Dear Jessica:
I am a novice horse owner. I have owned my mare since January 1999. She is 20 years old. She is not a big water drinker and also not a big hay eater. She will only eat about 1 1/2 flake per day. Now that the warm weather came and she is shedding her winter coat, I was horrified to see how thin she really is. I board her and the barnowner who only had her about 6 months before I bought her said her previous owner said she loses weight in the winter but puts it on in the spring. She likes to graze. I am not satisfied with this answer. Jessica, is there anything I can supplement her feed with. I don't want to add a lot of grain to her diet. She has a sweet disposition. My barn owner used her as a school horse before I bought her. She suffers from arthritis and I have put her on chondroitin sulphate which has worked wonders. She's looser in her hocks and is bending and moving quite nicely. Also she doesn't have that pained look on her face anymore. I know that she's older but I think she's got some great years left and she's my first horse. I want to take good care of her and would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you for this service. I've read some of your previous letters and they have helped me tremendously.
Thank you. Joey F.
Twenty years is quite a respectable age for a horse, but you're right, your mare could have many good years ahead of her. Many horses live into their thirties and some live into their forties. ;-) But if you want her to have a long life, she'll need to be in the best possible health and condition.
You're also right that "she loses weight in the winter" is not a satisfactory answer. Horses need more food in the winter, because they use up a good deal of food just keeping warm. It's the owner's responsibility to change the horse's diet according to the horse's actual needs, and this means feeding more -- sometimes quite a lot more -- in winter. A blanket can help a horse retain some warmth, but the warmth is created by digesting hay, which is the reason that horses in winter should have free-choice hay when there is no grass to be grazed.
Since you are a novice horse owner, your barn owner and/or your vet should have helped you, at least by giving you the information you needed so that you could feed your horse properly. But it doesn't always work out like that -- horse owners very often have to educate themselves, so that they do what's best for their animals. Even when people (vets, barn managers, previous owners, etc.) are kind and well-meaning, they aren't necessarily well-informed, and horses suffer because of their ignorance. You are very wise to listen to your own instincts and do your own homework. You can do a lot of it at and from home, by reading and making telephone calls. Libraries are full of books on horse health care and horse management, and if your library is deficient, ask the librarian to help you find books that you can get through interlibrary loan. Use your telephone: county extension agents and extension horse specialists can advise you, and it's likely that you can reach a good equine veterinarian, even if there is none in your area, by calling the veterinary school at a large university (your county or state extension specialist can help you).
When you've found a good vet specializing in horses, have him (or her) come out to see your mare. You'll need to have someone come out for her spring vaccinations anyway, so the timing is perfect. Have her checked thoroughly, from head to toe, with particular attention to her teeth, her feet, and her digestion. It would probably be a good idea to have bloodwork done: you may discover something, and at the least, you'll have a baseline to work from. Horses with bad teeth or teeth that need floating can find chewing terribly difficult; horses with sore feet don't walk around as much, and your mare needs to be walking around for the sake of her circulation and digestion.
Older horses don't digest feed as efficiently as younger horses do. Grain can be difficult for older horses to chew properly, and so they may not get much nutrition from it. Again, your instincts are very good! ;-) You may want to find softer, better-quality hay for your older mare; you may also want to supplement her hay with a feed such as Purina Equine Senior, or with something that your veterinarian recommends. And of course, she should have constant access to salt and to clean, fresh water. You might offer her granulated salt in a separate bucket, so that she can eat it easily; if you use a salt block, don't forget to drop a half-cup of water on the top of the block when you feed your horse, so that she'll be able to eat the softened layer of salt later in the day.
Horses need water in winter -- not as much as in summer, but they need water, and many horses, especially horses that are having trouble staying warm, simply won't drink ice-cold water in winter. Next winter, you'll want to add a stock-tank heater to the pasture water tank, or put an electrically-heated water bucket in your mare's stall or run. Horses need CLEAN water year-round, which is something you can and should check every day. Horses are often reluctant to drink dirty water, and who can blame them? Even if there is no grain, salt, or manure in the water bucket (and all those things get into water buckets with amazing regularity, even in the best-run barns), a dirty bucket is enough to discourage a horse from drinking. Water buckets and automatic waterers should be scrubbed out every day. It takes five minutes, a plastic brush, and a handful of baking soda for the really sticky spots -- it's not much, but it can make the difference between a horse that drinks eagerly and one that is reluctant to drink at all.
As your becomes healthier and as her condition improves, her interest in drinking and her appetite should improve too. Loss of appetite is a bad sign in animals -- it means that something is wrong. (This is true in humans too, BTW!) When horses are really starving, they aren't ravenous, they're usually too weak to take an interest in eating, and that's why it can be so hard to turn a starvation case around. Small, highly nutritious meals every couple of hours, in addition to free-choice, good-quality hay, salt, water, and good grazing, will often do the trick. You can also add oil -- corn oil or another vegetable oil -- to your mare's feed, pouring half a cup to a cup of oil over her feed once or twice a day. Your mare will probably do well, since you know that she DOES put on weight when she gets enough food. The horse that always becomes thin in winter and gains the weight back in the spring is a horse that isn't getting enough food in the winter. Next year, you'll know, and you'll be ready for the season -- and I'll bet that your mare goes through her NEXT winter without losing weight. ;-)
Horses have very expressive faces, as you've already noticed. Keep watching her face, as well as her weight and condition, and you should see some good changes. Don't feel bad -- you've done the right thing, which is to ask questions when you don't know something or when you're getting answers that don't satisfy you. You did the best you could with the information you had; now you have more information, and now that you know better, you'll be able to do better. You've been a horse-owner for just a few months, but your attitude tells me that you're going to be a good one, and that your mare is lucky to have you.
Jessica
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