Is your senior horse in optimum body condition for the upcoming winter months? As fall approaches, now is the time to plan for your horse’s changing nutritional needs—test your soil, eradicate invasive weeds, and reseed and fertilize pastures. For pastures soon-to-be snow covered, your hay needs should be secured.
While good quality hay and pasture is your horse’s best source of calories, you will also need to adjust your feeding program if your senior horse is notorious for losing weight during the winter. Most senior diets are high in fiber and fat in order to meet the nutritional and caloric needs of aging horses—they may no longer absorb or digest nutrients as well. Others may have metabolic issues such as Cushing’s, putting them as risk for developing catastrophic laminitis, as well as issues resulting from a compromised immune system, making management critical.
Monitoring NSC (nonstructural carbohydrates) levels in the overall diet, including pasture and hay, is key, paired with a low NSC, highly fortified feed. Triple Crown Senior provides a whole grain free, lower NSC option, utilizing beet pulp, high fat and EquiMix, an innovative blend of prebiotics, probiotics, yeast cultures and organic minerals to help enhance immune function and gut health. Triple Crown Senior breaks down easily when mixed with water to form a mash for horses that have difficulty chewing and swallowing, plus it includes enough bulk fiber to be used as the sole ration for horses unable to eat hay or pasture.
For more information and to purchase, visit triplecrownfeed.com/products/senior/.
