From: John
Hi Jessica,
I have a 22 year old gelding warmblood, easy keeper, named "Sonny", and I am wondering what I can do to keep him healthy and happy. He currently gets a healthy sized flake of alfalfa twice daily plus a small flake of bermuda grass in the evening. In addition he gets a daily scoop of MSM and a scoop of Select 1 supplement. He gets good exercise, I have 2+ acres for him to run plus a burro who irritates him until he does run (after the burro, that is).
Winter in Arizona isn't harsh, but Sonny is not developing the coat that I think he needs to keep him warm in winter. My question is, should I put him on an additional supplement, for his coat or for his general health, and if so, which one(s)? He just had his 6-month vet check and shots, and is in good condition. Maybe I am expecting too much by wanting a thick coat of fur, where my real concern is his general health. I checked the archives, and I found "food for thought" but I don't think Sonny is ready for "Equine Senior" just yet, although you may have a differing opinion.
Any suggestions, Jessica? Thanks in advance, and keep up the good articles.
John
You're right - winters in Arizona aren't harsh. As long as your horse has full-time access to clean water and salt, and has a shelter to which he can retreat to avoid weather extremes (assuming that he wants to avoid them - some horses insist on standing outside their shelters even during heavy snowstorms), he should be well-equipped for winter. He may not ever develop a heavy, thick, long coat - and he may not need one. Don't be too eager to see your horse develop a heavy coat. The long, shaggy, yak-like winter coat that would be appropriate for a North Dakota winter simply isn't necessary in Arizona... and if an older horse in Arizona began to develop such a coat, I would suspect a possible pituitary problem, and contact my veterinarian. In your horse's case, it's very possible that the winter coat he grows will be all the winter coat he needs. Some horses, often those with a high proportion of TB blood, simply don't get very obviously hairy in winter - their coats remain comparatively short and sleek. However, they are generally longer and much more dense than their summer coats! The amount of actual hair involved may not be apparent to their owners during the winter, but will become quite apparent as soon as the horses begin to shed their winter coats in the spring. One of my own horses never appears to grow a winter coat, but in fact, putting a hand on her side at any time during the winter will show just how plushy that apparently short and sleek coat actually is! It will also reveal how well-padded she is UNDER her coat. Stay "hands-on" with Sonny - if he isn't warm enough during the winter, he will lose weight. If he maintains his weight and his energy level, you can be sure that he isn't suffering from the cold, but in any case, his body condition is something you will want to monitor throughout the winter and indeed throughout the year.
Your horse's best source of winter warmth is HAY. This can come in the form of actual hay, hay pellets, or the hay that's incorporated into various preformulated feeds designed for "Senior" horses (more about this shortly). The process of digesting roughage will keep your horse warm. If you're expecting a very cold night, throw some more hay over the fence before you go to bed. In terms of your horse's health and happiness, that's actually a better strategy than blanketing the horse, and an infinitely better strategy than confining the horse to a "nice, warm" stall in a barn. Sadly, many horse-owners don't understand this, and think "I'm cold and I wouldn't want to spend the night outdoors without a blanket", and then blanket their horses and lock them in the barn without stopping to think about what the horses want OR NEED. And speaking of needs...
I'm going to recommend that you do NOT put him on any more supplements - at least, not yet. Feeding supplements without knowing whether a horse actually needs them is not a good idea. Horse-owners who do this are likely to find themselves giving the horse something that it doesn't need, or failing to give it something that it does need, or giving it something that it needs, but in a too-small or too-large amount. BALANCE is the key to a healthy diet, and oversupplying a nutrient, particularly a vitamin or mineral, can unbalance a horse's diet and create a deficiency where none existed before. (This is true for humans as well.)
My suggestion is that you have your hay analzyed. Since hay should be the main component of a normal horse's diet, knowing exactly what's in your hay is the first and best step to take towards analyzing your horse's total nutritional intake. The analysis process isn't lengthy or costly, and your county extension agent can give you information about local labs where such work is routinely done. Once you know exactly which nutrients your horse's diet contains, and in what amounts, you'll be able to compare his intake to his actual nutritional needs. If you discover deficiencies, THAT will be the time to purchase a supplement that will supply whatever is missing. In the long term, this is not only much better for the horse, it's a much more effective use of your money.
Now, as to whether Sonny is "ready" for an "Equine Senior" feed - yes, he probably IS, and there is nothing wrong with that. There's no implication that a horse on "Senior" feed is senile and useless! It just indicates that the horse's owner is aware of the fact that a horse's metabolism and nutritional requirements change as a horse ages. When Sonny was ten, you probably didn't give him feed formulated for foals or yearlings... and now that he's in his twenties, he may need a different feed formulation than the one that met his needs when he was in his prime. There's no real equivalent in human terms, sad to say, since humans of all ages often eat very badly, but the changes in metabolic efficiency and nutritional needs throughout a lifetime ARE quite similar. So think of it this way: If you take a daily multivitamin tablet, there was probably a point in your life when you changed from "Flintstones" vitamins to something formulated for adults, and there may come a point at which you'll change from the adult formulation to one designed for seniors. ;-)
"Equine Senior" is a description used by any number of feed companies to describe feeds formulated specifically for the changing needs of older horses. Since I have several older horses (including one mare who will be 30 next May) to feed, I've become very familiar with such products. If you buy from a reputable firm that has good nutritionists on staff, you might just find that you and your horse are very pleased with the results.
Older horses have different nutritional needs - they typically require more protein and more vitamin C, and they need their feed to come in a form that can be easily chewed and digested. This is where a well-formulated "Senior" feed comes into the picture. Pelleted feeds for older horses are designed to be easily eaten, even if the horses' teeth are worn down. They are also designed to reflect the fact that older horses have less efficient metabolisms than they once had. Pre-processing high-nutrient hay and grain can make chewing and digesting easier, and allows the nutrients to be absorbed more easily. The nutrients themselves - higher in fiber and fat, lower in starch - are intended to help avoid the unpleasant and potentially dangerous consequences (gas, impactions, and founder) of processing poorly-digested feed and/or too much grain.
Sonny is outdoors in a paddock with a companion, so you're already helping him by ensuring that he has good circulation and a healthy respiratory system, and isn't lonely. (A companion that you chase around the paddock periodically is much better than no companion at all.) He's dewormed regularly and gets regular medical and dental attention from his vet. So keeping him completely healthy and happy may be a simple matter of providing him with a nutritionally-balanced, palatable diet, plus extra roughage in winter when extra warmth is required. The single most essential requirement for any horse is a well-informed, caring, and observant owner who is prepared to give the horse whatever it needs - and it's clear to me that Sonny HAS that.
Jessica
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