16/02/2024
Hello Everyone!
This post is inspired by the one of the lovely boys we treated the other week for Bella Napthali in the Southern Highlands. I frequently get asked for advice and feeding recommendations when it comes to older horses and wanted to impart some general guidance I usually give. 💚🐴
Many older horses, like our lovely patient of approximately 27 years below, have lost or are in the process of losing a number of molars due to issues like periodontal disease or uneven wear. This significantly impacts their ability to masticate (chew) effectively and thus they lack the ability to grind and extract nutrition from the long fibre in the roughage they ingest (remember roughage should make up most of their diets!!). Additionally the lack of wear on remaining molars (especially when opposing teeth are missing or irregular) often leads to sharp extensions that can lacerate the tongue and cheeks making for a very uncomfortable chewing experience. 🐴
Even after conservative treatment to reduce the discomfort from sharpness throughout the mouth, it often isn’t enough to create an even close to efficient masticatory process. This means much of the roughage our patient swallows ends up being swallowed essentially unchewed! Aside from being unable to extract much nutrition during digestion from these unmasticated fibres, swallowing these significantly increases the risk of choke or colic.‼️
For our patients struggling to maintain a healthy weight, the goal is to increase the amount of nutrition they can get from their diets and reduce this aforementioned risk. In addition to appropriate dental treatment, supplementing more chaff, hay cubes, or appropriate amounts of other short fibre feed into their diets can often make a big difference for these horses! Of course we need to remember that every case is different, so discussing with your vet and equine dentist is vital. With this patient specifically we advised them to increase his chaff intake, wet the feed to make the chewing process easier, and to continue feeding the same ration of seniors feed which he was already getting. 💐
If your horse is struggling with their weight, dropping feed, losing masseter (cheek muscle) volume, struggling to chew, or if you have any other concerns related to their dental health, give Engel Equine Dentistry a call on 0400 349 224 to have your horse examined and treated! We approach each case individually and treat the holistic health of the patient and concerns of the client with utmost importance. 🩺💚
- Ella Bonifer-Engelhardt, Equine Dentist (Dip.Equine.Dent.)
