Question
I own a 17-year-old, 950-lb (430-kg) Arabian mare that stands 14.2 hands (147 cm). She is fat, probably best described as an 8 on the body condition scorecard. She is maintained on pasture from early morning until late evening, and she is stalled at night. She was being fed hay instead of the pasture to control her weight, but she was not doing well on the hay, including having gastrointestinal irritation (diarrhea). The mare is also on thyroid medication, which I give to her in a handful (one-quarter cup) of grain, and a supplement to prevent sand colic. I can’t keep her on pasture as it is dwindling and she is becoming too mushy-fat. I would like to put her back on hay, but I am afraid it will once again bother her gastrointestinal tract. How can I keep her gastrointestinal tract happy without feeding her hay (which was causing the gastrointestinal problems, presumably) or pasture (which is causing a different problem, obesity)? Help, please!
Answer
I assume you have had her teeth floated recently and she is on an effective deworming program, which would cover two possible causes for intestinal irritation.
Because she is doing well on grass and grass is very soft, it would indicate to me that as long as you keep the forage soft she can handle it. Pasture is ideal, but if you need another alternative for forage you might consider hay pellets or cubes fed softened with water.
To induce weight loss, these can be fed at 1.5% of her body weight if she does not have access to or is on very poor or sparse pasture. If you feel that might be too extreme for her, then keep her at 1.8-2% of body weight. Soaked beet pulp can also be added to a mash of hay pellets to give it a little variety. To calculate how much to feed at 1.5%: 950 lb (430 kg) x 1.5% = 14.25 lb (6.5 kg) of forage.
Although this horse’s diet doesn’t seem to be the type that would cause problems, there may be some benefit to trying a hindgut buffer like EquiShure. This supplement stabilizes the pH of the hindgut, making it less acidic, which would reduce irritation of the delicate intestinal lining.
Since feeding just one-quarter cup of a commercial feed is well below the recommended feeding rate, it will not balance the diet for the necessary nutrients that are low or missing in the forage. Therefore, you may want to consider adding a vitamin/mineral supplement to the diet, like Micro-Max or Gold Pellet.
