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Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 26, 2016 6:50 PM

Hey guys! So I figured that most of you here probably know more about general horse care than me... The methods of taking care of horses here in the Philippines are soooo primitive unless you have A LOT of money and can afford to board your horse at the Polo Club (which I can't). So I have a problem with my native pony who is working in a city 4 hours away from me right now. He's getting old, but neither his part-owner nor I can afford to fully retire him, so right now he is still being hired out to tourists for horse rides about 3-4 days a week. It's really breaking my heart that I can't afford to give him the retirement he deserves, but I want to at least make sure he's getting the diet he needs to keep his strength up and his bones sound. Can anyone suggest something? I have little to absolutely no access to imported feeds or supplements, so any simple/affordable remedy suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I've tried to do research on my own about adding corn oil and the like, but quite frankly, I'll trust the community here for more sound and friendly advise..

Please help :(

Thanks fellow horse-lovers

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 26, 2016 8:02 PM

Just additional background info: Viper's current diet consists mainly of a dry molasses feed mixed with some crimped and crushed oats, plus fresh-cut grass from the mountains. He prefers taking his feed wet, and so takes his water that way too. Please don't judge my care of him based on his diet.. I know it's probably poor and not as ideal overall, but these are the most readily available feeds in this country :( all nutrition issues and medications that he has needed so far were based on careful research by his other owner, me, and my other horse-people friends. We have no access to good, equine-specialized vets :(

Gael4ce · Jan 26, 2016 11:01 PM

The first thing I would do is check his teeth for sharp edges. If he needs dental work, it can make him eat sloppy - which spills a lot of grain - and it can also make him eat less if his mouth is hurting.

Does anyone there float teeth? I don't think they'd have to be equine specialist vets to know how to do it.

And black oil sunflower seeds are a good supplement if you can get them there. Make sure you get the black seeds, not the striped ones that people would eat. More info on the link below.

http://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 27, 2016 4:55 AM

I'll check on his eating and his teeth as soon as I visit him. According to his other owner, so far, so good, though he seems to have slowly lost some weight over the past 6 months. I've seen those sunflower seeds around! Not as common as the striped ones, but I'm pretty sure I've seen them being sold for birds. I tried having Viper's teeth floated by a vet who was visiting our town for a few days, but he never replied to my texts after a while :/

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 27, 2016 4:57 AM

Thanks for replying :) it puts me a little more at ease knowing there are some things I can do for Viper that are within reach. Sigh. And people think I "spoil" him. It's just that a lot of people here have no idea what it really takes to care for a horse. Or any animal for that matter.

SandyCreekAcres · Jan 27, 2016 5:38 AM

Do you know if alfalfa cubes are available? They need to be soaked in warm water before giving them to horses, but they do provide a protein rich feed. My therapeutic riding program has used them for many of our older horses, especially if their teeth are very worn down from age so that they have trouble chewing.

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 28, 2016 7:41 AM

I looked up alfalfa cubes, but I don't have the money to ship in orders T_T i think my best bet right now is to look for those seeds Gael mentioned. I've heard that breeders of fighting cocks use it as a supplement too. Thanks for replying! I'm starting to save up money, so hopefully by the time Viper gets to the point where chewing is really hard for him, I can start ordering those cubes :)

Gael4ce · Jan 28, 2016 8:26 AM

Beet pulp may be another option - I have no clue if it's in your area though. http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10295/feeding-beet-pulp

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 28, 2016 6:44 PM

Can't get beet pulp either. Thanks so much for your suggestions. They're a real help with putting things into perspective for me. I'm so happy I found this game and community of horse-lovers :D

Gael4ce · Jan 28, 2016 9:33 PM

Dang. Well, sure hope the black sunflower seeds work out, I can't think of anything else that isn't a commercial product.

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 29, 2016 1:56 AM

Thanks so much for the link :) most of the feed varieties that are easily accessed here are the ones for chickens or hogs. The sunflower seeds seems to be common denominator, so I think I can get it fairly easily

Jemimapuddleduck · Jan 30, 2016 3:27 AM

Turmeric is very popular here in the UK as a supplement. It has anti inflammatory, anti bacterial and anti oxidant effects so good for joint mobility and all round health in older horses.
I would have thought you would be able to get hold of it as it's quite widely used in human food.

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 30, 2016 7:17 AM

Oh my I didn't know turmeric could work! I can ge5 that very easily! In fact I eat it in all my rice and regularly have it as tea! How does one administer it to horses though?

Hall of Sleipnir · Jan 30, 2016 7:25 AM

Thank you so much for this! I'm going to do as much research on it as possible!

Jemimapuddleduck · Feb 2, 2016 10:30 PM

You just add turmeric to the feed like a supplement

Hall of Sleipnir · Feb 4, 2016 1:05 AM

Great! Thanks :)

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