I am feeding my 23 yr old Arabian mare Triple Crown Senior (5 yrs now) she has no health problems or dental and keeps her weight well.I would like to get her hoof hard she has soft feet and does hold her shoes but when I clean her hoof its crumbly and has had white line all summer.The biotin products over the years have not had an effect on her feet I hear great things about XTN and how healthy the hoof can be on this feed.But my concern is if this feed is good for my older horse. Does it have too many minerals in it for her to absorb.Can it be bad for her in any way? Thank you

Where are you from? NC

How did you locate this forum? ON LINE

Hi Janette,

I would suggest that you stay with the Triple Crown Senior because it has a much better mixture of digestible carbohydrates. However, the XTN is higher in the Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and therefore, offers the advantage of assisting in tissue maintenance and repair. A Senior feed is designed to be more digestible and easier to chew. So, you may be disappointed with the XTN. The mineral content is fine, however.

Poor quality hooves are not just due to a low biotin intake. The most important factor, actually, is the quality of protein she is getting. If the majority of her diet is grass and/or grass hay, she is likely not getting a sufficient amount of high quality protein to provide the building blocks necessary to make hoof tissue. By adding a legume hay (such as alfalfa) you can boost the amino acid profile of the hay. Or, you purchase lysine (an amino acid that is low in grasses) and add that to her diet for a similar effect.

So, to address your question… XTN is not dangerously high in minerals and it would be fine to try. However, if you notice that she is dropping a lot of feed, it may be difficult for her to chew. Also, keep in mind that XTN is oat-based and if she is at all prone to laminitis, too much of this feed can trigger an attack. So, if you choose to try this feed, gradually, very gradually change her over to it. And, limit her meal size to no more than 3 pounds each.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

dear dr getty, my husband and i have two horses, one is tenn walker 20yrs the other quarter horse is 10 we are feeding them a diet of alfalfa hay cubes and alfalfa bermuda pellets,each horse gets two pounds of each, once in morning, once at night is this ok? thay don't get much exersize. i'm concerned about the hay cubes being to hard on there teeth. thank you! sue

Where are you from? california

How did you locate this forum? web searching

Hello Sue,

Yes, this is fine – a mixture of alfalfa and grass hays is an excellent combination. The cubes are very hard and may be a problem for the older horse’s teeth. There are two ways you can go with this – soak the cubes in water for an hour before feeding or, feed alfalfa hay (make certain it is of horse grade, free of blister beetles) instead of cubes.

One thing I would recommend is to offer a small amount of a top dressing, such as Omegatin or a stabilized rice bran product such as Natural Glo Nuggets. You would only want to add a small amount – say ¼ to ½ pound at each meal. This will stabilize the pH of the hind gut so your horses will be less likely to develop intestinal stones (due to the alkaline environment of feeding alfalfa). In addition, these products will add essential fatty acids to their diet that will assist with their joints, immune system, skin, and hair coat.

Thank you for writing. I hope this is helpful.

All the best,

Dr. Getty