Feeding the Senior Horse: Consider Dental Failure

Horses are hypsodonts, which means that their teeth continually erupt at a rate of ~3 to 4 mm a year, and the teeth wear at around the same rate. However, modern horse care means that our horses are living longer than they have tooth for - they’re not just long in the tooth, they are running out of tooth!

Dental failure: Your horse’s teeth are no longer able to effectively chew long-stem forage.

Senior horses are prone to dental problems:

• Gapping: As teeth become worn down, they can shift in the mouth, causing gaps. Food can get stuck in the gaps, causing damage to the gums, pain, infection and sinus issues. 

• Loose teeth: These horses may develop loose teeth, which cause serious pain.  

• EOTRH, or equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis, can also occur in the aging horse. This causes serious discomfort and may require complete extraction for quality of life.

Routine dental checks are necessary for all horses, but especially senior horses, to monitor for these issues and treat accordingly. Since horses are stoic by nature, signs of discomfort are usually present once the dental issue has progressed from mild to more extreme issues. You may observe changes such as: 

• Quidding: partially-chewed food falling from the mouth while the horse attempts to eat; often left on floor of stall

• Head shyness, especially along sides of cheek especially 

• Resistance to bit and noseband

• Loss of condition, reduced feed intake or feed refusal

• Behaviour changes due to pain

Work with your horse’s healthcare team ASAP if you are seeing these signs. For horses with dental failure who cannot safely consume hay, or may not be able to consume sufficient hay due to dental pain or inefficiency, we must find other ways to meet their fiber requirement. 

The most important thing to consider is your horse’s digestive system. It is designed to a) eat little and often and b) consume fibrous material. As a result, your horse has a fiber requirement, and a maximum time without feed requirement.

• To meet your horse’s fiber requirement, we need to be feeding AT LEAST 1.0-1.5% BW DM in fiber per day - I recommend aiming for 1.5%, with lower levels only being appropriate under the supervision of a professional. Normally we would meet this requirement with hay, but for senior horses who aren’t able to chew long-stem hay, we need to meet these requirements a different way. This might look like a complete senior feed, hay cubes, beet pulp and other fiber alternatives, chopped hay, etc. These will need to be fed to replace hay in a 1:1 ratio by dry weight.

• To meet your horse’s threshold of maximum time without feed, we want to avoid duration without feed being longer than 3-4 hours. Time without feed for 4-6 hours has been associated with increased risk of ulcers, while also impacting hormonal balance (cortisol, insulin, etc). Working with your horse's management to minimize time without feed will be paramount! As long as the horse is able to eat hay without choking or colicking, allowing the horse access to hay is good for their mental wellness and saliva production.

There are a few considerations that need to be weighed when managing the dentally challenged senior:

• Not every forage replacement is appropriate - or safe - for every senior horse. Accounting for their unique needs, individual metabolism and concurrent concerns/ailments (ie PPID with Insulin dysfunction) will help you match your

• Not every fiber alternative can fully replace hay to meet your horse’s fiber requirement. Work with a nutritionist to assess ingredient labels to ensure you are actually meeting your senior horse’s fiber requirement in a way that is balanced and safe for them.

• Monitor your senior horse’s manure texture for feedback on their gut health. Soft manure could be a sign that your horse’s fiber requirement is not met sufficiently.

• To ensure you are meeting their fiber requirement, feeds MUST be fed according to your horse’s BW, and by weight. Feeding 4 flakes is not enough. Know how much fiber your horse needs based on their size, and make sure you’re feeding THAT weight.

• If using pelleted options, look for concentrates that easily soak and soften, such as pellets or soft extruded feeds. Feeds that remain hard can cause discomfort even after being soaked.

Your horse's vet team and nutritionist can help you develop an appropriate plan going forward for your senior horse's individual dental status. Still need to add an equine nutritionist to your horse's care team? Let's work together!

References & Recommended Reading:

KER. 2017. Tooth Problems in Older Horses. Accessed online from: https://www.ker.com/equinews/tooth-problems-older-horses/

Du Toit, N. 2023. Advances in dental management in the equine geriatric patient: strategies for improved welfare. AVMA 261:S2.