How would you put weight on a Thoroughbred?

Question

My horse has been fed 2 quarts of Sports Formula (more fat) and 2 quarts at night. With 3 flakes of hay at morning and night. Just wondering what else I should give him because he is only gaining a small amount.

Answer 1

I've had many off the track TB's and the way I put weight on them is to free feed hay, morning, lunch and dinner.  I also feed a supplement called weight builder in with their grain.  For grain I use Triple Crown 10/10 (sweet feed), high fat/ low protein.  And make sure they're on a good deworming program.

Answer 2

While I don't have a TB, I do have this problem with a little old QH. Our vet recommended adding either corn or vegetable oil to his food. You do have to start with a very small amount and work up as is will cause diarreah. Eventually, we work him up to about 3/4 cup both morning and night. We use it from August to May to keep weight on him for the cold NY winter. He is also on Senior feed. If necessary, we have used Fat Cat in the past also.

Answer 3

you could put your horse on a weight suplement or fr mine when he need to gain weight we put him on 1 cup of beef pulp soak in 3 cups water mixed with 1cup smart choice and 1 cup calf mana he gained about 50 lb in 3-5 months

Answer 4

BEET PULP

Answer 5

You could try feeding beet pulp. Also, if you can, break his feedings down into 3 or 4 feedings rather than just two. They more frequently they eat, the better it is for their digestive systems. A horse left on it's own will eat about 12 small meals a day. Here, our horses get 4 feedings a day. The get AM hay and grain, lunch hay, afternoon hay and grain, and night hay. They are only getting 4 flakes a day (typically) but they tend to hold weight better with more feedings, even though you aren't adding any more food. They also make several weight gain supplements that can help put weight on them as well.

Answer 6

When i adopted a retired race horse thoroughbred I put him on fat cat. It is a supplent u can find at any local feed store. My horse needed to gain 100 pounds, & 1 bag later he was just the rite size. one scoop a day for as long as u need to. [ u can do 2 scoops a day if u really want ur horse to gain wieght fast.]

Answer 7

I feel your pain!! I have 2 TB's that are hard keepers. I don't feed them sweet feeds - they get hot and they can be a big enough handful as it is. I also do not feed rice bran (not enough good stuff in it for my liking) or beet pulp (if you do not soak it long enough, it swells in their stomach - by pulling moisture out of their guts - and causes colic). My guys get 3 flakes grass AM and PM. They also get 1 lb of Purina Amplify and 2 lbs of Purina Strategy (grass formula) per day. I also add a supplement called Hard Keeper. It has soy, flax etc to help with weight gain, coat, feet etc. I also ride 3-4 times per week to keep the hay belly in check and to build muscle tone. Sometimes, lack of muscle can be the actual cause of a "thin' horse. When I think they need a little boost, I add a little bit more grain or I feed them Chafhay which is fermented alfalfa. My horses love it, it is easy to digest and provides a ton of stuff they need! Good luck!

Answer 8

make sure he's on a pasture Tb's are hard stall keepers because they need NEED grass and pasture to be 100% healthy and HAPPY

Answer 9

give him some soy, its yellow, but start with like a teasponn and work your way up to more as you need it. if you give him to much h**l get dirhea. soy is really just pure fat in a powder form, so if you give it to him itll fatten him up, and itll make his coat healthier and shininer, and you can get a 60 lbs bag for like 10 dollars at most feed stores. good luck

Answer 10

Try Dumor treats and pelets. It really helped my 3 year old put on weight. Maybe up his hay alittle and see if that helps. My off the track thoroughbred was hard but we upped his hay he got alittle fat on it x.x

Answer 11

I WOULD USE SWEET FEED ALSO,  ALONG WITH WHAT YOU ARE FEEDING IT.

Answer 12

Ill tell you what i just did with my 17yo thoroughbred that i got a few months ago. She was a rack of bones.

First i dewormed her.

Then i got a 14% pelleted feed, good quality is important You can even go to your local feed mill and have them mix you up a special blend...i used Purina Strategy becuase thats all thats around here, but i would reccommend Manna Pro Super horse 14 (or Manna senior) or Nutrena or Seminole...mainly because all of those feeds (with the exception of purina have lysine and bioton, and WAY more fiber, -which makes it easier to digest-, in them)purina just makes a minimal nutrition requirment. Trust me...i used to work at a purina dealer, and i have been to several nutrition seminars for purina. (sweet feed causes more waste, have you ever noticed pieces of corn or oats in your horse's manure?)

Anyway...i added some alfalfa pellets to my 14%, as well as some sho-bloom, and I only feed once a day...but for weight gain, i would feed 2-3x daily. My horses are on pasure 24/7 and have a run-in shelter, so if you dont have access to free choice grass, I would get a good quality hay, and just pack the hay bin full with every feeding. Exercise is important...i know you want to put weight on him...but you dont want him to be hot-headed or fat. Fat is energy...and staying in a stall all of the time will make him hyper and will make it hard to gain muscle. Sho-Bloom is really good for muscle gain.

So to summarize it...a 14%-16% protein feed with some alfalfa pellets and sho-bloom is optional. I add whole oats in the winter time to keep the weight on instead of increasing their feed.

Answer 13

My tb does well on 16+, Alfa-a & sugar beet.  Coming up to the colder weather I replace the 16+ with build-up.  He also gets 3 or 4 sections of hay at night, carrots, biotin (worth adding for most tb's poor hooves) and veg oil.  He doesn't get silly either thank god !!!!!

What height /weight is your tb?

Mine is 15.3 and weighs around 540kg and is the tender young age of 23 !!(someone should tell him that !)

Just now he gets 1 scoop of alfa-a, 1 scoop 16+ and 1/2 scoop of sugar beet.  I will probably add around 1/3 of this again when it turns really cold.  He is in light work and we don't compete.

Answer 14

Does he exercise a lot? I have a thoroughbred too and it's so hard to put weight on him in the summer! Do you have a pasture where he can graze all day? When I have to put weight on my horse, I usually give him 3 scoops of corn/grain and weight gain formulas. And I don't ride him as much as I would normally.

Answer 15

i have a QH/TB cross who is really hot ALL THE TIME! he dropped tons of weight over the winter and spring so now hes on a feed called Wrangler. in a month and a half hes put on between 30 and 50 pounds. plus it keeps them a little calmer than a lot of other feeds :)

Answer 16

Now for the past 35 years I've owned TBs and QHs (Running type until the past few years.) and this is what I used and still use on my horses.

I'm in California and if I have a horse who's starting to look a bit "ribby" 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.