How Do You Care for Older Stallons that Haven't Slowed Down?

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RockRiverTiff

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Streaker turned 20 this year, but if he knows it he's not showing it. This is the most hot-blooded mini I've ever had on the farm, and I've been struggling to keep every extra ounce on him. When he was younger, my vet even had us using a supplement for Thoroughbreds. I give my senior mares beet pulp for extra calories, and all the other minis' diets are based around a complete senior feed already, but Streaker won't eat either. If it's not sweet feed he won't eat it. Period. I also give him additional small feedings throughout the day, but I've found he just eats them a bite at a time before he heads out to run again. If I close him out of his run he won't eat at all--just paces near his gate.

So how do you guys keep the weight on your senior stallions? Other than good dental care and the usual attention to health and diet, do any of you do anything extra for your older stallions? What supplements work (that they will actually eat)?

Here's the crazy man yesterday:

streaker20.jpg
 
He doesn't look underweight, just hard core muscle.

You could try wet alfalfa cubes, or a product called Chaffhaye.

Also you could make a mash out of some senior pellets and is beloved sweat feed with beet pulp. You could also add 1/4 c oil to his mash.

Finally if he runs as much as you say - sounds like you need to keep something in front of him all the time.

Other than that, an old trick is a pregnant mare to share his space.

I am sure there are other ideas out there.
 
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Boy, I have run into the same problem with Fiesta. He has one of HIS mares with him at all times in his pasture. He still dropped weight so he has beet pulp-supplement and Platform twice a day AND in the evening some alfalfa cubes moistened with dinner and his brome hay. Wormings are regular and teeth were done in Dec/07. I was told that he does this every year at breeding time so we just have to adjust his feed and watch him and he is 18 this year
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Try putting a fat supplement in his sweet feed. I use this stuff called Power Phat and it works great (around a cup a day or so). And I know they sell other liquid supplements too. My friend has an 18 year old stud she feeds power phat to and says it works wonders on him.
 
You are reminding me of our Raider........He was 21 when he died.........way too young, IMO.

Anyway, for his last few years he would drop weight during breeding season just from pacing. What did help a bit was making sure he always had a girl with him. (But I swear he could COUNT. If he saw that our other stallion, Escapade, had more girls than him -- oh my! god forbid!
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)

The only other way to help keep him from getting too thin was by feeding him extra. Since he'd get upset being away from his girl(s), we'd pull him and tie him just outside, on the gate to his pasture for about an hour. He was okay with that. And he'd get 4 cups of senior grain with 2 cups alfalfa pellets, twice a day. After awhile it became routine for him.

I know you already said YOUR fellow doesn't like senior grain, so you may want to experiment with other types to mix in the sweet feed and wean him off of that. Sweet feed sure doesn't help if you don't want a "hot horse".
 
I have a mare that never stops pacing back and forth. More concentrates didn't help but more forrage did.

The best thing I have found to do is to break all my rules for her and allow her access to her pasture 24-7 and keep really really really good serious top quality hay in front of her all the time. That sure did the trick and slowed her down finally almost to a stop.
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Don't know what you have access to for feeds, but have you tried different brands of senior? I know of a couple companies that make both a straight pelleted senior and a sweet or textured senior. He might like a different brand of senior. Alfalfa pellets (or alfalfa/timothy mix), alfalfa cubes (or alfalfa/timothy mix), other forms of complete feeds (like Purina Adult, Pure Pride, Triple Crown Complete). He might not necessarily need a senior, just a good feed with extra calories. You might just have to try a few til you find one he likes and works for him.

Streaker turned 20 this year, but if he knows it he's not showing it. This is the most hot-blooded mini I've ever had on the farm, and I've been struggling to keep every extra ounce on him. When he was younger, my vet even had us using a supplement for Thoroughbreds. I give my senior mares beet pulp for extra calories, and all the other minis' diets are based around a complete senior feed already, but Streaker won't eat either. If it's not sweet feed he won't eat it. Period. I also give him additional small feedings throughout the day, but I've found he just eats them a bite at a time before he heads out to run again. If I close him out of his run he won't eat at all--just paces near his gate.

So how do you guys keep the weight on your senior stallions? Other than good dental care and the usual attention to health and diet, do any of you do anything extra for your older stallions? What supplements work (that they will actually eat)?

Here's the crazy man yesterday:

streaker20.jpg
 
Yes, he is pure muscle. When the heat picks up though, he gets super lean, and I start to worry. He does have a mare with him 24/7. This helps a bit, but he is convinced he is King of the Farm and thus must keep constant watch of everything and everyone. I have tried him on pasture, and that just makes it worse--the new view and more space to run means he beats a path along every fenceline within a week (you can see in this photo what he's done to his paddock compared to the one next to him). I do give him free choice hay though. Because I have to shut his mare out for additional feedings (she's gotten fat off his share of regular meals), he is very reluctant to stand there and eat and instead must constantly check to make sure she's still out there. I know the sweet feed isn't helping to calm him, and will have to check out some of the alternatives mentioned. I've tried several other feeds and supplements in the past, and he either separates them from his sweet feed or leaves it in the trough. Smart horses drive me nuts!!

Where do you get your Power Phat Keri? I couldn't find it online.

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I'd like to see this guy be our first mini to make it to 30.
 
