My horse wont keep weight on?

Question

okay i have a qhxtb.. more tb than qh but she is appendix. she is early teens in age and about 16hh, and gets worked 5-6 times a week for anywhere between 30 minutes to 3 hours. i focus mostly on hunt seat and jumping [only up to 3 feet right now but we have only been at it for a couple months] i show in speed on occasion due to the fact that she is fast and enjoys an occasional romp to get her energy out. im going into equestrian team season so her work load is going to be reaching its highest peak. usually nothing less than 1-2hour rides twice daily for another week and on weekends, then about 3 hours straight work on weekdays.. my problem is she is already low in her weight. i finally got her to a decent weight level using weight-builder during june, but she dropped it in july when it got to being 100 degree days.. i am really not a fan of using weight builder all the time becuase it gets soooo expensive and can all be lost in a couple days. i feed her about 4 or 5 pounds of beet pulp at night and in the morning i feed about 2 or 3 pounds of senior grain [i can get the label if it would help to know the nutrition info] but its good high-quality senior grain.. i would use preformance grain but she needs weight more than energy. she could go without grain as far as energy goes, but not for weight. right now she is on about 2 acres of low pasture cuz she has eaten it up... but she has constant hay which she justs picks at throughout the day.. its first cutting, and i am hoping to get some second cut soon because she likes that more.. i have previously given her sunflower seeds for weight but im not sure how well they work for $24 a bag.. and i have a stash of ground corn but i have been putting off feeding it to her because it really makes her hyper.. i ran out of oats and wheat.. i get the three for free when they are grown. what are some tried-and-true natural weight builders? how much would you suggest feeding for her age/weight/workload/breed/ect. [to quarters of a pound please]? how many times a day? i am hoping to put on about 200-300 lbs before winter, hopefully 50-100 in two weeks if that is safe and possible? she is about 1000lbs right now, and should be atleast 1150lbs for summer and 1200lbs in winter...

Answer 1

I'd say try adding some rice bran in with her feed.

Make sure the hay that she is getting has enough protien for her...even if she has unlimited hay, if there's hardly any protien in it, it's not going to do any good at all. Make sure the hay is GREEN not yellow...that means it's sunbleached and most of the protien, etc is gone from it.

First cutting has usually has more protien levels in...but if she would eat more of the second cutting, defiantely try getting some second cuttings.

Also make sure she is turned out 24/7...it's healthier for her and it may help surprisingly.

When my horse got skinny (from lack of food at an old stables), I put in a coffee can scoop of 14% protien grain (Blue Seal), 1 coffee cup of beet pulp, and 1/2 cup of rice bran....and it fattened him up fairly good...well too much lol...now he needs to loose some

Answer 2

I would start by giving her free choice hay...it will really help.  Increase her beet pulp if she'll eat more, and maybe add in some alfalfa cubes as well.    I would also probably add some rice bran.

Then I would put her on a ration balancer so that she gets all her nutrients.  In that much work it is going to be essential that she has a good supply of amino acids, especially lysine and methionine -- if those two are absent she can't use any of the others to help repair and maintain her muscles.

Senior feeds are meant to be fed at higher levels, and if you aren't feeding her the minimum recommended amount, she's not getting the nutrition she needs.  Generally they aren't the healthiest or best choice for putting on weight.

You are right to not feed the corn...its really no good to her except to make her hyper.

Answer 3

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 a 1/2 CUP of apple cider 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 4

I have a similar problem with my tb. i started feeding dodson and horrel build up cubes 2 weeks ago on top of senior mix, fibrebeet and alfa a. he has really gained condition. i feed twice a day to increase the efficiency of the food.( i suppose feeding more often would be ideal) i will start feeding linseed as the winter kicks off ( i prepare a linseed jelly) i also add veg oil.............

Answer 5

Have you heard of weight Lifter & Happy Hooves?

Be careful of herbal rememdies for horses as many herbs are TOXIC to horses even ones used in natural remedies

Here are some brands

Herbal Horse Vitalis

Apple Cider Vinegar

Horses should be fed twice a day!

Other weight gain options

Allen & Page Weight Gain Horse Mix Food

http://www.feedem.co.uk/horse-117/horse-...

Reasons for weight loss

Insufficient caloric intake is the primary cause of weight loss in horses. There are various reasons for caloric deficiency including some that are easy to diagnose and correct (parasite burden, teeth problems) and some that may be impossible to diagnose without euthanasing the horse (physical problems with the digestive tract). Other reasons, not to be overlooked include psychological and environmental problems

Teeth problems    Top

Probably the first thing that should be checked with a horse that fails to maintain weight is the condition of its teeth. Because of the nature of a horse's diet (mainly tough fibrous material), which requires a lot of chewing and grinding, which wears down the teeth, proper dentition is essential. If the horse's ability to grind down the food sufficiently is compromised for any reason, the enzymes and microbes of the gastrointestinal tract have a hard time continuing the digestive process and the result is a drop in condition.

