hay replacements and feeding a senior horse

[Ginger_ninja]

Hi guys

My horse has just had his yearly rasp this morning and my vet told me that he’s lost a few molars at the back and the teeth that he DOES have left are very smooth. She talked to me about looking into hay replacers however the information online has been massively overwhelming and i’m struggling to make sense of what the better options would be.

He’s a 23 year old warmblood and right now he’s fed on ad lib hay every night and has a hard feed of calm and condition, micronised linseed and alfa-a oil twice a day. I started to introduce some sugarbeet this week seeing as we’re having a cold snap and he’s not the best doer once the weather starts turning.

i looked at readi-grass and graze-on and also some dengie chaffs that could be used as a total replacer for hay. Really i was just wondering what you guys used or if you had any recommendations for the best products that were also easy on my wallet!!

thank you

 

[meleeka]

In your shoes I’d give a trug of Readigrass or similar, mixed with something like sugar beet, grass nut or soaked high fibre nuts depending on energy requirements. I’d be aiming for approx two black buckets of this mixture a night or adjust as needed. My top tip would be to mix the pellets and the chaff before soaking as it’s hard Work to mix afterwards if you are feeding a lot.

You could also just feed Readigrass on it’s own dampened if he’s eating some hay.

 

[Fiona]

I've had two elderly horses now with tooth issues (one who couldn't eat hay at all and was out 24/7, and the other who can eat soaked hay and is in at night).

The best combination for both I found was well soaked grass nuts (I'm using Emerald though have used simple systems in the past) and grass chaff (Emerald or Readigrass).

The partly stabled horse has veteran vitality added to this for extra calories.

It does take a long time to eat.

I feed it in a large black trug.

Both kept on weight very well on this.

Best of luck

Fiona

 

[ester]

It’s worth being aware that a lot of the grass chaffs can have a much higher sugar/starch than hay would.
My own oldie really struggles with chaff and is actually a bit better with hay. He gets soaked hay cobs for his supplements and if hay became more of an issue would get more of them.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Soaking the hay can make it easier to chew, and you could add grass nuts and or a chaff as something extra to eat.

 

[JillA]

Does he manage the hay without quidding? Or is that a struggle for him? What's his condition like?
I had a dentally challenged old mare and kept her going for several winters on unmollassed beet pulp plus Rowan Barbary Ready Fibre Mash (which is soya hulls) plus grass pellets added to the soak at the last minute. She couldn't manage chop, it needs almost as much chewing as long hay.
Add protein so he keeps soft tissue and immune system (whey from Forageplus does it for us) plus a mineral balancer because he won't be getting any of the minerals from hay. How about haylage?