[lilrider]

Well the vet came out yesterday and did Bessy's teeth. He said her mouth was one of the worst he has seen in a while. Very very worn down. Not much he could do except get the sharp points off.

She hadn't had her teeth done in... a long time before this. She had never needed it, our previous vet had checked her and said she was fine. Now I am thinking he was wrong... sigh... oh well thats why I changed vets this year.

Anyhow she did start to lose weight this winter and was gaping her mouth when chewing so I figured something was not right. Now she is gaining weight back fast, which he said she would continue to do as the grass is much easier for her to chew up.

Anyhow he made sort of a big deal about it saying he is not sure if she will last through the next winter. I personally don't agree as my trainer has a pony who is actually missing quite a few of her teeth and is making it just fine (she is like 30 years old). When I asked him what I could feed her to help he wasn't very helpful, he said switch her to a senior feed which she is already on so we are good there.

She is not active, she doesn't really wear off much weight due to moving in the winter, I think its more due to her taking longer to chew up her hay/grain and the other two finish theirs and chase her away before she is done. So she does not get as much. So I plan to start shutting them in at night this winter. Which will give her time to eat all her food without the other two bullies stealing it. I have also started to wet down the senior feed which works wonderfully and makes it much easier on her. When its not wet down she tends to drop a lot more of it.

So my question is, what else can I do? I am not worried about summertime as we have plenty of grass and she has already gained quite a bit of her weight back. My worry is in the winter when there is no grass.

I asked the vet about doing alfalfa cubes if it would be easier but he said with horses who have chewing problems they worry about them choking on the cubes.

She is my baby, so I am willing to do whatever I have to. She is 25 years old, have had her since she was 4 years old. So she has been a part of my life for 21 years (and I am only 21 almost 22 lol).

Other than the teeth problem she is in good help. He was a little worried about her not shedding out completely but she has started to now by herself so he didn't want to do any blood tests on her. She has a little arthritis but not too bad and the senior feed has MSM in it which helps.

Now I'm just babbling but yeah so any help would be very much appreciated!

[Jess!]

I think soaked alfalfa cubes might work. What about beet pulp?

I used to have to make everything of Anna's into a mash. Not because of her teeth, but because she was a spoiled horse and refused to eat anything that wasn't mixed up and made into a mash.

It worked well for her, but it was a pain to make a mash out of everything.

[Ryle]

Your best bet with these really old horses is to go with a complete feed designed for senior horses. Even with soaking alfalfa cubes and beet pulp, they are still harder to digest than a pelleted feed that has been processed to be more digestible rather than just compressed and dried. Plus, you are going to get a balanced nutrient profile whereas both alfalfa and beet pulp are unbalanced on calcium and phosphorus.

Pick any of the good name brand senior feeds on the market and feed it according to the label. This means that you should be feeding it at a rate of around 14-16 pounds per day---not like the supplemental feeds whic are fed at 3-8 lbs a day. Pelleted senior feeds get good and soft with the addition of just a little water so they are easier for your horse to chew as well. Treat hay/pasture like it's a treat rather than a significant portion of her diet because without being able to chew well she can't make good use of the nutrients in them. If you want to add extra calories in an easy to digest form, add fat (either vegetable oil or a "weight supplement" though oil is cheaper and easier to keep on hand. I buy large bottles at walmart when I go shopping to add to my old man's feed.).

[Appylvr]

I was having the same problem with my old Appy mare. She was loosing weight and dropping feed. The vet came out to look at her teeth... her top front were worn down level with her gums.

So I didn't give her any hay anymore (she just balled it up and spit it out anyways). I don't know the size of my scoop, but I played around with it until her weight stayed the same...

I gave her 1 scoop morning and evening of Nutrena Senior and 1 scoop morning and evening of soaked pellets. I fed the 100% Timothy pellets because she used to colic on Alfalfa... but there are Alfalfa/Bermuda blend pellets...

Well, when I put her down last year she looked awesome and the vet was very impressed on how good she looked for her age...

[ejforrest]

I have a 25 year old and a 28 year old both with bad teeth and the 25 year old has no teeth in the back. I got the 25 year old last May and she was just a walking skelonton. I have put on a good 100 pounds so far with a gallon of beet pulp twice a day(easy to digest, easier than hay) and a gallon of alfalfa pellets with a complete vitamin/mineral supplement-twice a day. I give this to my 28 year old also and he has wave mouth plus Cushings Sydrome. All this is covered with water to make a soup. During the winter months they also get a cup of veg oil twice a day for extra energy and to help with the weight.
You just need to find what works for your horse. I use the beet pulp and alfalfa with the fat and vitamins with out any colic/founder problems. Its all natural with the exception of the fat oils, but it is well tolorated by the horse without digestive upset. Anything new to the diet should be done slowly over a 2-3 week period.

[Stormyheart6160]

I have a 33 year old here that has NO teeth in the back of her mouth. She gets her senior feed, wet, 3x a day, and whatever hay she can manage to gum enough to swallow. She's fat, sassy, and feels good!

Kent makes a complete feed called Dynasty Pride. It has forage in it. You can soak it and feed that to her also.

[lilrider]

Thanks everyone! I knew there were plenty of horses out there with even worse teeth than her who are still happy healthy and fat, I won't let what one vet says be the end of it.

I will definitely look into the oil option as well as beet pulp. Her senior feed now she really likes so I will probably stick to the Purina brand. We will be shutting them in at night this coming winter so that Bessy will have time to eat her feed without the other two harassing her.

[Ryle]

Just double check and make sure you are giving enough of the Purina Senior. As I said, it's supposed to be fed at a rate of 14-16 lbs a day. You can adjust it based upon how much hay your horse is getting, but if her teeth are terrible, I would feed the full recommended amount just to be sure she's actually getting everything she needs.

[Banat]

I have had some picky eaters that seemed to not like the senior feed after a while. Like Ryle said, follow the directions and feed enough. The horses that liked it looked fantastic.

I have had success with soaking alfalfa cubes until they were mushy/soupy - but I've had other horses that didn't like them that wet so I would have to let them dry out a bit once they were soft, but I had to be careful to not let them ferment if it was too warm (in my house)

I had a couple that didn't do so well on soaked cubes and lived on soaked alfalfa pellets for a while (and an RB)

I have also chopped/ground my own hay and this has been the most popular feed I've had as far as palatability.

It's great news if your horse is able to eat some grass

[jumpthemoon]

The ancient ones at the barn (which boards quite a few retirees) are fed LMF Senior, EGM Pellets and soaked cubes when the have a tough time handling hay or can't keep weight on.