Mounted search and rescue

[June bOYD <mjbhorse@yahoo.com>]

I have had 7 horses reach ages well over 25 and have used Purina's Equine Senior for all of them.  Most lived to be 29 to 32 and did well.  All but one was euthanized for other problems than starvation and died in good flesh.  They also received any hay they could manage to gum into submission.  I am presently feding a 29 year old with few teeth.  He does well in the summer but not so good in the winter.  I up his feed to around 3 gallons morning and evening in the winter.  I also feed electrolytes in the summer as this Texas heat can be a real problem.  It has been over 100 degrees for most of the last two weeks.

 

I feed horses prone to choke in old water troughs that I drill small holes in the bottom to avoid standing water.  I scatter the feed over the bottom and the horses can not get enough in their mouths at one time to cause the blockage in the esophagus that is usally the cause of choke.

 

Don't know if this will work for you but it has prove effective for me over the last 15 years.

---

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Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 12:21:22 PM
Subject: MSAR-Riders Digest, Vol 77, Issue 8

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Today's Topics:

  1. Dallas horses.. care and maintainance (Karen Nesbitt)
  2. Re: Dallas horses.. care and maintainance (E.S.)
  3. Re: Dallas horses... care and maintainance (Stagecoach)
  4. Re: Dallas horses.. old horses care and maintanance
      (Sabine Shurter)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:04:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Karen Nesbitt <spanishequines@yahoo.com>
Subject: [MSAR] Dallas horses.. care and maintainance
To: MSAR <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <156688.96015.qm@web36404.mail.mud.yahoo.com" ymailto="mailto:156688.96015.qm@web36404.mail.mud.yahoo.com">156688.96015.qm@web36404.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

As Irv mentioned, cost cutting is more than likely the reason? to let those horses be sold.? Our retired mare is almost 30.? She got really thin this past spring coming out of winter.??We tried a diet change hoping this winter to spring would be easyer to go through.
Then we had floods that put our normally better grass for this horse off the clock, and she lost more weight.? She was not doing well on what we had at the time.? So then we tried adding things to compensate.
?
Well, that did not work.?We had her on some cracked corn.? That did not do a thing for her, we tried alfalfa hay, all that did was give her the runs?and she lost more weight, she was wormed etc etc etc..and nothing seemed to be helping getting her back on course.? Then when spring and the heat of summer hit, we had dehydration issues, some runs and still now weight back.? We used the paste electrolytes and she had choice of red mineral block salt and white.? At here age, she is missing teeth.
?
We finally tried PROBIOS, after a few?days on that, that cured the runs, so we kept her on that for a few weeks?and through it all she was doing ok, just kept losing weight to the point of amaciation.? We thought this was going to be the end.?Her metabolizim changed and then a gal recommended to us try feeding Senior horse feed.? She said it was a soft pelleted feed, easier for the old?equine to digest.? Well, I told her we had issues with grain.? We found a Senior feed that Nutena puts out that has beet pulp, molasses, rice and non traditional grain.? It is working.? She is gaining weight back, but ever so slowly.? The stuff costs $14mol. ?a 50 lb bag...this supplement, that, wormers, vet bills, farrier...?so you do the math on what maintenance of an IDLE?older steed could cost that department, then if the horse is not usable and in chronic care for one issue or another.? Its not just the plopping of a feed into a bucket, at her age, its
getting the RIGHT STUFF.? That can take some time and supervision.
?
Well, right now, all I can say for us, that mare is doing much better.? She has a pasture here for her remaining days... but as someone else mentioned, they could not afford to keep retired aging?horses on their string.? The cost of maintenance gets to be rather tough to handle.? It is also hard to watch them go down hill and to try to figure out why (other than old age!).? Things seem to have a tendency to go not the way it used to.

As for SENIOR horse chows, not all companies are alike in what they put in it.? Some are grainless, others have grain.? Seems the main ingredient that is common is beet pulp and molasses...anything more than that is depending on the company.? So sometimes figureing out the metabolizim issues can take time, the horse can look like hell until you get it right, but there is hope for keeping an aged horse around a little longer.? The question is why?? ANd that may just boil down to the pocketbook of the department.