Parasites

Internal parasites can be a major contributing factor to weight loss or inability to put on weight. Severe cases of parasitism are rare these days due to the wide use of new and improved de-wormers but where a horse is suffering from a large worm burden, the results on the digestive tract and the horse's ability to absorb and digest feed can be disastrous

Digestive tract problems

Weight problems may be caused by a physiological problem, which prevents food from reaching the intestines for digestion. Pain caused by nerve damage from equine protozoal myelitis, obstructions from strangles, abscesses or muscle weakness caused by hyperkalemic periodic paralysis or botulism can seriously alter a horses' eating habits and reduce appetite and feed intake.

Environment    Top

Like humans, the horse's appetite can be affected by physical environment. If a horse is bored and unhappy, he may lose his appetite and develop vices such as cribbing, weaving or stall walking, thereby wasting energy and losing condition. The ideal solution to vices is to investigate the cause of the problem and attempt to fix it. This can be very difficult, and even if the cause is discovered, sometimes the behaviour pattern is so ingrained it becomes a habit that the horse will not break. The next best approach is to increase the caloric density of the diet.

How to get weight on your skinny horse    Top

All your horses get a scoop of hard feed each, a few scoops of chaff and maybe a supplement thrown in for good measure. Feeding time is easy and takes no time at all. Some of your horses look great, fat and shiny, but the Thoroughbred who dropped a little weight last summer has not gained any weight since, in fact he seems to be getting thinner. He's getting exactly the same feed as the others so what's the problem? Could it be as simple as insufficient caloric intake, and if so, what can you do to encourage him to gain weight?

Sometimes, increasing a horses weight and condition can be as simple as adding more calories to the diet to meet his physical requirements. Other times, you may need to feed more calories than the horse actually needs to make up for physiological or environmental problems that cause him to either use more energy or reduce the amount of energy he can absorb from the feed.

What makes a healthy horse a poor doer?    Top

The main determinant is the metabolic rate, which can vary tremendously between horses. Metabolism is the speed at which the body burns fuel for energy in order to perform normal body functions. A slow metabolism requires very little energy to perform these functions whereas a fast metabolism requires substantially more energy and will require a higher caloric intake to maintain the same weight as the horse with the slow metabolism.

In general, metabolism is fairly breed specific, the terms 'hot blooded' and 'cold blooded' are generally indicative of a fast and slow metabolism respectively. For example, Thoroughbreds need to consume more calories per kg of body weight than draught horses. There are also variations within breeds; some Thoroughbreds keep condition quite easily, whilst others are more challenging when it comes to maintaining weight. Temperament can play a big part in a horse's ability to maintain weight and often goes hand in hand with metabolic rate. Nervous or tense horses tend to use more energy than calm ones.

Answer 6

Hmmm, 2-6 hours of work per day, 6 days per week...could be the culpret.  More callories burned, more feed required.

Answer 7

We take care of a 34 yr old QH. Here in upstate NY, the winters are very unpleasant and it's difficult to keep weight on him. Our vet recommended adding oil to his food. We start with a small amount (it can cause diarrhea) and we raise the amount slowly until he's getting about a cup of oil with every meal. We do this from September to May. It seems to work better than other weight builders we have used in the past although Fat Cat does work well. Oil is also reasonably priced. We use either corn or vegetable oil. We have been doing this for the last two winters and he looks good.

Answer 8

I love fat cat. it is less expensive then weight builder, and if you buy it from smartpakequine.com it comes in a 67 day supply for $24. i've been using it on my OTTB and he has a great coat and nice muscle, as well as good weight. also, try rice bran, or oil maybe. the oill just adds extra calories to their food, it does make some horses hot though. rice bran or fat cat, i'd say!

Answer 9

She needs her feed increased. If your riding her a lot, then she is burning more calories. So just increase the calorie intake. I would feed her Senior feed too. Has her teeth be checked? She may need them floated.

Answer 10

you seem to be useing all the right stuff- 2nd cut would be better, corn should not make her hyper but oats could. I used the weight builder twice a day, miix beet pulp and ground corn meal and give all that she'll eat w.  hay available.and realize it takes about a month before it starts to show gain.keep trying-good luck

Answer 11

Use your regular grain, and if she doesn't eat her hay...give her "Complement de fourage". I don't know what it is in English, but it's hay in pellets and they can eat as much as they want.