Aged Horse - Haylage question

[SNC]

At the weekend my 22 year old mare choked on some apple. It seemed to dislodge and she has been pretty much back to her old self. I usually soak her hay for an hour before rinsing this off and giving it to her. She is a good doer, and I struggle to keep her weight down. To cut a long story short I gave her some dry hay last night and she ate it but then taking a drink of water straight away she was struggling. The equine dentist came this morning and checked her out, his opinion is that its more of a management issue than a problem. Has she seems ok eating soaked hay then I should keep doing that, don't give her any hard treats and certainly no apples or carrots as there is a potential she will choke again.

The problem I have is that the yard she is ok in winter there is no grazing and they will be fed hay. I can't really expect the other owners to soak their hay just because Cassie can't eat it, although if thats the only option so be it. I was wondering if haylage would be a suitable solution for when they are out. I know its not ideal with keeping her weight down, but its a bit of a catch 22 situation. Any ideas? anyone. Thank you

 

[be positive]

I expect her throat is still sore and that in a few more days she may be fine eating dry hay if there is no physical reason for her to struggle to chew so it may not be something you need to change by winter, I don't think soaking or haylage will make any real difference to whether she chokes again or not as it is normally because they failed to chew properly or as in this case probably forgot to chew at all and it went part way down in one go.
Putting the hay in a small holed net to limit how much they can get in one go or having it on the ground so it is eaten more naturally may be just as beneficial if not more so than soaking it as they will take time to chew which promotes production of saliva which is required to aid digestion.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

At the weekend my 22 year old mare choked on some apple. It seemed to dislodge and she has been pretty much back to her old self. I usually soak her hay for an hour before rinsing this off and giving it to her. She is a good doer, and I struggle to keep her weight down. To cut a long story short I gave her some dry hay last night and she ate it but then taking a drink of water straight away she was struggling. The equine dentist came this morning and checked her out, his opinion is that its more of a management issue than a problem. Has she seems ok eating soaked hay then I should keep doing that, don't give her any hard treats and certainly no apples or carrots as there is a potential she will choke again.

The problem I have is that the yard she is ok in winter there is no grazing and they will be fed hay. I can't really expect the other owners to soak their hay just because Cassie can't eat it, although if thats the only option so be it. I was wondering if haylage would be a suitable solution for when they are out. I know its not ideal with keeping her weight down, but its a bit of a catch 22 situation. Any ideas? anyone. Thank you

Two of mine are on Marksway purple haylage which is the lowest energy and sugars and ok for lami horses. it might be ok for your horse

 

[Birker2020]

Can you not soak hay overnight?Or feed her on wet good doer as a full or part hay replacer if you are anxious to keep her weight down? I wouldn't just give her dry hay when she's used to soaked as this can cause all kinds of problems, someone I knew put her horse on dry hay after weaning if off wet hay for a week and he got a sphlenic entrapement, the vet thought it was because he'd become dehydrated as he has a slight impaction too.As BP said, feeding wet hay off the ground might be better for her, you can get a hay ball which will encourage her to trickle feed to make it last longer too and shires do a conical shaped feed dispenser that you put hay in.

 

[texel]

The primary cause of choke in horses is a lump of poorly chewed food. Horses that “bolt” their feed, meaning they eat too fast, are at risk of choke as they try to gulp down as much feed as quickly as possible. Older horses with poor dentition and the inability to properly chew their food are also at risk. Certain types of feed can also predispose a horse to choke. Pelleted feeds are the worst culprits, as these compressed pellets tend to be very dry and then expand a certain amount when exposed to moisture.

A small holed net as suggested by Be Positive is worth considering.