The one thing I resent about the Senior feed is the sticky fly attracting molasses.? I wish there was another additive that was caloric in the same manner, but did not attract flies in the stool or in the feed buckets.? grrrrr.? But as there is no other feed substitute I know of, I am stuck with the flies.?
?
One other thing we have found, older horses can?tend to choke on their grain.. so, my advise, do not leave them unattened while graining them.? Since a horse cannot regurgitate, they can get a blockage from the choking.? Hopefully not, but it takes a few moments for the animal to work the particles out and occassionally it can come through the nose in expulsion.? That is if they can expell it.? Not so sure what can be done if the animal cant, other than.. well....have a place for the inevitable.? Just our humble opinion.
?
Also, it never ceases to amaze me, just when you think you know alot about horse care, they get old and the program changes.?You learn more and more every day.? For some reason, babies are much easier to deal with!
?
Thin horses are not always unhealthy, just thin.. but fat horses, they are not alway healthy either....Overly fat horses especially aged ones can have a mirade of issues such as cushings, laminitis, arthritis and the list goes on.?
?
I am hoping that the old girl here will bloom again as she really is a joy to have in our pasture, but I also know that one day, we will be saying good bye to our old friend.
?
God bless and have a safe ride everyone!





??????? Karen
?
?


     
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:11:23 -0700
From: "E.S." <ES212@QWEST.NET>
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Dallas horses.. care and maintainance
To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <001701ca0580$11dfc1b0$4200a8c0@LIFEBOOK>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Please send this to the Posse ASAP. Especially Larry Cunningham. There are two mules for sale in this group. If anyone is interested in a "fixer-upper" these horses should be good. Most, if not all, are Mexican horses. The sale is Friday and they can look at them at the website below.

http://www.azda.gov/lostFound/webView.aspx
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Karen Nesbitt
  To: MSAR
  Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 12:04 PM
  Subject: [MSAR] Dallas horses.. care and maintainance


        As Irv mentioned, cost cutting is more than likely the reason  to let those horses be sold.  Our retired mare is almost 30.  She got really thin this past spring coming out of winter.  We tried a diet change hoping this winter to spring would be easyer to go through.
        Then we had floods that put our normally better grass for this horse off the clock, and she lost more weight.  She was not doing well on what we had at the time.  So then we tried adding things to compensate.

        Well, that did not work. We had her on some cracked corn.  That did not do a thing for her, we tried alfalfa hay, all that did was give her the runs and she lost more weight, she was wormed etc etc etc..and nothing seemed to be helping getting her back on course.  Then when spring and the heat of summer hit, we had dehydration issues, some runs and still now weight back.  We used the paste electrolytes and she had choice of red mineral block salt and white.  At here age, she is missing teeth.

        We finally tried PROBIOS, after a few days on that, that cured the runs, so we kept her on that for a few weeks and through it all she was doing ok, just kept losing weight to the point of amaciation.  We thought this was going to be the end. Her metabolizim changed and then a gal recommended to us try feeding Senior horse feed.  She said it was a soft pelleted feed, easier for the old equine to digest.  Well, I told her we had issues with grain.  We found a Senior feed that Nutena puts out that has beet pulp, molasses, rice and non traditional grain.  It is working.  She is gaining weight back, but ever so slowly.  The stuff costs $14mol.  a 50 lb bag...this supplement, that, wormers, vet bills, farrier... so you do the math on what maintenance of an IDLE older steed could cost that department, then if the horse is not usable and in chronic care for one issue or another.  Its not just the plopping of a feed into a bucket, at her age, its getting the RIGHT STUFF.  Tha
t can take some time and supervision.

        Well, right now, all I can say for us, that mare is doing much better.  She has a pasture here for her remaining days... but as someone else mentioned, they could not afford to keep retired aging horses on their string.  The cost of maintenance gets to be rather tough to handle.  It is also hard to watch them go down hill and to try to figure out why (other than old age!).  Things seem to have a tendency to go not the way it used to.

