Ruby is my 24-year-old Quarter Horse mare. She weighs about 1,000 lb (450 kg), and she’s in moderate body condition. She has insulin dysregulation and Cushing’s disease. She’s rehabbing from an injury, so she’s in her stall all but six or seven hours a week. She consumes about 16 lb (7 kg) of hay per day; most of the hay is timothy, though there is some alfalfa and orchardgrass in it. She is fed 5 lb (2.3 kg) of an easy-keeper feed per day, and I supplement ground flaxseed, salt, natural-source vitamin E, and a digestive aid. She also receives pergolide. I am happy with her weight, but ever since I started the pergolide, she is picky, sometimes not finishing her grain. I want her to have the best diet possible given her health issues.

Everything I’ve read indicates that grain should not be fed to growing draft horses. I know specially formulated foods are available for large-breed dogs so they don’t grow too fast, but what about horses? I have a Percheron yearling gelding, and my vet says that grass, Bermuda hay, and alfalfa pellets are not enough to give him what he needs, even though he is in good flesh and acts healthy. What does the research say?

I own a 16-year-old pony gelding (14.2 hands, 985 lb or 450 kg) that needs to lose weight. I’d assign him a body condition score of 7. He has been diagnosed with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID or Cushing’s syndrome) but is otherwise sound and healthy. He spends most of his day outside munching on sparse pasture and round-baled fescue. He gets 0.5 lb (0.23 kg) of ration balancer daily as well as some soaked alfalfa, electrolytes, bran, levothyroxine sodium, and pergolide. When the grass gets greener, I put him in the paddock until the other horses eat it down. What can I do to reduce his weight?

Does coconut oil help with digestive issues?

I currently feed my horse a coconut/soybean oil blend for weight maintenance. Would EO-3 be a comparable replacement? He currently gets 6 oz spread over two feedings to maintain weight. He had colic surgery 18 months ago and receives 2.5 lb (1 kg) of high-fiber concentrate each day in addition to hay.

Eddie is my 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that does some low-level eventing. He’s in moderate body condition—I’d say a 5 on the 1-9 Henneke scale—but I think he needs to gain a little weight. He has allergies and a panoply of gastrointestinal problems: gastric ulcers, hindgut acidosis, leaky gut syndrome, and occasional colic. He is jazzed mentally when under saddle—lots of energy! He spends 15 hours each day in a stall and the remainder turned out. Eddie has round-baled grass hay when he’s outside and timothy hay in a slow-feed haynet when stalled. He also gets timothy pellets (1 lb or 0.5 kg) and rice bran pellets (0.5 lb or 0.25 kg) daily. With this diet, however, he has an ongoing issue with ulcers and gas colic. The vet blood-tested him for allergies, revealing he is allergic to oats, soy, flax, sunflower, and cottonseed. His ulcers are problematic at all times, it seems, and he is itchy right now with the addition of rice bran. Looking for any feeding suggestions.

Robber is my 10-year-old Thoroughbred mare (14.2 hands; 1,030 lb or 470 kg) that is in moderate body condition. She has thin soles and crushed heels, typical of many of her breed. She’s stalled half the day and turned out half the day. Pasture quality depends on the season. In the summer, it’s great; in the winter, it’s not. She is fed 10-15 lb (4.5-9 kg) of grass hay every day, plus 2-4 lb (1-2 kg) of alfalfa hay daily in the winter. In the summer, she gets a few flakes of grass hay in addition to her pasture intake. As far as concentrates, she receives 2 cups of crimped oats, 1 cup of timothy pellets, and 1 cup of rice bran in the morning and evening. I also feed her a trace mineral supplement and supplemental vitamin E in the evening. She doesn’t love the trace mineral supplement, so I often add molasses. I feel as though her coat is drab this year, too, so I want to make sure I am hitting all the key nutrients. I plan to start riding her again in a few weeks.

Why can’t I just feed my horse sodium bicarbonate to help with hindgut problems?

My mare has been diagnosed with polysaccharide storage myopathy type 1 (PSSM1). I am working through her diet now, and I came across an ingredient called dried distillers grains with solubles. Can a horse with PSSM consume this ingredient without agitating the muscle disease?

I’ve been reading more and more about feeding omega fatty acids recently. Can you give me some more information on them, please?