Concerned about loss of weight in my mare.

[StillPlayswithHorses]

My mare is now 17 years, and normally goes into the winter with more than enough weight, OK normally she is pretty fat. This summer we were able to ride her and work her more and she was in good shape, but with this horrible cold spell we had, she lost some weight, despite her blanket, and more than enough hay too the point she had left overs. We also give her a little all feed grain mixed with her multivitamin supplements. I am concerned that with a long winter ahead of us she may loose more weight. Normally she is an easy keeper and on the plump side.
So my question is what, and if I should give her additional food supplements; like beet pulp, senior feed, etc.
I am also concern that our hay isn't as quality as is has been in the past, so that may be part of the issue as well. (We've been getting hay from the same guy for years and normally it's been great, but this year I've notice some weeds, and it's a little stemy. In the past we never had this issue.)
I've been reading several different article, and of course everyone has their (sponsored) opinion. So I would like some local opinions and suggestions.

[andrea]

You might think about having her teeth looked at. It might be that she's having a hard time chewing the stemmy hay, or has some sharp points that are causing her pain.

I had the same problem with my old mare this fall, turns out she had an infection, but I changed her feed regimen to help her keep up her weight. In addition to hay (which she doesn't chew so well anymore) I feed soaked beet pulp shreds, alfalfa pellets, soybean oil, and ground flax, along with HorseGuard vitamins, probiotics, and I'm going to add lysine as soon as my order gets here. Apparently a lot of older horses need a lot more lysine than they get in their diet. You might look up info on that, I found it pretty interesting.

Instead of doing the whole soaking and mixing thing, which is a pain in the winter, you might look at premixed feeds. I haven't found one yet that I like, which is why I mix. But of all the ones out there, I really liked Calf Manna for the small amounts you feed and the high protein, vitamin e, etc. It's expensive though. I also like LMF Gold, but you have to feed a minimum of 5lbs a day to get the right amounts of vitamins and minerals, and that's just waaaay too much in my opinion, and very expensive. My sister likes Strategy. I don't know much about it. There are so many feeds out there...

[StillPlayswithHorses]

Thanks I'll look into those feeds . It shouldn't be her teeth, I just had her teeth done in September, and I would hope they don't grow that fast! But I will take a look in her mouth to make sure she doesn't have any sores or anything like that.
I was also going to deworm her again with a broad spectrum dewormer. Normally I deworm her every 8 weeks, but I'm going to use a different brand that is suppose to be more broad spectrum and see if it helps. ( I was reading an article about resistance and decrease immune systems in older horses)
She doesn't look ill, her coat is still shiny, she's still active, and bright eyed. My husband thinks I'm being over concerned, but I don't want to take any chances, and be sorry in the long run.

[FlyingCowgirl]

It's better to get a jump on it than to wait, tell you husband that. My 20 yr old Arab gelding was sharing the field with our former Paint. The Paint was getting all the food and our Arab was not eatting fast enough to get his share. I saw his weight drop for the first time.

I gave him grass and once our Paint was sold, I added alfalfa flakes. Plus LMF Senior (which I found out now is supposed to be for toothless horses).... anyway, it really helped him pick up weight in a matter of weeks. Currently I have him on a Round Bale and we are finishing up the last of our LMF Senior feed.

I also had his teeth floated, which I'm sure helped too. And as for wormer, if you go with Zimectrin Gold, you need to do it when the ground is frozen.... which this is the perfect time.

[andrea]

I'm about to give all of mine Zimectrin Gold too. I usually use Quest Plus but I'm trying something different this year.

Since she just had her teeth done it probably isn't that - I'd go with a feed change and the dewormer and see what happens.

I'm the same way - worrying at the slightest thing. It just means we're extra observant! Husbands often don't get it.

[StillPlayswithHorses]

An update on my mare Sassy. She is doing better, she's putting back on the weight she lost. I added strategy grain supplement to her diet. So I don't know if that with the combination of the warmer weather has helped or what for sure, but I am glad she's okay. I dewormed her also. I' m going to keep a close eye on her weight, because she does have a tendency to get fat.
Thanks for all the advice from everyone!