Question

I own a 30-year-old Arabian gelding that weighs about 825 lb (375 kg). He’s kept outside all the time, so he grazes whatever he can year-round, and that varies depending on the season. In addition, he gets four cups of a low-starch feed, three cups of beet pulp, six cups of soaked crimped oats, and as much orchardgrass hay as he wants each day. It is hard to keep weight on him. Should I be feeding him other feeds?

Answer

Age has a way of deteriorating the digestive capabilities of the horse, which is why it gets more difficult for them to maintain weight.

There is an article, titled Nutrition of the Aged Horse, which may be useful to you. It is part of the Kentucky Equine Research Nutrition Conference proceedings, published in 2012.

Basically, your gelding may not be getting as much nutrition out of the hay and grass as he used to. Forage is really important in helping a horse maintain weight. When this happens, the best thing is to supplement with easily digestible forages like hay pellets. Beet pulp is another highly digestible source of fiber for the horse, but you are already feeding that. What may work well with your feeding system is to feed a couple of pounds of alfalfa pellets, wetted to soften them and then mixed in with the beet pulp or the soaked oats or both. Start with a small amount so that the horse gets used to the change in the diet, and then gradually increase to 2 to 4 lb (1 to 2 kg) per day or the amount that he will tolerate in his feed.

You may find that he does better when there is abundant grass, but when the grass goes dormant and the horse has to depend on hay his weight may suffer. This is when it is important to give him a different form of hay like the hay pellets.