Feeding Today’s Senior Horse 

Science-based best practices for older horses of all types and health statuses.
A senior horse eating hay.
If a senior horse can still chew and swallow grass and hay effectively, high-quality forage that is soft and immature is the best option. | Getty Images

As veterinary care and nutrition options for horses improve, senior horses comprise an increasingly large proportion of the equine patient population. Medications are improving horses’ quality of life and usefulness well into their 20s and sometimes 30s, and proper nutrition is an essential part of equine longevity. Most horses must consume 1.5-2% of their body weight daily to maintain condition; however, this is highly dependent on the quality of the feed offered and each horse’s individual metabolism. Therefore, feeding senior horses requires some special considerations. 

As horses age, feed digestion can be hindered at several levels of the gastrointestinal tract. Poor dentition is the most easily recognized: Worn incisors or the presence of equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH) can make tearing forage difficult or cause pain while prehending feed. Worn, expired, damaged, and missing cheek teeth make chewing and swallowing grass and hay difficult. The small intestine loses some ability to digest protein effectively as horses age. The hindgut loses efficiency to ferment fiber, which reduces the horse’s ability to absorb nutrients from long-stem forage. Aged horses are also much more likely to develop pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), which can cause muscle atrophy or wasting, especially along the topline. 

All these age-related changes mean the feeds and forages offered to senior horses should be of high nutritional value and easily digestible. Protein should comprise properly balanced amino acids, and concentrates should be processed via extrusion or into pellets or flakes to improve digestibility. 

Underweight Senior Horses With or Without Poor Dentition 

Senior horses commonly struggle to maintain an adequate body condition. If a senior horse can still chew and swallow grass and hay effectively, high-quality forage that is soft and immature is the best option. Horses won’t ferment stemmy, overmature forage as effectively. Softer cuttings of alfalfa can easily add calories. For these horses, a “senior” or “complete” feed is not necessarily required, but a high-calorie concentrate, fed at the label recommendations, should be offered. Some pelleted performance feeds might fit the bill; alternatively, a ration balancer with an added calorie-dense supplement can be effective.  

For horses that have limited or no ability to chew and digest hay, a complete feed is often the best choice. These feeds, often labeled as “senior,” have different types of forage built into them (e.g., beet pulp, alfalfa meal, soy hulls), so a horse can get its fiber requirement from the feed. While horses don’t digest these feeds in the same way they do true long-stem forage, they are very useful for horses that cannot digest stemmier fibers. Alternatively, hay pellets, soaked hay cubes, soaked beet pulp, and chopped hay products can be offered as alternatives to regular long-stem forage. 

It is important to offer senior feed or alternative forage products at least three times per day to avoid GI tract problems associated with periods of fasting. For an average-sized horse, this might mean offering 15 or more pounds of extruded, pelleted, or texturized feed per day, divided into several meals. In extreme cases of poor dentition, most of these products can be soaked into mashes for ease of consumption. 

Overweight Senior Horses With or Without Insulin Dysregulation 

While underweight horses can benefit from free-choice forage, overweight horses sometimes benefit from restricted access to forage. If dentition allows, offering a more mature and stemmier hay can help keep overweight horses “busy” eating without providing too many calories. The entire diet should not exceed 1.5% of the horse’s body weight. Hay nets, small meals multiple times per day, and grazing muzzles can help make hay last longer if it must be restricted. 

For horses with insulin dysregulation (ID), the Equine Endocrinology Group recommends choosing hay with less than 10% nonstructural carbohydrates and adding a low-starch ration balancer. If necessary, soak hay in cold water for 60 minutes before feeding, which reduces some of the sugars. Pasture is not recommended. 

PPID With or Without Insulin Dysregulation 

Body condition score, degree of muscle wasting, and evidence of ID are the most important factors to consider when feeding horses with PPID. If ID is not present, PPID horses can be fed according to body condition and might benefit from complete feeds if dentition dictates. Additional high-quality amino acid products and pasture grazing might still be appropriate for these patients. PPID should also be treated with appropriate medical therapy. 

When both PPID and ID are present, NSCs should be limited as with obese ID horses. Forage should not exceed 10% NSCs if possible. If the horse is on the thin side, offer low-starch senior feeds or add fat supplements and/or highly digestible fiber products, such as alfalfa pellets, to a low-starch ration balancer. 

Free Fecal Water Syndrome 

Free fecal water syndrome (FFWS) becomes more likely as horses age. The hindgut loses some capacity to reabsorb water due to leaking between the tight junctions of the cells of the colon walls. FFWS, while not life-threatening, can cause dermatitis on the hind limbs from loose stool that dries on the skin. 

Some horses improve in response to a softer and more easily digestible forage (pasture, chopped hay, soft cuttings of hay, etc.). Others improve when fed high-quality pre- and probiotics, including Saccharomyces, though study results have indicated the microbiomes of horses affected with FFWS are not significantly different from unaffected horses. Sometimes, switching to a complete feed—eliminating long-stem forage—can improve symptoms. 

Equine Asthma 

This chronic respiratory condition can worsen as horses age. Minimizing environmental factors that exacerbate asthma is key. Soaking, wetting down, or steaming hay can be very effective in eliminating dust and some mold. Offer only high-quality hay that was put up dry. Commercial options such as hay pellets, hay cubes, and chopped forages can be less-dusty alternatives. Omega-3 fatty acids, such as the DHA found in fish oil, can be effective in regulating the body’s inflammatory response and have been shown to improve clinical signs in horses with asthma. 

Take-Home Message for Veterinarians 

Senior horses can present medical and logistical challenges when it comes to providing them with optimal nutrition. Owners have access to many commercial feed options for this class of horse. The veterinarian’s role is to assist in developing effective feed programs by evaluating each individual horse’s health status and tailoring available products to its needs. 

This article originally appeared in “Feeding for the Future: Nutrition Knowledge for the Modern Equine Practitioner,” brought to you by Sentinel Horse Feeds. You can download the complete issue here.

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