How do I get my senior horse to gain wait?

Question

I have a 31 year old registered Appaloosa gelding. He is still alive and healthy. Except he that he is skinny. He needs about 50 to a 100 pounds put on him. He gets feed three times a day. he gets senior feed ricebran and alfalfa pellets. he also gets hay. he goes in and out of of the barn whenever he wants so he can be in the pasture if he wants. he gets hay 2 times a day. one flake. he has the company of 3 other horses. (i have five horses but the other is boarded at another barn.) None of the other horses can steal his food. he gets a special suplement (electrolytes) He gets lots of TLC. ( tender loving care) I don't know why he can't gain wait! please please help me

Answer 1

I don't know that rice bran does anything for them except help make a shiny coat.  You would do better with shredded beet pulp tthat has been soaked.  I started with 1/2 grain scoop ( 2 cups or so of dry) and soak it for about 20 minutes or so. I add crimped oats and a senior supplement. My mare is 27 and she now looks about 18 - nobody can believe her age. She gets Win-treats from Blueridge and right now I have her on Missing Link.  I am going to put her on the supplement that I give my other horse from Blueridge.  They do make senior supplements. You can talk to Caron. If you want more info - email me if you can't find them.  They should help!

Answer 2

As a horse ages their intestinal walls get thicker so that they cannot absorb all that they need. I agree with the deworming and the senior feed vitimans too, but have you tried beet pulp...? I have heard people on here that doesn't like it but I tried it and can tell you that my older mare has gained 50lbs or so in a week. The change is so startling that everyone has commented on it. And her coat just shines. She has a sparkle back in her eye and running around with the others again.

Answer 3

Have you had an equine dentist check the teeth he has left? My Quarter horse was doing badly for a bit, and one of the things was spurs on his molars. They cut up their tongue and cheeks. Once they were filed down he started to pick up again.

Answer 4

Seems to me you are doing pretty, much all you can for this old guy. Maybe you could try a little more of the high fat stuff like the rice bran. Also try a High-Fat 20% or an Extruded 14% fat.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Well, he will never be plump because of his teeth and age. Suppliments would help, but you are doing the right thing with the food. And remember he's 31!!!!!!!! He has obviously had a long, good life. Most horses dont live as long as him. ♣GOOD LUCK♣

Answer 6

I thin kyou should definately talk to an equine specialist... maybe he has worms? also sometimes suppliments could help but definately talk to a specialist.

Answer 7

I would buy some lakin lite pellets and some beet pulp. We have a thirty four year old horse. We started soaking about 2/3 gallons of pellets and about a 1/2 gallon or beet pulp(or you can start at less and gradually up it until he can't finish it). We soak them in water for about 10 or 15 minutes and he's been packing on the pounds!

Answer 8

I'm in California and if I have a horse who's starting to look a bit "ribby", a senior horse who's dropped some weight or I've purchased some rack of bones,  I go out and buy a 50LB sack of A&M (Ground alfafa and molasses) (In the mid west they use beet pulp BUT I've been informed that you HAVE to add water to it or it will swell in a horse's belly causing colic), dump it into a tub or feeder in the horse's stall, then top it with some rolled barley corn that is mixed with corn oil and apple cider vinegar. (I feed a 3LB coffee can of the barley corn mixture once a day.) The horse will normally devour the first couple of bags of A&M, but then they will slack off as they get used to it (Never had an issue with colic or founder)...

I haven't fed oats or any mixed feed in decades, basically because I've had running horses and TBs I'm trying to keep quiet, so I feed the rolled barley corn mixture to them for weight, NOT heat.

I also give my horses a hot bran mash twice a week with the vinegar and corn oil (I can mix the barleycorn into it.).  I feed 1/2 a 3 LB coffee can of red wheat flakey bran and add enough water to it so that it looks like oatmeal in consistancy.

I make sure that they get 2 flakes of alfafa hay per feeding.

Answer 9

One thing to consider is, is he sick? Does he have worms? A horse can aquire a number of things that can make weight gain hard. Sometimes it's just age. You have to relize a horse needs to consume half a bale of hay a day, especially in a hard climate. Weight gainer can help too.