Feeding the veteran

Your beloved equine friend may have reached his golden years and you will obviously want to make sure that you give him the best possible chance to stay fit and health, so that he can stay fit, active and healthy for many more years to come.

Horses that are at 15 years old and older will have noticeable physiological differences to those who are younger. It is obvious that throughout their lives, a veteran’s body will have been exposed to a greater number of stresses compared to a younger horse and this will have a detrimental effect upon their quality of life, unless we help to combat and compensate for some of these factors that could be putting strains upon them.

Such stresses and strains that may have accumulated could be as a result of exposure to worms at some point during his lifetime, a bout of ulcers, dental problems or even due to damage to the liver, perhaps as a result of ragwort consumption.

The first signs of aging could become apparent through many different symptoms - weight loss, inability to gain condition, reduced digestive function, a compromised immune system, eye weeping, exercise intolerance or scaly skin can all contribute to an overall assessment that your horse is simply getting older.

There are, however, lots of things we can do on the nutrition front to compensate for, and perhaps slow down, some of the inevitable dreaded consequences of the aging process. That is why at The Pure Feed Company we have made sure that we have done all we can to ensure that our feeds contain the very best ingredients that you could give your horse to produce the very best results possible…
For starters, if we can boost the essential vitamins and minerals in the diet, then we can give our horses some of the building blocks he needs in order to help boost the slightly sub optimal immune system of the typical veteran. Essential nutrients such as lysine, methionine, zinc, and copper need to be at a high specification in the diet, along with an optimal, healthy dose of antioxidants to fight those ever increasing age related free radicals.

On the whole, elderly horses will have a decreased digestive function, so a higher concentration of nutrients is needed in the diet, to compensate for this diminished absorbability. With this in mind, providing a supply of pre and pro biotics will aid greatly in the ability of the digestive system to function at its optimum and all feeds in The Pure Feed range include Profeed pre-biotic and brewers yeast for improved digestion.

Protein especially is not absorbed particularly well, so it is important to include a high quality protein supply. And it is better to include a small amount of a high quality protein than a high amount of poor quality protein, as too much can cause a strain on the kidneys and liver.
Feeding a fibre based feed is also a great option for veterans, particularly with winter fast approaching. The breakdown process of fibre produces more warmth than that of starches, which means less physiological effort is needed by the horse and vital energy and condition is not wasted simply trying to keep the veteran warm.
With regards to dentition, as the horse reaches 15 plus, much of the original, hard wearing enamel will have worn off the teeth and the softer dentin is exposed. This means that a veteran’s teeth are worn away more easily, so it is important to soak a fibre based feed a little before feeding. This will soften the fibres for chewing, allow your horse to retain more water in the gastrointestinal tract, while also reducing the risk of choke.

At the Pure Feed Company, we have made sure that all our feeds contain the very best ingredients, the highest quality protein, as well as invaluable digestive aids, making our feeds an excellent choice for the veteran horse and pony – simply feed according to body condition and work load, while considering soaking the feed to make eating easier for the older horse.