Add weight to my horse?

Question

HELP!!!! My horse is really skinny ( I bought him from the auction). I was wondering what i could feed him to make him gain weight fast!!!

Answer 1

From previous experience last year, this worked:

1/3 barley (I boiled mine in the crock pot, takes about 6 hrs on high),

1/3 crushed oats

1/3 kibbled maize

I started with a couple of cup fulls and built up from there.

This was cheaper than all the pre made mixes.

If it is winter, or you are short of grass - feed as much hay as your horse will eat. Best hay I've found for putting on weight is meadow with a high content of red clover.

To encourage a fussy eater, you can ad a handful of brewers yeast to his feed.

Sounds like skinny horse was lucky to find you!

Answer 2

Everyone has their own formula for weight gain and different things will work for different horses depending on their age.  I would recommend worming your horse first (if you haven't already done so), then have your horse's teeth checked by a vet and floated if necessary. Be sure he has a salt block available free choice. Then you're set to get him back up to weight.  Try adding some beet pulp to his daily ration, and if he's an older horse, I like Equine Senior.  A good supplement like Red Cell or Cool Calories might also help.  It would really help to know the horse's age.....

Good for you for giving a skinny guy a home!

Answer 3

try slippery elm powder,

it coats the stomach and helps them put on weight,

helped my boy so much

Answer 4

Yes, start slowly with all grain. I would give alfalfa 3-4 times a day. Better to give many small then 1-2 big feedings. Bran is great. Corn oil is good, start 2 TBS then slowly increase to 1/2 cup. I agree with flaxseed! Pellets are good, the one with the grain in it.

****edit****

I agree with Posie with get his teeth checked!!!!

Answer 5

is he or she a TB? if he or she is you can feed him or her one of those already made up feeds in a bag as they normally have lots of protein and stuff but make sure you don't over feed him as he will get a stomach ache and i reckon you don't want a trip 2 the vet!!!

But if he or she isn't a TB then ask your local stock-feeders what is a fattener but will not heat him or her up!    HOPE I HELPED*-*    

P.S how hard are u working him or her?

Answer 6

Give him some fatty food and lost of treats. My friend had a skinny horse and she would give him 10 cut up carrots every day. He got a lot bigger. You should also try working him out and fill him in with muscle.

Answer 7

You really don't want him to gain too fast.  You should check with your vet first.  Generally, fats are recommended to put weight on (not grains).  Cocoasoya from Uckele is a  great product and Equine Senior feed has a higher fat content and will safely put weight on a horse.  Good pasture will "pork " them up too but remember if he's not used to being on pasture, you have to gradually work up the time he spends grazing on pasture.  Again, ask your vet about this. Good luck!

Answer 8

I just rescued a horse about  6 months ago, who was a 2+ on the body condition scale, and ridiculously underweight. He is also 17.1, so it made it a little bit harder. He probably has gained about 200 to 300 pounds since then. The first thing we did was get his teeth floated, which helped tremendously, so we knew he could chew and eat food easily to help him receive all of the nutrition possible.

When you first start giving them grain, you need to add it very slowly. We started with 1 cup of rolled barley and 1 cup of whole oats first once a day, then upped it to twice a day, because we do not like to feed foods high in unnatural sugars because high blood sugar levels can contribute to cushings disease and have many other negative side effects. Molasses and sweet feed are not natural to the horse's digestive system. We also like to stay away from pelleted feeds, because pelleted feeds are compressed and expand once in the horses stomach, so they can be dangerous. I also put him on a well-being/vitamin supplement, joint supplement, and biotin supplement. In addition, we started with 1/4 cup of ground flax seed. REMEMBER all of these foods were added GRADUALLY. Eventually, we were able to up the oats to 2 scoops a day, and the barley to 1 scoop a day. We also upped the flax to 1 cup per day.

Also, make sure he has high quality grass hay. You may want to add alfalfa as a supplement, and a supplement only. Make sure he is wormed regularly and so on. For my horse at least, and it may be the case for you, he was just a beat up and starved mentally as he was physically, so attention and lots of TLC are very important. And, remember that every horse is different and it takes time.

Good for you for rescuing a horse! We need more people like that! :)

Answer 9

First, get him on a High Quality food.

We have skinny TB's, and they get 1 scoop of Legends Sweet Feed and 1 Scoop of Legends Pelleted.

I suggest adding Ground Up Flax Seed. This provides Omegas, and good Fats. Give about 1/4 Cup a day.

You can add Beat Pulp and Rice Bran also. Rice Bran works wonders.

Remember to start the feeding out slow, and that the weight gain should be slow and steady.

If you wish, you can add a calorie supplement, but the things I listed should be a good amount.

I would make sure the horse is getting enough grass (preferably). This should be introduced slowly also. If you don't have much grass, a high quality hay should be given daily. When the horse is being fed the most, a bale a day should be used depending on their body type.

Edit: I wouldn't fill him up with treats. You want the calories he will be getting to be high quality.

Yes, get him wormed like the other user said.

Good luck with him!

Answer 10

I agree with  with the others, as Far as diet, I just wanted to add one thing. If you are not familiar with beet pulp, please read the instruction carefully. It needs to be soaked ... do not give it dry. I have an older TB mare that came in very thin, I like the equine senior for the grain choice, I now give her free choice grass hay as well. It will take months for the pounds to come back, time and love and grocery's will do the trick though.As well as checking the teeth, and get a fecal count to see if you are dealing with a parasite, and what kind. Try not to do any (heavy) work with the horse while trying to increase weight. A vet check would be recommended, the vet could give you a diet, and rule out any medical reasons as well.

Answer 11

I am having great luck with Beet Pulp.  It comes dry and you soak it (the directions are on the bag) I add it to a regular 12% grain mix.  I have a very old mare that I keep in good flesh using it.  It is easy to digest so the horse gets the most out of it, it won't make them "hot" like feeding too much high protein grain will.  It is also inexpensive. Be sure to soak it at least an hour before feeding. I also feed 20% breeders cubes (for cattle)  I feed 2 lbs per feeding. These things can be bought at most any feed store. Good Luck.

Answer 12

Since he is skinny, you want to start feeding slowly and have a vet monitor his conditon because if he gains weight too fast it could be bad for his body. He may like to eat it all but his body probably isn't used to regular feedings. Give him hay 3-4 times a day in small flakes with maybe a small amount of weight gainer. It's a gradual process but with proper feeding he should gain wait very nicely.

Answer 13

First of all it may not be just a nutrtional problem with your horse... Get him wormed!   If he's real wormy the amount of groceries you give him ain't gonna offset the parasites in him!

External parasites, flies,lice etc. can also really rob him.

The first answerer gave you a good diet for your horse.

Don't expect instant results- it'll take a while to actually see more than ribs & hip bones.  Don't get discouraged.

Most important thing you can give him while he recovers is lotsa attention & luvin'-  he's just like you when you're sick!  Baby him.