Question on feeding senior stallion

[mirrorofagirl]

I am working with my vet on this issue, but I figured advice from those who have lived through this would be helpful too.   I have a question about feeding a senior horse, in this case it's our stallion.

He's a 27 year old Arabian, and came to us a little on the thin side in July.  This is his first time being outside of Florida in the colder months

Comments

[lurath]

Have you tried weight builder supplements? I'm a huge fan (as some of you know) of adding milled flax seed (I get mine from horsetech.com--BEST stuff) and/or oil to the diet. If he eats the pellets dry and has no problem chewing them, upping that amount would also be a cheaper option.

[sm923]

Why not collect him now and store the semen?

[sm923]

I should elaborate. If the steroids will help him gain/keep weight, it doesn't make sense to not use that option just because you want to breed him(What are his bloodlines? I'm an arab person as well)Collect him now and start the steroids and see if they work.

[mirrorofagirl]

He's a son of Khemosabi out of a daughter of The Real McCoy. Can't replace that bloodline. Even Paul Husband said he was one of the best crosses. His sperm count drops too much to collect and freeze this time of year, we considered that but looked at last years numbers and they were not good enough to freeze until the Spring.

Trust me, the minute the vet says to do steriods we are doing it, foal or not his health is most important to us. The vet just doesn't think it's needed yet. He wants us to give it a few more weeks and reevaluate the situtaion. I'm just a paraniod momma and can't handle just waiting it out, hence the asking for help. :)

[sm923]

I definately don't blame you then! Those are some amazing lines. Good luck. I've got two older guys and luckily, they're fine on hay, senior feed and soybean meal.

[gatehorse]

Try adding oil to his diet. Ask your vet or an equine nutrition expert how much, and add it gradually to his diet over a couple of weeks. It's a good, safe way to give him extra calories.

[mirrorofagirl]

He already has the oil, mentioned that in the first post. He gets rice bran oil. :/

[gatehorse]

Ah, I missed that. I don't know much about steroids or anything, so the only other advice I have is to talk to an nutritionist.

[songofsixxpence]

i second the flax seed and the weight building supplements.
i'd add rice bran with a canola oil, and there is that loose hay stuff that starts with an F that i REALLY wish i could remember right now.
are you blanketing him up?
What kind of pelleted feed are you feeding him? i'd use a senior feed if you're not already.
breeding stallions are fed differently, so i would try to read up on nutrition specifically for him.

[mirrorofagirl]

It's senior feed. I'm going to get online and buy some of the flax seed, and I guess it wouldn't hurt to switch him from senior suppliments to weight builder, I'll call the vet and double check. Thanks. :)

[12to15steps]

Processed oils like Canola are full of free radicals, which among other things are detrimental to joint health. I like http://www.triplecrownfeed.com/rice-bran-oil-plus.php , which does have Corn Oil, but in pretty small quantities. I also REALLY really like http://www.uckeleequinenutrition.com/ezecommerce.cfm?fuseaction=productdetail&productid=433 ; it's what I'm feeding now. It's much more palatable than rice bran oil, but if you're guy is already eating it, you could stick with it, or not

[beasulike]

my 26 year old is striving on Equi-Jewel as part of his grain/chaff mix. He also gets crushed linseed (flax seed) and Livamol (but I don't know if you can get that where you are).

keep him warm with a good blanket, especially over night. you don't want him burning those precious calories just on maintaining his body temperature.

can you add a third feeding time to his schedule? he may do better on that. good luck!