What quidding is telling you
Quidding is the dropping of wads — quids — of partially chewed, rolled forage, usually found around the hay supply of a horse whose mouth can no longer do its work. Worn, expired or missing teeth leave an older horse unable to grind long-stem hay into a swallowable pulp, however willing his appetite. The hay he drops is feed he has failed to eat, so a quidding horse can lose weight while surrounded by forage. The first response is not a different feed but a dental examination: your veterinarian can say what the mouth can still manage, treat what can be treated, and tell you how complete his forage replacement needs to be.
Replacing the grind he cannot do
Once chewing is the problem, the ration must arrive pre-chewed in effect. A senior feed formulated as a complete feed — forage built into the pellet — soaked into a soft mash becomes the backbone for many old horses, because it asks nothing of his teeth while delivering fiber his hindgut still needs. Soaked hay cubes, chopped forage and soaked beet pulp extend the same idea; everything is served wet and soft enough that a tongue and gums can manage it. Long hay, if he still enjoys sorting through it, becomes entertainment rather than nutrition, and his condition must never depend on it.
Soaking, texture and choke
Texture is a safety issue, not a preference: an old horse that cannot chew is also a horse at risk of choking on dry pellets, unsoaked cubes or hurried mouthfuls. Soak feeds thoroughly until they fall apart into a uniform mash or soft slurry, feed from a wide, shallow tub at ground level so he eats with his head down as nature intended, and give him his meals somewhere quiet where younger horses cannot hurry or bully him off his tub — being rushed is how mashes get bolted. Start any new soaked feed gradually, as with any ration change, and keep soak water fresh; a sour mash refused is a meal lost.
Little, often, and watched
Several smaller meals spread across the day suit a horse that eats slowly and digests a forage-replacement ration, and they give you repeated chances to see how he is managing. Weigh-tape him weekly and record it, because the eye adapts to gradual loss and the tape does not lie. Check the ground around his feeding place for quids — a falling count after a feed change is good evidence the new texture suits him — and watch his droppings and his water intake, since an old horse managing well on mashes should look comfortable in every direction.
When he needs the vet, not another recipe
Feed material coming from the nostrils, repeated coughing at meals, stretching his neck or showing distress while eating suggests choke and needs a veterinarian immediately. Quidding that suddenly worsens, bad breath, dropping weight despite a full soaked ration, or a horse going off his mashes altogether likewise belong to your vet promptly rather than to another change of feed — teeth, swallowing and several other systems can all be behind an old horse's eating troubles.
An old campaigner's feeding plan deserves to travel with him, and KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps his dental findings, soak times and mash recipe in one packet, ready for his vet or anyone who feeds him in your absence.