My 3 year old mare I just got needs to put some weight on. She has very little muscle tone and is boney. They kept her in a muddy pasture and fed her about a 1.5lbs of feed twice a day and a few handfuls of alphalfa twice a day she didn't have any grass to forage on so that's all she ate. right now i'm giving her moorman's patriot pellets, moorman's natural glo nuggets, some alphalfa and she has plenty of coastal hay to eat?

How do I help her build up some muscle?

It is going to take time once you get her on a good feeding program and exercise program. Also being three years old I would have her teeth done. You don't want to over load her system by putting her on a high fat and protien diet. You need to increase that slowly. Good Luck

You need to wormer her, I would suggest getting a fecal sample done first to see what kind and how many worms are present. If she is heavily infested killing them all at once can cause others problems.
Hay good quality-not alfalfa-as much as she will eat.
Any commercial feed 10-12% should be fine. They are all made fairly close in vitamin and mineral balances, and start that in small amounts. Small frequent meals are better on her system than one large one.
You shouldn't expect to be able to "see" her improve in less than 1 1/2 weeks. And looking @ her daily will make it seem even longer.
Muscle will come along with although slightly slower than weight gain.
She is to young and weak to ride, but get all your ground work in,teach her to halter, and ground drive. If you take 6 months to do that, all you have to do is add the saddle and you and she should be ready to ride.
I personally don't use or believe in round pens, they are to restricting and keep a horses joints in torque the entire time. If you lunge, periodically walk with her 20-50 feet in a straight line so she can unbend.

Howdy! hehe, been having a little troube putting some more weight on one of mine until I started feeding him the right grains and hay. I've had this problem several times but the stuff I've figured out about health over the past 8 years would blow some people away...

First of all...isn't it interesting how the USA is #1. Country for emergency and Medical BUT... we are past #24th Country for...HEALTH! Ya see all those extremely overweight folks out yonder? It's NOT FAT that made them so overweight. Fat is not absorbed into the body just by eating foods with fat in it. Some smart folks know this.

It's foods with carbs...and sugar. Flour is very high on the list. Especially white flour. Bread is so common in America...look at the hispanic: they have their corn...the oriental have rice...america has their wheat. Not saying this is the only problem.

When you are defeciant in a certian mineral or vitamin...or a few different ones...or alot of them...your body will try and regain whatever nutrients you are lacking...through the food you eat. Nowdays food of course isn't filled with half the good things it used to be, particularly because the ground that we grow things from is lacking the amount of minerals it used to have. When your body doesn't get the minerals, or vitamins it's looking for through your food , you're body will keep craving...and craving food. That's got alot to do with overweight people.

I've tried alot of the weight-gain supplements and feed. Guess what they have in them...FAT! Wrong answer for gaining weight...I've used them and they don't work half as fast picking a horses' weight up as if you gave them plain bread crumbled up in their grain.

Mr. Weiscamp of Texas raised foundation quarter's and paint horses for OVER 50 years. The ONLY hay he fed was good quality alfalfa. Never had problems whatsoever. I've seen the horses. Excellent quality, VERY healthy horses. His statement on alfalfa hay was "the only time alfalfa will hurt a horse, is when the horse doesn't get it." Interesting how he fed them this hay for over 50 years without problems when some of these newer generations try and say it's "too good." Tell me, have you ever known a human or animal that was "TOO healthy??"

I do believe and from experience know that a horse shouldn't have too much of something at very high-quality too soon. They should be gradually accustomed to it.

Wow....ok that was a long one...anyways...basically, it's not going to be what some folks will tell you. I would definitely say if you did nothing else, don't waste your money on weight-gain products because the entire health system has been misunderstood completely! I hope your little girl will pick up her health and weight soon! I know that is not fun