Ned advice on 27 yr old gelding

[wishful]

This is not a miniature but I know alot of us mini folks have big horses to.

Our 27 year old gelding that we have had for several years has all of a sudden sstarted to go down hill, he is losing wieght faster then I can get his feed to his trough. He has always been an easy keeper and hasnt had more then a nice walk around the pasture for the last 3 years. I feed him a gallon of soaked beet pulp,12 lbs of triple crown senior,10lbs of alfalfa hay,all the coastal hay he can eat,biotin,vitamins,sweetlix minerals,red cell,and 4 cups of corn oil A DAY.

He has been wormed for every kind of worm know to exist, he doesnt drop any food and he eats every bite I put in front of him. He has never had any health issue,never been sick a day in his life but the food just is not sticking to his ribs.

I can see his ribs before I even get to the fence, He needs more wieght on his hips and backbone. I know most would say he is just old bu this has come on in the past 2 weeks not several months. Any ideas?

 

[Miniv]

You should probably ask your vet about this one. He might want to pull blood from your gelding and run some tests......Don't want to scare you because it could be something that's an easy fix, or it could be something like cancer. But, if it were me, I'd want to find out.

All the best,

MA

 

[sedeh]

I have an older gelding too....we think about 30. It sounds like you're doing everything you can feed wise. Have you had his teeth floated lately? Probably a good idea to have the vet out, but 26 is getting towards the end of a horses life span and it just may be close to his time. Good luck with him. I know it's hard to think of losing these good old guys that have been with us a long time.

 

[nootka]

I, too, have an older horse, she's 29 this year going on 30.

I feed her quite a bit, too, but she can only eat Equine Sr. by Allegra (or similar) as she has no teeth to chew the hay.

What I would do is call my vet and have him give me his opinions. I trust him to help me determine if it were something fairly easily fixable, or if it were something that would not be fair to her to pursue trying to cure.

There is sometimes, some tough choices to make at that age.

Best wishes,

Liz M.

 

[SmoothEZ]

I had a 32 year old Arabian stallion that I had to feed alfalfa cubes to. He also was getting all the Senior Feed and Beet Pulp but if I took him off the cubes and put him on regular hay and alfalfa he would drop weight like no tomorrow, however if you kept him on the cubes he maintained a good weight. He lived to be 36 and finally went in middle of the night peacefully.

 

[Sanny]

I have an old (big horse) gelding the same age and last winter was really, really rough on him. I really thought he wouldn't make it to spring but he did. Just lots of little old age issues. I did notice the last few days it is getting colder and he has slowed down again so I am starting to worry about him. Here is some of the stuff I did for him last year when he started struggling.

He hadn't had his teeth done for a while and it turned out he needed quite a bit of work done the last time around and will need to be watched closely - his teeth had lots of sharp edges and though he was eating a lot (and not dropping any food), the food wasn't getting chewed / digested - just swallowed - so he wasn't getting the nutrients that he needed from it and though he was eating A LOT it was not doing any good. Getting his teeth done again seemed to help a lot and he put weight back on. He goes lame and last winter also developed laminitis and our new farrier is doing his feet differently and I noticed a change in how he walked once the new farrier started doing him. He has been much more active and actually will trot and canter around if the other horses get him going so his feet must be feeling good. Because of his lameness and laminitis issues the vet had wanted his toes very squared off (which we were doing) but the farrier disagreed with that and asked me to try it his way for a couple of trims and made his feet much rounder and did more with his heels and sole - HUGE DIFFERENCE - FOR THE BETTER.

The vet also wants him just on lots and lots of grass hay and NO GRAIN OF ANY SORT OR SUPPLEMENTS (because of the laminitis thing again) and I have to admit I was reluctant do that so got a second opinion from another one who felt he needed to be on a senior feed and beet pulp and a joint supplement - I felt better about that opinion so went that route instead and he hasn't been lame for almost a year.

I plan to start blanketing him to help keep body heat in and spend less energy keeping warm but I've held off as long as possible because I wanted him to get as thick a winter coat as possible.

I have ANOTHER big horse the same age who is fat and sassy and active and bossy and is aging totally differently. I've had both horses for 16-17 years and I dread the day their time comes whether naturally or via a difficult choice by me if they are doing really really poorly.

EDIT TO ADD: My big old guy does GREAT in the summer - active, healthy, keeps weight on, glossy coat, etc. it is when the cold weather comes that he goes downhill.

His slowing down a few days ago coincided with the arrival of our coldest weather and deepest snow so far this year.

 

[Kim]

We've had many old horses over the years, and it's always difficult trying to figure out what to feed them, and it's hard when you see their condition deterioirate so rapidly. Sometimes, an old horse's time just comes, unfortunately, but often we've found that if you play around with their diet, it does make a difference. I would recommend that you first get the vet out to pull some blood and get some tests done to make sure there's no obvious cause. Second, you also could make some changes to his diet that might help. Chances are, at his age, his teeth are not that great. We soak all of the grain that we feed to our old guys, and it really helps digestion. We feed Manna Pro Sr. Feed, which is great stuff. You also might also want to change to soaked cubes instead of hay, for the reason that hay is much harder to chew, and soaked cubes they can just gulp right down. We have a 38 year old gelding, and he was losing weight to the point that his ribs were very visible. We started him on Rice Bran (quite a large amount per day--two huge scoops twice a day, which I would estimate is about 16 cups twice a day??) and he started putting on weight almost instantly. I hope you're able to figure out what's making him thin!