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Have you tried him on Ultium? It's a high fat Purina feed with Athlete in it, and it will put the weight on them. It's pretty sweet and I've yet to find one who doesn't like it, but then I don't have many picky eaters LOL.

Jan
 
Also try ADM Senior Glo or Junior Glo. Junior Glo has 19 % protein, I think the Senior is a bit less.

But I would experiment with different kinds too. Sounds like you need to keep feed in front of him always. High quality forag first, then supplement off of that.

I just picked up Body Builder - its a rice oil extract and am using it on a 1 year old filly that is so lean it makes me hurt to look at her.
 
It is nice to know that I am not the only one who has this problem. My Sligo is 19 and wears himself thin watching over his little herd. He is on grass 24/7 and gets grain, but still loses weight during breeding season.
 
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They are "too busy" to eat
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I have a few seniors of my 7 stallions. My eldest is 25 & while a lover and girl watcher, he is not a pacer
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Another, almost 21 is beyond pacing -- he doesn't make a path by the fence, it's a ditch!!

I put extra feed in his feeder and he eats from it all day but, especially at night when things calm down. Consider time of day. He will run with mares but, if another stallion within smelling distance he runs them all to the far corner of the field -- back & forth between the supposed challenger, the mares, etc. I can't keep water in all corners!! So he lives next to them now and happily. Pacing but less so. He's in shape, needless to say, and I've been able to keep his weight up.

The other 5 guys -- not an issue with weight.
 
Rabbit is 29 this year and shows NO signs of slowing down.

At 20 he was still actively showing and taking championships- your boy is just a baby!!!

Since Rabbits teeth stopped growing at 25 I have had him on Alfalfa pellets, soaked and Beet Pulp- although he still spits out the APs if given a chance!!

I started him off with just a handful, and did not mix it in- so his feed was three separate small piles- I fed him in a big container (HUGE) hanging on the wall, and I tied him up!!

He sulked, he banged around, he refused to eat, for around two days, then he ate out of anger- big angry bites- then he quite liked it, then he finally settled down and I was able to build up the amounts.

Rabbit cannot go in with other horses so I built him a round pen that goes out into the field so the mares are around him.

He has another paddock that joins this that leads to his stall.

At the moment, apart from good grass which he chews up and spits out, he is getting two cups of BP soaked, one cup APs soaked, five cups of my own mix which has full fat soya in it and some BOSS.

He clears the lot- although I am about to start grinding the BOSS again as I have noticed he drops it- teeth again, I know.

He paces continually but is as fat as butter, and the pacing will stop soon, it only lasts til the end of June.

It makes no difference how many mares he has, he will come in from breeding and go straight back to pacing, it is just something that goes on in their heads, I am afraid.

I can now feed him in one go, and he will walk in and out all night, "grazing" on his feed.

When the grass goes in winter, I give him a haynet which he pulls out, chews up and spits out, just like the grass!!
 
Yearly dental care is SO important for these older horses. If they can't chew correctly, they can't get the nutrients out of the feed, no matter what or how much you feed them.

I agree with a couple of suggestions above- try a different brand of Senior feed- mine love the Purina, but didnt care much for some of the Manna Pro feeds.

What kind of hay do you feed? Is he getting enough protein for such activity? Try alflafa cubes or pellets (soaked cubes) and the beet pulp is nice too. I would experiment with some different things, but give it about 30 days to see if the new feed is helping... and give it a chance.
 
One of hubby's driving horses is a 23 y/o (or is he 24? I forget) stallion. He barely has teeth (theyr'e all there, but down to nubs) and so he can be hard to keep weight on. But no probs now. He gets soaked alfalfa cubes and soaked beet pulp for breakfast. For dinner he gets soaked estrella pellets and equine senior. He also gets bermuda hay to munch on. Here's a semi-recent photo of him!

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Jessi
 
Hi

I have two Sr.s, one is 30 and one is 26 (going on 6). They do not have teeth either, not molars that is

- they are worn down. I have had Carl here to work on their teeth and he will float their front teeth as it shortens the angle of them so they have a better chance to grasp the hay, grass and chew. I do give them alfalafa to eat but sometimes see it in clumps on the ground. I have been feeding Equine Sr. but still give them hay.

Both look good although are a tad thinner than I like either of them to look. Their coats are shiney tho., and to me that is good indication of their health overall.
 
Thanks for the advice (and sympathy) everyone. I have cut and pasted everything here into a file, and I guess we'll just start trying it all until we find something that works.

What kind of hay do you feed? Is he getting enough protein for such activity? Try alflafa cubes or pellets (soaked cubes) and the beet pulp is nice too. I would experiment with some different things, but give it about 30 days to see if the new feed is helping... and give it a chance.
Streaker is getting an alfalfa/grass mix. He still has all his teeth, but the hay is nevertheless pretty soft. I feed him several times a day, and the hay is free choice, but because he doesn't always eat all of his am/pm feedings or the hay, it's hard to say if he's getting as much as he needs. I moved his mare next to him, so I could better monitor what he's eating (vs. what she's eating) and so I could start trying some of these suggestions, so he's pretty worked up today. I have tried beet pulp but he won't have anything to do with it. While he'll separate dry supplements he doesn't like from his sweet feed, he won't even touch his meal if it's mixed with beet pulp.

Jane--I especially appreciate your advice, as I've always been a big fan of your Rabbit.
 

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