has a dry, itchy mane during the winter months and hoof soreness yearlong during wet or cold weather. She is shod in front. I want to do whatever is best for my horse, most importantly weight loss. 

Could the protein in a balancer pellet cause my yearling filly to be flighty and oversensitive? I am specifically worried about soy consumption.

When it gets really cold, some of my horse feed freezes into a solid block, making it difficult for me to scoop. I can deal with that, but is it safe for my horses to eat?

My 11-year-old Miniature Horse mare weighs about 225 lb (102 kg) in moderate body condition. She spends about a third of her time in a drylot. She’s fed 2.5 lb (1.13 kg) of orchardgrass/timothy hay daily as well as 175 g of concentrate (a mixture of two types), 20 g wheat bran, and 35 g ground flax. She’s fed a pre/probiotic and a liquid vitamin/mineral supplement. She has a salt block in her stall and paddock. She's not a big drinker, and this concerns me. Her feed is mixed with 2.5-3 cups (600-700 mL) water and half an apple. She won’t tolerate more water. I would like her to be on a simpler diet. She is prone to mild colic. After the most recent bout in mid-December, my vet and I agreed to have a gastroscopy performed. The mare is currently sound and otherwise healthy.

I just purchased a bag of All-Phase for my 20-year-old Quarter Horse that is an easy keeper. He is overweight and because of this ended up with a fatty hump on his neck. Now his mane has started to fall out over the hump. Will All-Phase give him the necessary nutrition, in combination with his hay, without extra starch or fat? I'm wondering if adding EO-3 to his diet would be beneficial or counterproductive. Again, I’d like hair growth, not weight gain. Could you please provide recommendations?

My 12-year-old Quarter Horse gelding (15 hands, 1,080 lb or 490 kg) is in good weight. I provide him one bale of mixed grass hay daily  in a drylot. The hay is composed of many grasses (timothy/orchardgrass/bromegrass/canarygrass). I give him 1 lb (0.45 kg) of ration balancer and 1 lb (0.45 kg) of senior feed daily. I also give him quite a few alfalfa pellets as training treats throughout the course of a week. While his weight is fine, he is losing muscle tone. He he has shown no blatant signs of tying-up like sudden lameness, but I’ve observed exercise intolerance and muscle soreness. The muscle soreness is so bad at times he cringes to the touch. Any advice?

While I await the results of lab tests, I have begun looking at feeds suitable for a horse that I suspect has PSSM2. He has experienced muscle sensitivity and exercise intolerance, but I have not seen any overt signs of tying-up, like sudden reluctance to move or discolored urine. Will Re-Leve be beneficial to him?

I have worked with horses for 40 years, and I have noticed that the health and appearance of the average horse has degraded in the last two decades. I believe this is directly related to the quality of feed. In the past, horses were fed cereal grains and hay. Now, they are fed leftovers or by-products of low-quality feedstuffs. In order to get our horses to be healthy, we must add supplements, and still we search for holes in our nutrition program. I offer my horses a high-quality feed, balancer pellet, and good-quality grass hay almost round-the-clock, but they do not look as good as they did 10 years ago. I cannot find a feed that is not full of wheat middlings, soy hulls, rice byproducts, and so on. All I can figure is that the protein quality is low. Are these ingredients capable of making horses fit and healthy like oats, corn, and soybean meal? What ingredients should I look for in a feed?