I have a skinny horse.... - Horse Forums - Horse Forum Topics & Answers - Horse Training & Trainers

*Kbell* · 05-16-2007,

I need some advice on how to get this girl to gain some weight. She does look better than she did but she still needs some meat on those bones. I have had her about 2 weeks, wormed her as soon as she got here. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Kim from GA

*anarch* · 05-17-2007,

I think the most important thing would be to have a veterinarian look at her and to determine just why she's thin and not gaining very much weight. Worms can be a problem, but there can also be other various problems that can contibute to poor weight gain, such as tooth problems, nervous habits and vices, metabolic issues, etc.

I know for our thin horses, we used to add a little bran to their feed, which they enjoyed. It may also be a call for better feed or a better quality of hay.

*P8ntCrazy* · 05-17-2007,

Kbell,

You should probably have your vet out to do a good exam. Horses need to have there teeth floated at a minimum of every two years to keep everything looking good. A horse should eat about 2% of their body weight a day in feed with the majority of that being roughage (Hay of some sort). But you need to balance a horses diet and hay alone can be deficient in certain things. Also, as your horse reaches it senior years late teen and on their nutritional requirements change. Older horses don't chew and absorb as well as younger horses do. Younger horses will need there teeth check more often since they will be shedding caps or baby teeth until they are 5 years old. Horses with sore mouths will not chew their food completely and then swallow it more whole not getting all of the nutrients out of their food. If you have an older horse you could try using an Equine Senior (I perfer Purina's brand). A well balanced diet contains, Protein (needed for muscle). If your horse is looking hallow in the hip areas it is lack of the proper proteins. Also the balance diet should contain energy, vitamins, and minerals in the correct amount for the horses activity level.

Here is what I feed my two horses.

My pregnant mare (11yrs old): She currently gets 5 lbs of Purina's Strategy and 14 lbs of Bermuda Grass hay, and 1 cup of Psyillium per day broke up into two feedings. So 2.5 lbs of strategy and 7 lbs of hay am and pm. Now this will change as she gets further along in her pregnancy. It will increase at 8months pregnant and then again when she foals.

MY 26 year gelding: He can no longer eat hay, since he does not have very much tooth left he can't chew his food properly to get what he needs. His diet now consist of Purina's Equine Senior and Mountain Sunrise's Pure Bermuda Pellet. He gets 6.5 lbs of senior and 6 lbs of pellets (which I moisten, for easier chewing), and 1/2 cup of Psyillium in the morning and again in the evening. Senior is a complete feed and can be fed all by itself with no roughage at all but since I chose to feed a hay pellet I decrease the amount of senior 1 lb for every 2 lbs of Pellets that I feed. He is doing great on it and filling back out were he was looking hollow before.

Bran is a nice treat and is good for giving meds, or getting a little extra water into your horse, but it has No nutritional value at all and is high in Phosphorus.

The numbers may seem high to some people but when you actually weigh out your food it really is not that much. Get yourself a hanging fish scale (thats what I use) weigh your bucket and then weigh your grain. For hay I use a garbage bag that weighs nothing and add the hay. I don't weigh my hay every day but whenever I get new hay I weigh the first couple flakes to see. Weighing food is important because a 5 lb can of coffee doesn't weigh the same a 5lb can full of Senior.

So have a good check up done and talk with your vet
Hope this helped.

*FancyHorse* · 05-17-2007,

I recomend beet pulp as a good sorce of fat. It adds weight without adding energy! Both my boys are on it and are doing great!

*P8ntCrazy* · 05-17-2007,

I had researched beet pulp when I realized I had to take my old guy off hay and this is what I found.

If you are unable to get good quality hay Beet pulp is a good alternative. It is classified somewhere between a forage and a concentrate. A full size horse (1200 lbs) should be fed no more than 6 lbs of beet pulp a day broke into two feedings and then soaked. It is recommended that Shredded beet pulp should be covered and soaked for 12 hours, than drained. If you chose to use cubed or pelleted beet pulp they say to use twice as much water and soak it for 24 hours. By soaking the beet pulp you will prevent a horse from possibly choking on it if they consume it to quickly and then it expands in their throat. It is also recommended that if you have a horse that is insulin resitance, or has cushings disease that you drain the extra water off after soaking to remove the excess sugar. You also don't want to over feed beet pulp since it is high in Calcium and low in phosphorus. This can cause growht problems in young horses and in all horses can cause kidney stones and intestinal enteroliths.

Nutritional information:

Digestable energy: 1,060 kcal/lb
Crude Protein: 8.9%
Crude Fat: 0 .50%
Crude Fiber: 18.2%
Calcium: 0.62%
Phosphorus: 0.09%
There are many options to feeding a horse and their is not on better than the other you just need to make sure it works with your horse.