What is a good feed and feeding regiment to help put weight on a malnourished senior horse?
It takes awhile to put weight back on an older horse once they’ve lost weight. The first thing needs to be a vet check-up to determine if the horse has anything wrong healthwise (thyroid condition, Cushings Disease, parasites, blood disorders, etc.). If your vet has the proper equipment, a dental exam is highly recommended. Not all vets have the newest equipment to handle proper floating of teeth. If this is the case, you might want to have someone who specializes in Equine Dentistry examine the horse. Purina Mills was the first feed company to develop a feed for older horse, named Equine Senior. We did extensive research for several years to determine what an older horse requires nutritionally. What we found was that older horses have a harder time digesting fiber because their digestive systems have slowed down. They also begin to have challenges to their immune system, requiring higher levels of Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Folic Acid. Feeding a 14% Protein, found in Equine Senio
