Why Perennial Peanut Hay Works for Hard Keepers and Senior Horses

Every barn has at least one: the senior gelding who can't keep weight, the off-the-track Thoroughbred who eats like a hayloft on legs, the mare who drops condition every winter. We hear the same story from dozens of customers who've switched these horses from coastal or low-quality grass hay to perennial peanut. The result is usually the same: weight comes back without doubling the grain bill.

Here's the why.

Hard keepers need protein, not more hay

The default fix for a hard keeper is "feed more grain" or "feed more hay." Both can work, but both have ceilings:

• More grain = more colic risk, more starch-driven metabolic issues, more refusal.
• More hay = more fill, but if the hay is 7% CP coastal, you're just stuffing fiber into a horse that needs amino acids.

What a hard keeper actually needs is higher protein per pound consumed, plus high digestibility so the protein doesn't pass through.

Perennial peanut hay delivers both:

• 14–18% crude protein (vs. 6–10% coastal)
• 58–65% TDN
• ADF in the low 30s — soft and palatable

A 1,100 lb horse eating 22 lb of peanut hay per day gets ~3.5 lb of crude protein. The same horse on 22 lb of coastal gets ~1.8 lb. That's nearly double the protein, before grain, before supplements.

Senior horses have a different problem

Seniors aren't just smaller-version adults — their digestive systems are less efficient. Common issues:

• Worn teeth struggle with stemmy hay
• Slower hindgut fermentation extracts less from low-quality forage
• Lower lean muscle mass means protein needs go UP, not down

Perennial peanut hay's high leaf-to-stem ratio is gentle on worn teeth. The protein is digested farther up the GI tract (less reliant on hindgut fermentation). Calcium content supports bone density.

For seniors who can no longer chew long-stem hay at all, peanut hay can be soaked, chopped, or fed as a chaff alongside a complete senior feed.

What customers report after switching

From our standing-order customers (real feedback, with permission, names removed):

"20-year-old gelding gained 80 pounds in 12 weeks. Cut his grain in half. He looks better than he has in 5 years." — Boarding barn, Marianna, FL

"Three OTTBs. Two of them are hard keepers I've fought with all winter. Switched to peanut hay in November, all three are at proper weight by Christmas. Grain bill dropped about $200/month." — Eventing barn, Tallahassee, FL

"My 28-year-old senior couldn't keep weight on coastal anymore. Peanut hay plus a soaked complete feed and he's stable. We're going to lose him eventually but it won't be from starvation." — Private owner, Crestview, FL

How to switch a hard keeper or senior

The 7–10 day transition still applies, but watch closely:

1. Days 1–3: Mix 25% peanut into existing hay. Watch manure.
2. Days 4–6: 50/50 mix. Watch water intake (peanut hay is denser; some horses drink more).
3. Days 7–10: 75% peanut. Reassess grain — many horses can drop 1–2 lb of grain per day at this point.
4. Day 11+: 100% peanut. Recheck body condition score at 30 days. Most hard keepers gain 0.5–1 BCS in 60 days.

What not to do

• Don't cut grain on day 1. Drop grain gradually as the horse gains condition.
• Don't free-feed peanut hay to an easy keeper that lives with a hard keeper. Use stalls or separate feeders.
• Don't expect overnight changes. Hard keepers built their problem over months; rebuilding takes 6–12 weeks.

Bottom line

If you're feeding 10+ lbs of grain a day to hold weight on a hard keeper or senior, you're probably under-protein-ing them. Try perennial peanut hay for 8 weeks. Most barns see real weight gain without adding a single pound of concentrate.

Order a trial load → or call (850) 573-0470 or (850) 573-0471 to talk through your hard keeper's program.