Amber and Sandelee Wild Horse Diet
Newly added to our "herd" fall of 2017 is Sandelee (age 34 as of May 2022) and Amber (age 31 as of May 2022), my first mini horses!
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They are wonderful elderly senior horses and are teaching my grandchild how to appreciate the seniors in our lives! Photo below is the day of their arrival, on a typical Oregon day of rain! Both are on the same diet and share/argue over who's bucket is who's. Though they both still eat hay, they get large buckets of warm wet mash as their past diet was not appropriate for these old ladies. They were free grazing grass, being fed orchard grass and "senior" mix that was very high in sugars and starches. Though these pictures don't show it, they were very overweight for their size. They have lost a lot of weight, their coats are now shiny and soft. Though it took some convincing that this new diet was better than their old sugar filled diet, they are now happily munching away on and even being demanding of their new meals! They are now on a diet of:
Grazing on nice sunny days (as they both had rain rot, no more standing out in the rain!)
Recipes below are buckets for each horse, twice a day:
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UPDATED DIET March 2021
Amber and Sandelee have been on basically the same diet, though I no longer supplement the selenium but instead added extra kelp into their diet, plus Sugar Down. They are dewormed with Worm Gone Max every other month (about 1 week at a time). They are still going strong at 30 and 33, though Sandelee has slowed down a bit.
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UPDATE: Amber and Sandelee March 2021
Sandelee's age (33) is showing a bit more these days. She's slowed down quite a bit, is having a harder time eating hay and shows a lot more white on her face but she is still trucking along!
Amber is still and spritely as ever and races for the stall each night for dinner. Her, Sandelee and Nina are good friends, though Nina has bonded more with Grace lately. Mara is a daily miracle. We thought for sure she wouldn't make it through last winter but here it is a year later and she is still trucking along! Our vet thinks she is closer to 30 than 20, so its even more a miracle she is still with us. She has numerous issues that cant be fixed but as long as she seems happy, we're happy to help keep her going.
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UPDATE March 2022
Sandelee is mainly on a bucket diet now, though she can graze on short fine hay and short grass. We have to be very careful as her teeth are so aged that she has had several minor choke episodes, which fortunately I have been able to take care of myself (after the first one, when we were still figuring things out with her) Both old ladies are still spunky and have their occasional "zoomies". Amber struggles a bit with threadworms in the summer months so we do a lot of detoxing with Cootie Kicker and deworm with Worm Gone Max 5-7 days out of every warm month. Other than that, they seem to be doing very well for such old ladies!
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Update July 2023 After several diet changes in an attempt to get Amber to continue eating were unsuccessful and she continued to decline we had to make the difficult decision to let her go. Sandelee had a long grieving period but she is holding up well after joining Misty, Nina, Mama, and Baby's herd. She's an excellent auntie and babysitter for Mama. UPDATE:Sandelee Dec 2024 Sandelee’s (age 36) current diet, which is fed morning and evening with short grass grazing during the day (she cannot graze on grass over 3 inches long without issues but seems to handle that alright) Teff pellets-AM 2 cups dry measure, PM 4 cups dry measure. Teff is the lowest sugar and calorie level of the grass pellets available so works really well for minis and other chubby bunnies with sugar issues. Rice Bran Pellets-1/4 cup. Sandelee is not fond of Rice Bran Pellets but they also having a “filling” effect on the belly plus some good health benefits. But too much and she’ll try to toss them out of her bucket! Coolstance: Sandelee is not fond of our Iron Horse mixes (she doesn’t like camelina) and she also doesn’t need the calories but she does need goodies to prompt her to eat and I found Coolstance is the “thing” that gets her eating decently. She gets about ¼ cup per meal and that seems to be her happy spot. Sandelee’s Herb via Herbal Sampling Kit: Beet Root-to help feed her tendons and ligaments Blesses Thistle-for hormonal support, also boosts digestion (though not a traditional digestive herb) and helps promote liver function. Calendula-anti microbial (helps fight fungus and infections), promotes healing, antioxidant (helps fight free radicals), promotes liver function, and stimulates the lymphatic system, which benefits the immune system. Dandelion Leaf and Root-Though from the same plant, they have a bit of different functions. The Leaf will provide more vitamins, while the root provides more minerals. Both are good for detoxing as they are natural diuretics and flush toxins from the liver and kidneys.
Dog Grass-Dog Grass is perhaps one of the most underated herbs that we carry. It is ALWAYS chosen by horses with urinary issues (liver, kidneys, urinary tract etc) and is usually paired with dandelion and cleavers, depending on how severe the issue is. Sometimes you will also see it chosen with hyssop and chaparral (usually with UTI’s) As a very senior horse, its not uncommon to experience urinary issues of some type, even on the best of diets. Its just part of the body aging so when offered a choice, the horse will choose herbs that support their aging bodies.
Eleuthero-often paired with elecampane, Eleuthero is great for the older body, and after workouts due to increasing energy and reducing fatigue plus the positive effects on cognitive function. This is a very common herb for the seniors to choose.
Lemon Balm-Lemon Balm is one of my favorite calming plants. Not only does it calm the mind, but it helps relax muscles, reduce stress and feed the nerves. Lemon Balm also helps improve sleep and digestive function..specifically reducing gas, bloating and indigestion. Since digestion is reduced as the body grows older, having digestive improving herbs in the diet is very important! This is proven out by Sandelee not wanting to eat properly when her chosen herbs are not in her diet! (as I found out when I ran out of her herbal mix for a couple days) Nettle leaf- Like Dandelion, Nettle leaf and nettle root work slightly differently. I tend to use more leaf than root (due to availability) but I also find the deep greens of leaf to be more preferred by the horses than the root.
Rose Hips-Rose hips are a fantastic source of vitamin C but should not be given in very large doses because of its possible upset of the digestive tract. Rose hips are great for boosting the immune system Rose Hips are a natural way of promoting collagen production.
Turmeric-Turmeric benefits are very similar to Rose Hips with less irritation to the digestive tract plus anti inflammatory benefits. This is one of Sandelee’s favorite herbs!
Wormwood-When most people think about wormwood, they mainly think about an anti parasitic but wormwood has a host of other benefits. However, due to high levels of Thujone, its has to be used cautiously so best if kept to smaller doses for shorter periods of time (give it a break! Be careful about using with laminitic horses)
When looked as a whole, Sandelee is picking herbs to boost digestion, take care of “old lady” issues, and keep her urinary tract healthy with a bit for joint support. The herbs for digestive support aren’t so much for healing the digestive tract but to support digestive function due in part to her age but also because she is limited to eating soaked pellets and not eating the hay and grasses that a horse would normally eat that help promote digestion through fiber. |
