I need advice on putting weight on my 7 y.o. OTTB gelding

Question

We have a fantastic 7 year old ottb, that we bought about 3 months ago, at which time he was at least 150 lbs underweight. He seems to be putting on weight, although some days he looks scrawny again, despite his regular feedings. We feed him 5 flakes of grass along with 4 lbs of beet pulp, 3 tblsp. of corn oil and a regional supplement daily, of course the feedings are over the course of the day. breakfast and dinner for the hay, and the beet pulp usually around lunch time. We tried just a half flake alfalfa, but made him hot hot hot. He acted like he was back on the track on that, so we switched back to bermuda.

I feel like his girth is filling out a little bit, but his topline, chest and neck are still kind of small. Do you think we need to add anything else, or just be patient. Oh, he gets worked about 5 times a week.

We also just had his teeth done, which were a disaster, he had baby caps and all kinds of disasters in there, so I think that might help eventually since he doesnt have constant mouth pain any longer.

He is a fantastic horse, and we love him, just want him to be as healthy as possible! Thanks for reading my lengthy explanation, any advice would be great!!

Answer 1

Beet pulp is good also give him some sweet feed and oats,oats will make them gain but dont give him many at a time maybe a big coffe can every 2 or 3 days! and give him a big coffee can of seet feed twice a day along with his hay! ive had horses 18 years and this works everytime! but it will take time!Good luck

Answer 2

Keep up with the beet pulp, I know its a pain but it really works. I had almost the same situation with our 9yr old TB. He wasn't off the track but he was about 200 lbs underweight. With some time, beet pulp, corn oil here and there and scoops of Equine Sr he gained a good 250 - 300lbs after a few months. Be patient! I know its hard staring at them everyday looking for those lbs, but trust me, the beet pulp worked wonders for us!

Good luck!  

Answer 3

I have an ottb.....I understand your pain :) I use rice bran as well. It keeps the weight on and makes their coat shine. Ulcers may be something to consider. Racing is high stress and ulcers come along with it. Getting them scooped is pricey ( I just had mine done and actually the medicine is the main cost), but there is a product called Noni Juice that claims to help with the ulcers and a whole slew of other problems. http://www.tahitiannoni.com look under animal nutrition.

Answer 4

Try rice bran. It has a higher fat content than any other feed, and you can feed it to them in bulk without having to worry about colic. It is about the only thing I've found that can put and keep weight on my 18 year old TB mare. For weight gain, I have to feed 6lbs of it a day mixed with 6lbs of Senior. But she is a pretty hard keeper so you might be able to get away with less than that.

A lot of people like to feed beet pulp. It helps too but it's main function is as a source of digestible fiber. So it's almost like giving them more forage, like grass hay, it's just more digestible. But it's not necessarily that high in fat. Beet pulp can actually be used as a source of fiber/roughage when no hay or grass is available.

Rice bran, on the other hand, contains a lot of calories from fat to put the weight on a horse. It has 1/3 more calories than beet pulp, by weight. (i.e. you'd have to feed 1.3 pounds of beet pulp to get the same calories as you'd get from 1 pound of rice bran). This is a big reason why I prefer it...it's more cost effective. However, rice bran can have a mineral imbalance, so if you feed more than about 2 pounds of it, you should make sure a horse's diet is supplemented with a mineral block and/or a complete feed (hence why I feed Senior as well). You could try Strategy or Ultium or just Senior. Any horse can eat that as it's highly digestible. They don't HAVE to be old :)

Answer 5

I use corn oil to add weight on everything from weanling foals and neglected rescues to my 20 yr old TB.

It is the #1 ingredient in most "weight builder" supplements.

Up his corn oil to 1-2 CUPS per day - His body (p**p) will tell you if you are adding too much as the p**p will appear to be coated in "jello" - so you can't overdose him as he will expel any excess.

You should start to see a difference within 2 - 3 weeks.

BUT - if you are working him hard...he may not have a chance to gain weight OR if he is upset at being stalled ie. weaving or pacing sweating ,calling - again he is working off as much as he is putting on.

I'd put also be giving him all the grass hay he can eat.

Answer 6

Have you tried Boiled Barley??

Answer 7

Oh my God. I am RIGHT with you!!!

My horse, Essex, is 20 and it is like,,,, IMPOSSIBLE to keep weight on him! LOL. So I definetly know how you feel.

We give my horse SO much to eat, and some days he looks great, then he looks like 50 lbs underweight! It's so complicated. Well here's what I do to keep weight on my boys;;

I do recommend a supplement called 'Fit 'n Polished' and it great; it keeps their coat fresh, hooves healthy, and it's an awesome fattener. Just try research on your computer for Fit 'n Polish and try to look for a dealer near you.

