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Sadie is my 22-year-old, 1,200-lb (545-kg) Quarter Horse mare. I feed her a senior feed and about 8 lb (3.6 kg) of hay a day. She has access to pasture year-round for about eight hours daily. Sadie has a history of choke, so I wet her feed. I purchased a special feeder that is supposed…

My 34-year-old mare has begun to lose weight with the onset of autumn. She is eating 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) of senior feed twice a day plus pasture 24 hours a day. What do you suggest?

I have a two-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, about 15.3 hands (160 cm) and growing. He weighs nearly 1,000 lb (450 kg). He’s turned out 21-22 hours a day, and he spends a few hours in a stall. He is currently fed 4 lb (1.8 kg) of sweet feed, 2 lb (0.9 kg) of a ration balancer…

I have a Thoroughbred jumper that is ridden about an hour each day, six days a week. The mare is fed primarily Chinese wild rye with some alfalfa (lucerne) hay added. She is also fed 4 to 4.5 kg (9 to 10 lb) of a feed, which is primarily composed of oat, corn, wheat bran,…

I have been considering feeding my horse beet pulp instead of grain. He does not like to eat his supplements in his current grain, and it would be nice to reduce his intake of processed products. He would not be getting very much beet pulp, somewhere around 0.5-1 lb (0.23-0.45 kg) once a day. He…

I have a nine-month-old Quarter Horse filly bred specifically for halter competition. She weighs about 640 lb (290 kg). She gets 10 hours of turnout each day, and when she’s not out, she has a 12’ x 12’ stall with a 12’ x 36’ run off the back. She’s fed alfalfa (lucerne) and grass hay…

My fat horse is on to me. He sees the grazing muzzle slung over my shoulder as I make my trek to see him every morning, and he sashays away, motoring off in the opposite direction. We’ve been through all the games before: tempting him with feed, going out at other times of the day…

I own a 19-year-old Thoroughbred gelding. He’s so obese he looks pregnant, but his diet consists only of free-choice coastal Bermudagrass, a handful of barley, a handful of timothy hay pellets, rock salt, and seven acres of pasture grass to eat how he chooses as the season dictates. In spring and summer, I worry about…

I own a five-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding; he’s 16.1 hands (165 cm) and in moderate body condition. We spend some of our time working on low-level dressage, but I do plenty of trail-riding with him, too. He consumes no pasture but is turned out into a drylot 4-8 hours a day. His daily diet consists…

How do horses process excess protein? Does protein digestion differ in horses of different ages? Does excess protein lead to thyroid problems?