Question
My 22-year-old gelding is in moderate body weight now on a summer diet of pasture, 4 lb (1.8 kg) of senior feed, and 2 lb (0.9 kg) of timothy hay pellets, divided into two meals. He has two health problems that make formulating a diet difficult: hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP) and poor dentition. His teeth are in such rough shape that he’s not able to chew long-stem hay. On top of this, he’s prone to laminitis. I have added soaked beet pulp pellets to his ration in previous winters, but he still must go long periods of time during the day without forage or feed. What can I do?
Answer
Your gelding’s dietary restrictions from HYPP and poor dentition make it challenging to supply appropriate forage. Many horses with some tooth loss can still successfully consume small amounts of long-stem hay. Have you confirmed with your veterinarian that his teeth precludes him from being offered any long-stem hay, even if soaked?
Many horses with poor teeth will paw or push around hay to dislodge the leaves of hay, which can be chewed and swallowed easily. Leaves of good-quality hay are rife with nutrients. Some will go a step further, wadding up the stems in their mouths as they chew, coating them with saliva, and finally spitting out a ball of half-chewed forage, a behavior known as quidding.
An alternative to hay is chopped forage that does not have added alfalfa, soybean meal, or molasses. It seems to be challenging to find chopped timothy hay, but I did come across some that was a chopped mix of timothy, alfalfa, and oat hay that would be appropriate in small amounts. If chopped hay is not possible, a timed automatic feeder for the timothy pellets may work well.
Feeding three meals during the day would help get more forage and calories into him without raising the potassium levels with larger meals. At 4 lb (1.8 kg) daily, the senior feed is being offered below the manufacturer’s recommended minimum feeding rate. Adding a micronutrient supplement would help fill in the missing nutrients. However, a complete, forage-included senior feed would also contribute more fiber to the diet when increased to the minimum of 6 lb (2.7 kg) per day. Adding a third meal of the same size would meet the daily requirement.
To help support digestive health and optimize fiber digestion, I recommend adding the hindgut supplement EquiShure. Horses with poor dentition may have trouble properly digesting feedstuffs because they are not broken down with chewing. As a time-released buffer, EquiShure reaches the hindgut of the horse to balance the pH, providing a suitable environment for healthy microbial populations.
During the winter there is another nutritional factor to consider when the grass is no longer available. Sufficient levels of vitamin E in the winter must come from feed and supplements because it is no longer provided by grass. Hay contains very little vitamin E after harvest. Maintaining optimal levels of vitamin E is important for a senior horse, as vitamin E supports immunity and helps protect against cell-damaging free radicals. The natural-source, liquid supplement Nano-E provides vitamin E in a highly bioavailable form.
