Editor’s note: We at The Horse are horse owners like you. Certain equine-care products have impacted how we manage our own animals, and we want to share our experiences with you. These select products are ones we use and love every day.
Have you ever had a horse that kept you up at night worried that she wasn’t getting enough to eat? I hadn’t until I met Ann.
For years, a co-worker had an off-track Thoroughbred who didn’t like to eat and wouldn’t put on weight. I didn’t quite understand the struggle, because all my horses had always been eager eaters who hovered up anything I put in front of them. In fact, I had the opposite problem as my co-worker—I was trying to keep my horses from gaining weight while still feeding a free-choice, forage-first diet.
Then I got my own OTTB, Ann. While my three other horses ripped hay from their slow feeding nets, Ann delicately nibbled on a barrier-free trough of hay I laid out in front of her like an all-you-can-eat buffet. At mealtime, the other three begged for their grain (this was before we installed iFeed Naturally automatic feeders, another favorite product around our little horse property), she would stare at her feed bucket like I was trying to poison her.
The first month I had her, I made nearly daily trips into town to buy new and different types of feed and forage, making my own barn look like a feedstore. With each new purchase, the cashier would smile and wish me luck. Hopefully Ann would eat this bag or bale.
Because research indicates more than 90% of racehorses may have gastric ulcers, I suspected Ann had them, too (which my veterinarian later confirmed via gastroscopy), so while she liked sweet feeds more than other options, I wanted to stay away from these grain-based products that could exacerbate the issue. I offered her soaked beet pulp, something every horse I’ve owned has loved. Her response? “Ew, gross!” I tried hay pellets (alfalfa and timothy), chopped alfalfa, alfalfa hay, and just about every bagged concentrate on the shelf. Some she would eat for a few days and then, like a finicky cat, turn her nose up at it.
My husband and my nightly mantra became, “Eat your dinner Ann,” as we waited for her to finish her bucket. If Ann could have rolled her eyes at us, she would have.
Then someone suggested trying a senior feed. I paused; Ann was only 4 years old! I made an appointment with a nutritionist, who reaffirmed that—despite the name—senior feeds aren’t just for old horses and suggested Triple Crown Senior, specifically.
I bought a bag and put a couple of pounds in her bucket. She sniffed it suspiciously, took a nibble, and then dove in. She liked it, she really liked it!
Triple Crown Senior is a high-fat, high-fiber, beet-pulp-based feed. It’s also low in soluble carbohydrates. It is, of course, recommended for senior horses, but it’s also good for refeeding malnourished horses, putting weight on hard keepers, and supporting horses with gastric ulcers. And, according to Ann, Triple Crown Senior is highly palatable.
After I started feeding Ann Triple Crown Senior at the recommended minimum serving (6 pounds per day, which I divided into three servings per day), plus free-choice, high-quality orchardgrass hay, she put on weight and her coat started bloom with big dapples. She also developed a strong topline, and her lean racing muscle added bulk (at least she looked bulkier).
My success with Ann on Triple Crown Senior led me to put my easy keepers on Triple Crown’s ration balancer, another product I love.
What did I learn? When it comes to feeding picky eaters and hard keepers, the struggle is real. However, choosing a high-quality, highly palatable fixed-formula feed such as Triple Crown Senior can make all the difference.
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September 12, 2020 at 12:37AM
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Product Review: Triple Crown Senior – The Horse - TheHorse.com
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