What To Feed My Older Mare

[terricowie1234]

is there any supplements for hooves? and day to day care for oldies? as my mare is 23 and i just want her to get all the vits and minerals..also is there any feed out there that may help thanks:D

[puzzles]

if she looks and acts well, then you need not feed her any differently until she really starts to show her age.
most veteran specialist feeds will provide more energy, protein and more accessible and easily digestible vitamins and minerals for maintenance of health and condition.
if your horse lacks condition or topline, or loses weight easily, then you can oil to her feed - up to 200mls each day, split into as many feeds as possible and preferably backed up with the same ampount of vitamin E, though no one really bothers with this :-) - the best quality being soya oil and linseed (flax), followed by corn oil (try Global herbs for these).
many veteran feeds include a digestive enhancer, in the form of probiotics, prebiotics and/or live yeast. this isbecause 23 years of digestine fibre and such takes its toll on older horse' digestion, hence why do many tend to lose weight or condition, even when on lots of high-energy feed.
you can add opne of these supplements to your mare's daily feed, some quality products including Dengie XP Triple Action and Biotal Equine Gold and one from the Global herbs range.
the best diet you can give your horse is high in digestible fibre, oil and protein in partucular, as well as essential vitamins and minerals.
if you are using amn already balanced compound feed and are not feeding the recommended amounts then you will need to add either a feed balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement, to ensure that your horse eats a balanced diet for the best of health.
make sure you have your horse's teeth checked about twice a year, as again 23 years of chewing can warp them, making chewing harder and resulting on food being swallowed which is only partially digested, making digestion in the gut harder and less efficient. this means that your mare cannot absorb nutrients well, leading long term to poorer condition.
your mare, because of poor teeth condition, cannot eat long forage (including hay and haylage) then a forage replacer (such as Dengie Hi-Fi Lite, Good Doer or Original) can be used ad-lib.
also if your horse isprone to losing condition, you can feed haylage insteadof hay due to its higher nurtritional value - though because it has a higher water content you'll need to feed 1.5 times as much).
a conditioning compound feed is ideal, or if your horsemaintains weight a forage0-based feedfrom the Dengie range, alongside a balancer/viytaminandmineralsupplement, will be suitable.
cubes are preferabl;e to mixes as they contain less fibre and more starch and sugar, compared to cubes.also cubes canbe mashed with water, or fed alongside sugarbeet (try Speedibeet or Fibrebeet) for slow-release energy and lots of fibre, without the unecessary starch and so much sugar, especially if your horse has trouble eating hard feed. follow the specific guidelines recommended by the feed manufactorer for feeding amounts.
this can be fed with a suitable chaff if wanted.

good luck!