Feeding my Horses

Question
I am getting ready to move and I'm taking my horses with me.The move might take up to 4 days and the horses will stay in the trailer for most of the time.I have two 2 year old mares that are at a healthy weight for being on only hay with no pasture or supplement,grain,ect.And a 24 year old gelding that is skinny for being on 24/7 hay,5 pounds of grain,4 pounds of a weight building supplement,and a little pasture.The two year olds are being training this summer almost everyday.I'm afraid that starting them on on this rather tough training schedule will make them loose weight.Once we move they will all be on 24/7 pasture,with the older horse still getting his grain and supplement.The 24 year old was my first and best horse and is now retired.I need help getting him to a healthy weight and keeping him there.So my question is,what should I be feeding the 2 year olds,grass,hay,supplement,minerals,vitamins,what ever they need daily.And what do I need to feed the older horse daily until his weight gets back up,then what do I feed him once he is at a healthy weight.I'm pretty much asking for a complete feeding schedule for all of the horses along with the 24/7 pasture. Please help and Thanks.

Answer
Hi Caitlyn,

Thank you for your question.  Your 2 year old's should at least be receiving a well formulated mineral/vitamin supplement (even without being in work) as it will provide essential nutrients required to help them develop healthy bones and joints.  Even though they will not do a lot more growing, their joints will continue to mature until they reach 4-5 years of age and require Calcium, Phosphorous, Magnesium, Zinc and Copper (in addition to other nutrients) to do so properly.  Once these younger horses go into training they will need additional supplementation to support their workload, and to support the growth spurt that young horses experience when they first start in training.  Your young horses should continue to have forage (either pasture or hay) available to them pretty much free choice throughout the day.  In addition, choose a performance supplement with a significant protein content (14-16%) to help support muscle growth and development.  I prefer to use performance supplements with minimal amounts of starch especially on young horses.  You can safely follow the feeding guide provided on the bag by the manufacturer...it's a little difficult to give you an exact feeding rate without running a ration.  You may also consider to continue to supplement your 2 year olds with a mineral/vitamin supplement, in addition to the complete feed.

Feeding your older horse could be a bit more complicated.  It sounds like you already feeding a significant amount of grain to an older horse who is relatively inactive.  The amount of grain that you are feeding should maintain your horse in a good body condition and because this isn't the case, I would guess that your horse has an underlying metabolic issue causing the difficulty in maintaining weight.  What I would suggest is that you start by having your older horse evaluated by your vet for any sort of metabolic disease that may be the root of the problem.  Barring any medical reason for the weight issues, I would suggest that you start him on a good quality pre-biotic (I prefer Alltech's LifeForce Formula or SmartPak Equine's SmartDigest or SmartDigest Ultra).  I would also suggest that you switch to a senior supplement designed to meet the challenges of older horses (one that has no added starch, only a little extra fat, energy from fiber, quality protein sources) and feed only according to the manufacturers recommended rates.  You could also include beet pulp in the diet, feeding a few pounds per day.  Often times with horses having trouble maintaining body weight, less is more...fix the hindgut and minimize grain overloads and weight gain will follow.  Of course, you should ensure that your horse is not carrying a heavy worm load and that his teeth are in good condition, and always ensure that your horse has access to forage (pasture or hay) free choice.

I hope that helps.

Thanks, Corlena