T hree years ago, I came home from vacation to face a complicated situation. While I was away, an established farmhand had been caring for my 36-year-old Arabian gelding, Faax El Din. All had gone well during the first few days of our family’s week-long trip, but then I received word that “Fox” had stopped eating. Of course, refusal to eat would be a concern under any circumstances but it was especially worrisome with this horse: Even in his younger days, he was never one to carry extra weight, and now he was well on his way to becoming skeletal.
For many years prior to this point, Fox had been unable to chew grass or hay, and his nutrition had depended on a diet of soaked beet pulp, alfalfa pellets,…