Fear of colic

Question
Hello. I just purchased an 11 yr old 16.1 hh Thoroughbred brood mare who is very skinny and lost her foal to Placenta Previa about 9 days ago. She was a race horse as well. The man I purchased her from said she was abandoned and took her in and only had her for 4 weeks. He said she has been fed hay most all her life.
I don't want her to colic and I want her to put weight on. I eventually want her to be in the pasture full-time, but don't know how to wean her into pasture without her getting colic. Right now I feed her a flake of alfalfa hay in the morning, let her out for about 2 hrs in the afternoon to graze, then another flake of hay early evening,  then 6 scoops of senior equine with 2 scoops of wheat bran at night. Is this nearly enough??? I would prefer her to graze more than to get more hay, but I am in fear of her getting colic.
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank you so much


Answer
Dear Adriana,

That is far too much senior and that will increase your risk of colic.  You need to feed your horse at least 1.5% of its body weight per day as hay and if underweight that should be 1.5% of ideal weight.  Alfalfa hay is ok for horses who are very thin, condition score 2, but if your mare has more weight than that on her then you should not feed more than 50% of her hay as alfalfa and the rest should be grass hay.  I would feed her as much grass hay as she will eat.

I would also be feeding her sugar beet which you can find at most feed stores and soak it 1 part sugar beet 2 parts water.  It is great for putting on weight.  You can still feed some senior with it but not 6 scoops.  She needs to get a good supplement that balances the major hay in her diet and she needs access to white salt.  Also adding some ground stablized flax 4oz a day will help to maintain her coat but it also contains mucilage that lubricates the digestive tract and may help lessen colic risk.

As for the grass you can let her have increasing access.  I would be more concerned with laminitis although TB's are not high risk for laminitis.  The best way to avoid colic is to make all changes slowly and gradually get onto more and more grass until she is on it full time.  When you are able perhaps on weekend let her be out for 4 hours.

I hope this is helpful and good for you for wanting to avoid colic.

Bets regards,

Clair Thunes, PhD
Independent Equine Nutritionist
Equilibrate Equine Consulting
www.equilibrateequine.com
clair@equilibrateequine.com