        As for SENIOR horse chows, not all companies are alike in what they put in it.  Some are grainless, others have grain.  Seems the main ingredient that is common is beet pulp and molasses...anything more than that is depending on the company.  So sometimes figureing out the metabolizim issues can take time, the horse can look like hell until you get it right, but there is hope for keeping an aged horse around a little longer.  The question is why?  ANd that may just boil down to the pocketbook of the department.

        The one thing I resent about the Senior feed is the sticky fly attracting molasses.  I wish there was another additive that was caloric in the same manner, but did not attract flies in the stool or in the feed buckets.  grrrrr.  But as there is no other feed substitute I know of, I am stuck with the flies. 

        One other thing we have found, older horses can tend to choke on their grain... so, my advise, do not leave them unattened while graining them.  Since a horse cannot regurgitate, they can get a blockage from the choking.  Hopefully not, but it takes a few moments for the animal to work the particles out and occassionally it can come through the nose in expulsion.  That is if they can expell it.  Not so sure what can be done if the animal cant, other than.. well....have a place for the inevitable.  Just our humble opinion.

        Also, it never ceases to amaze me, just when you think you know alot about horse care, they get old and the program changes. You learn more and more every day..  For some reason, babies are much easier to deal with!

        Thin horses are not always unhealthy, just thin.. but fat horses, they are not alway healthy either....Overly fat horses especially aged ones can have a mirade of issues such as cushings, laminitis, arthritis and the list goes on. 

        I am hoping that the old girl here will bloom again as she really is a joy to have in our pasture, but I also know that one day, we will be saying good bye to our old friend.

        God bless and have a safe ride everyone!
                Karen

     




------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:26:55 -0500
From: "Stagecoach" <stagecoach2heaven@att.net>
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Dallas horses.. care and maintainance
To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <E3FF5B6E292044428C58B96045D7D1EA@codya3f78122d2>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

We had a Poco Bueno horse that we had to put on senior feed.  We recommend Purina's Equine Senior as it really helped or stallion.  Within 5-8 weeks he went from very "ribby" to well filled out.  The trick for us was because he had no teeth at 29, we soaked his feed first for 20-30 minutes.  He could smell it from the other side of the fields and start salivating for it!

I really recommend the Purina Equine Senior for all older horses.  I have done so to many people and they all had much success and longer time with their beloved friend(s).

David "Cody" Franz
Medina County (Texas) Sheriff's Office
Mounted Search & Rescue
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:39:59 -0600
From: Sabine Shurter <ranch@tektrail.com>
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Dallas horses.. old horses care and maintanance
To: Mounted search and rescue <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <4A5E308F.4030406@tektrail.com" ymailto="mailto:4A5E308F.4030406@tektrail.com">4A5E308F.4030406@tektrail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

We found beet pulp (well soaked to avoid colic or choking) useful to
help old (and younger) horses maintain their weight. Additional senior
feed or a general supplemental feed like Empower from Nutrena (pricey
but very little needs to be fed ... it contains a lot of rice bran) and
good hay (such as a mix of good grasses and some alfalfa to keep the
digestive system in good order) should be fed as beet pulp is lacking
some nutrients.  Beet pulp (which is a main ingredient in many senior
feeds) is comparably cheap and had a good yield (one scoop of dry pulp
makes about 4 scoops of wet/moist pulp after 1/2 hr.+ of soaking) and
the water in the soaked pulp helps hydration. A thin horse may also
suffer from Cushings disease which causes weight loss, shedding problems
and a decreased immune response. There is medication available although
our vet thinks it does not always work and some horses do even better
without. The horse will have to be treated till the end of his life (a
cost factor). As you say, thin is not necessarily bad (unless emaciated)
and a thinner horse maybe better off than a fat horse. The problems
start when essential nutrients are lacking or not internalized anymore
especially in older animals which affect the responsiveness of the
immune system and can cause other problems. Sabine