 

[wishful]

Thank you guys for all your advice. I had his teeth checked earlier this year but will get gary to do it again. Gary cant be here til wednesday and the bloodwork will take a couple of weeks to get back but when it does I will post the results.

I like the idea of the soaked cubes, even tho the alfala hay I used is already chopped up it does still have tough stems and I already soak his beet pulp anyway.

This old guy has always been my favorite and not just because he is a leapord app. He is actually my daughters horse that i bought for her when she was eight,

He had been a cow horse and thought he had to run everywhere he went. Sorry to ramble on, I could go on and on about this old guy. Kinda like bragging on one of my kids.

I will post bloodwork results when I get them back.

 

[SmoothEZ]

Wishful,

If you do decide to change to soaked cubes please do it slowly as you don;t want to shock his system. And I would just mix mine with their Beet Pulp.

 

[EminentArabians]

I agree with other posters, I would definately have some blood work done on him, having his teeth checked again is also a good idea. I also suggest sending a manure sample to your vet as well to check for worms....even though you worm regularly, it's always good to be absolutely sure.

Good luck, I'll keep him in my thoughts & hope he starts gaining weight soon.

 

[Marty]

About two weeks ago we had temps go down into the teens. I am wondering if you got that too in Bama. If you did, the time frame is right then, and I would say that the winter is trying to take it's toll on him like so many other older horses. I think the weather has set him off. He may trying to bottom out on you. Don't know your houseing situation but I would blanket him most likely if you don't have him blanketed, keep him out of the wind and when you soak beet pulp, I'd serve it warm. I'd get a vet check for him too. I know you are one of the most best horsey mommies in the world and I do wish you all the best and hope he's going to be ok with just a few minor adjustments.

 

[Secret22]

Sorry to hear this about your horse! {{Hugs}}

 

[CAM]

We have an older (late 20s) Welsh/Arab cross that has no chewing surface on her teeth anymore. We have her teeth checked and tended to by a veterinarian twice a year. She holds her weight well with about 10 pounds of Equine Senior per day soaked in warm water to make a mash, free choice Orchard Grass hay and rice bran. The rice bran really made a difference but I would start him on it slowly. We do also blanket her on those really cold nights when it is below 20 or there is a combination of wind and rain with lower temps. Having a stall available or good shelter to freely come in and out of will help too. The less their bodies have to work to stay warm the better for keeping weight on. Good luck and let us know what you find out.

 

[HGFarm]

Have you had his teeth done?? Older horses need these checked at LEAST once a year.

Also, he is pretty far up there in years and his liver/kidneys, etc... could just be starting to shut down.

Hope it's just his teeth, but unfortunately he is getting to 'that age' that you will have to make a decision on his quality of life. We have a sweet mare at home that is 26 this coming year, who is starting to get arthritis and she is also losing teeth... She is fat, still does well and likes to go, but someday.....

Laurie

 

[Just Us N Texas]

My youngest daughter's last QH show gelding is now 30. I was sure the 14 hour trip from Ky. to Texas would just kill the old fellow, but he is doing well! His teeth have been bad for several years, and he shows his bones, but he still has that gleam in his eye, and is not above making you run to catch him sometimes. He gets a mush of beet pulp, and alfalfa pellets warm. We used to use hay cubes, but couldn't find them here without driving 30 miles, so we switched to alfalfa pellets, and they seem to mush up much quicker and better than the cubes. Good luck with your guy, I know how hard it will be on us when Sunday's time does come.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I would have your vet do some work but it isnt uncommon for older horses to have a rough time in the winter and lose it what seems fast. I have the same issue with my aged T/B. HE is now getting a 5 gallon bucket of beet pulp + his sr feed and 10-15 lbs of alfalfa hay and another 15lbs or so of grass hay and he isnt losing fast but isnt staying the same either

 

[Bess Kelly]

Seniors have difficulty with their gut having decreasing absorption.....thus, the chewing is a big consideration as without being well chewed or mushed, they don't absorb. It is one of the reasons many seniors do well on fresh grass vice hay. Protein is needed and we're back to absorbing again -- soybean meal in their feed/pellets is one of the easiest to digest and one of great quality, so higher protein (14-16%) is usually a given Sometimes it takes an amount of "fidgetting" with the menu to get it acceptable for them as each is an individual when it comes to these things. Vitamin C....takes far more than for younger, same digestion issues. Many become insulin resistant....so there's a factor to consider when choosing feeds.

So even if teeth are done (or even there

) and blankets are used and liver, etc are all working -- age takes a toll. Chopped soft hay, soaked so it's re-hydrated like fress grass, soaked alfalfa pellets/cubes, etc....all these things everyone has mentioned.....are part of the puzzle for seniors.

Let us know how it goes with testing, changes, what works, etc. I wish you the best. It is so hard to watch a family member get to this stage and we can't make it get right. I'm hoping you can bring him through this situation.