On his days off, give him as many grass flake as you can so he can graze off and on all day.

And maybe you should slow down the riding and try not to give him a huge work out. Since Essie [my horse] is a showing horse, I lunge on day, ride the next day, and so on. This will still give your horse the exercise he needs, but doesn't work off so much fat.

I agree with you; it will probably help since his teeth are floated. My friends horse that boarded at my house didn't eat very much just because his teeth were so bad, and dropped a couple of pounds. [Which was kind of good for him because he's a chunky boy, lol]

Anyway, I am totally with you on this, I am going through the same thing! LOL

Answer 8

im glad u realized that food does effect a horses temperment so kudos 2 u lol most ppl dont...but id say with proper training and muscle build by keeping him in a frame will build muscle which for a topline is better than fat...dont change any thing with the feed sounds good..im also glad u arent feeding bran mash cuz most ppl do instead of beet pulp and bran mash is asctually bad 4 horses so everything sounds good keep it up

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Answer 9

We start out all our OTTBs on free choice grass hay.

That alone will help some of them fill out.

If they need more I personally like rice bran. It is easy to feed and keeps well. Or oil as it is loaded with calories.

Neither product should make the horse hot.

We feed senior feed to all our OTTBs not matter what their ages.

It has higher mineral content and can be used as a complete feed if needed. I just feel they get more out of it.

Good luck.

Answer 10

Boil barley until it is well done (enough so you would use it in a soup for yourself). Mix the barley with molasses and then mix into the feed at night, or when you give him a feed.

If possible use as much of the water as possible, as it is full of starch and very fattening. To use the water as much as possible, use it and a small dose of molasses or honey (very yummy to a fussy eater)  to make some bran moist, this will help to "clean" his insides, and make it easier for him to digest his food and put on some weight. Also if you just acquired him, worm him evey 6 weeks for the first 3 or 4 wormers, alternating worming pastes, or brands (each one specifically  targets a different type of worm) as you go. Best of luck. Hope this helps.

Answer 11

Needs patents it's so easy to get them to lose it and so darn hard to put it back on, man I wish I was that way that would be nice:)  

Up the corn oil slowly, to a cup a day, it won't make him "hot" and helps wonderfully with adding weight, and great for so much more.  Plus they love it.  Keep all the grass hay he'll eat out, have you had a stool sample in a while?  Some thing to look into too.  It' s gonna take time but more corn oil, and personally don't like beet pulp, I would give a mix of All the grass hay, cup of corn oil daily, 1/2 scoop of oats and 1/2 scoop (small scoop) or a high energy mix grain like maybe a purina, and three times daily.  but the corn oil splint up in 1/3 rds:)  

Answer 12

furman weight gain....i think is what it is called.....my mom uses it on her ottb and it works great....makes her fat and really shiny coat....not all that expensive.....there is also another supplement out there....it called focus and i think it actually has a weight building product of its own...it smells like fish....but it also works....

i hope i helped a little

Answer 13

My trainer has a OTTB that is more of the "Arabian" type TB. He like takes FOREVER to gain weight...but she feeds him SMALL meals SEVRAL times a day...and it helped a BUNCH he looks really good know :)

I would feed him Senoir feed if possible (but of course if he is gaining weight on the feed you are giving him I wouldn't bother switching it) but Senoir feed is really the best for horses. It has alot of really good stuff in it. Like an Appendix that had SEVERE stomach/colin/intestine problems will ahve to stay on Senoir for the rest of his life (recommended by the vets in Louisiana State Uni.)

I would try and switch him to Senoir (unless you REALLY don't want to) keep giving him the Bermuda Hay, and the corn oil...and LOTS (like 4 or 5 at LEAST 3) or small meals AND some patience lol TB's don't gain weight to quick (which I am sure you relize)

Good Luck...and thank you for takeing in an OTTB :)

**oh and I ahve never personally used beet pulp but I have heard it works REALLY well...I would do some reseach on it though.

Answer 14

I would keep doing what you are doing, but you might also want to try rice bran. You don't give them very much, but I used to know someone who's horse would always get really skinny during the winter, and this kept the weight on her. It also doesn't make them hyper like oats or sweet feed can. Triple Crown makes it. There is no way,unfortunately, you can fill out there topline, chest, and neck quickly. Your horse sounds exactly like mine when i first bought her, and the way i got her to build muscle was 1. WALKING up and down hills. This makes them use their back which helps fill in the topline. Then when the go up the hill it builds muscle in the hindquarters, and going down the hill builds up chest muscles. The only way that i know of to get them to build there neck muscles is to get them on the bit. This also builds there back muscles. I would explain how to do it, but my answer is already really long. lol. But remember it all takes time. I've had my horse almost five months, and she could still use a bit more muscle but all in all she looks like a completely different horse.