Karen Nesbitt wrote:
> As Irv mentioned, cost cutting is more than likely the reason  to let
> those horses be sold.  Our retired mare is almost 30.  She got really
> thin this past spring coming out of winter.  We tried a diet change
> hoping this winter to spring would be easyer to go through.
> Then we had floods that put our normally better grass for this horse
> off the clock, and she lost more weight.  She was not doing well on
> what we had at the time.  So then we tried adding things to compensate.
> 
> Well, that did not work. We had her on some cracked corn.  That did
> not do a thing for her, we tried alfalfa hay, all that did was give
> her the runs and she lost more weight, she was wormed etc etc etc..and
> nothing seemed to be helping getting her back on course.  Then when
> spring and the heat of summer hit, we had dehydration issues, some
> runs and still now weight back.  We used the paste electrolytes and
> she had choice of red mineral block salt and white.  At here age, she
> is missing teeth.
> 
> We finally tried PROBIOS, after a few days on that, that cured the
> runs, so we kept her on that for a few weeks and through it all she
> was doing ok, just kept losing weight to the point of amaciation.  We
> thought this was going to be the end. Her metabolizim changed and then
> a gal recommended to us try feeding Senior horse feed.  She said it
> was a soft pelleted feed, easier for the old equine to digest.  Well,
> I told her we had issues with grain.  We found a Senior feed that
> Nutena puts out that has beet pulp, molasses, rice and non traditional
> grain.  It is working.  She is gaining weight back, but ever so
> slowly.  The stuff costs $14mol.  a 50 lb bag...this supplement, that,
> wormers, vet bills, farrier... so you do the math on what maintenance
> of an IDLE older steed could cost that department, then if the horse
> is not usable and in chronic care for one issue or another.  Its not
> just the plopping of a feed into a bucket, at her age, its getting the
> RIGHT STUFF.  That can take some time and supervision.
> 
> Well, right now, all I can say for us, that mare is doing much
> better.  She has a pasture here for her remaining days... but as
> someone else mentioned, they could not afford to keep retired
> aging horses on their string.  The cost of maintenance gets to be
> rather tough to handle.  It is also hard to watch them go down hill
> and to try to figure out why (other than old age!).  Things seem to
> have a tendency to go not the way it used to.
> As for SENIOR horse chows, not all companies are alike in what they
> put in it.  Some are grainless, others have grain.  Seems the main
> ingredient that is common is beet pulp and molasses...anything more
> than that is depending on the company.  So sometimes figureing out the
> metabolizim issues can take time, the horse can look like hell until
> you get it right, but there is hope for keeping an aged horse around a
> little longer.  The question is why?  ANd that may just boil down to
> the pocketbook of the department.
> The one thing I resent about the Senior feed is the sticky fly
> attracting molasses.  I wish there was another additive that was
> caloric in the same manner, but did not attract flies in the stool or
> in the feed buckets.  grrrrr.  But as there is no other feed
> substitute I know of, I am stuck with the flies.
> 
> One other thing we have found, older horses can tend to choke on their
> grain.. so, my advise, do not leave them unattened while graining
> them.  Since a horse cannot regurgitate, they can get a blockage from
> the choking.  Hopefully not, but it takes a few moments for the animal
> to work the particles out and occassionally it can come through the
> nose in expulsion.  That is if they can expell it.  Not so sure what
> can be done if the animal cant, other than.. well....have a place for
> the inevitable.  Just our humble opinion.
> 
> Also, it never ceases to amaze me, just when you think you know alot
> about horse care, they get old and the program changes. You learn more
> and more every day.  For some reason, babies are much easier to deal with!
> 
> Thin horses are not always unhealthy, just thin.. but fat horses, they
> are not alway healthy either....Overly fat horses especially aged ones
> can have a mirade of issues such as cushings, laminitis, arthritis and
> the list goes on.
> 
> I am hoping that the old girl here will bloom again as she really is a
> joy to have in our pasture, but I also know that one day, we will be
> saying good bye to our old friend.
> 
> God bless and have a safe ride everyone!
>        Karen
> 
> 
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> MSAR-Riders mailing list
> MSAR-Riders@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/msar-riders
> 



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