Question
Alda is my nine-year-old Warmblood gelding (1,300 lb/590 kg, 17.2 hands). He’s in moderate body condition, a score of 5 (on the Henneke scale that spans 1 to 9), and he works as a low-level dressage horse. He spends most of his time (20 hr) in his stall but has access to a drylot for a couple hours each day. Alda is fed 30-35 lb (14-16 kg) of grass hay per day and 15-20 lb (7-9 kg) of alfalfa per day in a slow feeder. He’s given 1 lb (0.45 kg) of rice bran and several individual supplements (vitamin E, selenium, copper, zinc, etc.), making meal prep tedious. While I am happy with his weight, he is prone to foregut and hindgut ulcers. He also has bone chips in his hocks that will most likely turn arthritic. If that wasn’t enough, he gets extremely itchy in the summer and rubs to the point of baldness. Can you provide some help?
Answer
The amount of hay being offered to Alda is well above what he would be expected to eat in a day. Most horses eat about 2% of their body weight each day, but he’s being offered 3.5-4.2% of his body weight daily. I would encourage you to double-check the weight of the forage offered. Other questions: How much of the hay doesn’t he eat? How accurate do you think his body weight is?
While the individual products you mention may be meeting Alda’s basic nutrient requirements, some important micronutrients may or may not be included in the various products. Consider replacing these with a high-quality vitamin and mineral supplement, which will contain balanced amounts of all appropriate macronutrients as well as micronutrients and trace elements. This will ease the frustration of scooping out so many supplements at mealtime and will reduce the likelihood of oversupplementation or undersupplementation.
Were gastric ulcers diagnosed through endoscopy? Although you do not mention whether the gastric ulcers are squamous or glandular in nature, healing of certain ulcers and preventing recurrence can be achieved with ReSolvin EQ, a revolutionary blend of polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, including GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), all of which have potent anti-inflammatory effects. (In Australia, look for these research-proven digestive health supplements.)
In a research trial conducted at Kentucky Equine Research, severe squamous gastric ulcers completely resolved in 80% of horses after 90 days of supplementation with ReSolvin EQ. This peer-reviewed research was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
Horses that receive ReSolvin EQ should concurrently be offered Nano-E, a natural-source vitamin E supplement with high bioavailability. As an antioxidant, Nano-E reduces the effects of natural cellular oxidation associated with consumption of supplemental fatty acids.
Moreover, disturbances of the hindgut, particularly acidosis, should be addressed with EquiShure, a time-released buffer that stabilizes the pH of the hindgut. When pH is stable, the beneficial microbes of the hindgut thrive. If the pH becomes too acidic, beneficial microbes die off and other, potentially harmful ones proliferate.
Because of the body-wide anti-inflammatory properties provided by omega-3 fatty acids, ReSolvin EQ will likely help calm the skin issues Alda is experiencing. Some skin problems can be unyielding to treatment, so it is wise to loop in your veterinarian about this problem immediately if you haven’t already done so.
In a similar manner, you may find that ReSolvin EQ helps with inflammation associated with the bone chips. Advice on this specific orthopedic problem is best left to your veterinary team, however. Consider a proactive approach to joint health by supplementing a high-quality joint supplement, which may protect other high-use joints from arthritis, especially important for performance horses.
