How to put condition/weight on a horse?

Question

Just got a loan of a 7/8 year old throughbred mare that has never been raced, my own horse is off for a few weeks due to a bruised sole. She is a lovely little mare, but needs weight on her. She is not mine though and don't want to spend a fortune, I will probably keep her over the summer as a companion horse and for my sister to ride, I know she will put up weight once the grass starts growing but any cheap alternatives until then? She getting hay and cool and cooked as of yesterday, I wormed her too. Is beet pulp good for weight gain? Or Rolled oats, both are cheap here in Ireland.

Answer 1

Please begin feeding three or four times a day instead of once or twice a day. By feeding little and often it will give her gut the best chance to absorb the necessary nutrients from each ration and you will not over face her. Make sure you have her teeth examined by a veterinarian with an interest in dentistry, or a registered equine dental tech. By also doing a fecal worm egg count, you could check the effectiveness of her worming program (that is, if she has been regularly wormed, if not, this needs to be addressed).

To gain weight a horse needs to eat a high energy feed with quality protein. There are many feeds designed with weight gain in mind, that are fully balanced. By feeding a product formulated for the task you will be saving money in the long run. If you mix your own feeds, you could be over supplying certain nutrients, and missing others out.
I feed Equilibra from Gro Well feeds. It seems expensive, at almost 30quid per bag, but you need only feed very small amounts (check it out on this link:
http://s104768845.websitehome.co.uk/GWFeeds/prod_equilibra500/equilibra500_introduction.htm ). I use a good alfalfa chop and sugar beet too. As a top up, for extra calories, I use Outshine made by Baileys. Outshine is an extruded nugget that combines oils from soya and linseed with supporting nutrients, including important anti-oxidants, plus super fibres and Digest Plus prebiotic to produce a high oil supplement which can be fed to promote weight gain or stamina or simply outstanding coat shine. Soya oil is rich in Omega 6 fatty acids whilst linseed is an excellent source of Omega 3 so Baileys Outshine combines them both to give an optimum balance and avoiding the risk of an imbalance from feeding straight soya oil or boiled linseed.

If she does not gain weight in approximately two months, you may consider running some tests to determine the cause of his weight loss. Tests to consider include:

1. Liver and kidney function tests.
2. Low-dose dexamethasone test for equine Cushings
3. Glucose tolerance test
4. Rectal exam and/or abdominal ultrasound to rule out gastrointestinal neoplasia.

Good luck, and have fun with your new mount...

Answer 2

Beet pulp is great for putting weight on hard keepers like TBs, just remember that it has to be soaked for a long time or it can be harmful to the horse's digestive system. I recommend you start soaking it in the morning, then give it to her at night. You can also try adding a cup of corn oil to her grain. It'll help her keep the weight on throughout the winter and it also promotes a healthy, shiny coat. Rolled oats are a good basic food. They should keep her pretty much stable, but fed alone they probably won't put significant weight on her. They also have a low calcium-to-phosphorous ratio, so something like beet pulp would help make up for that. There are also supplements you can buy, but most of these chemical in nature and expensive. I'd stick to the beet pulp if I were you.

Answer 3

beet pulp is good for weight gain, as well as free choice high quality hay. Oats are also good, though only in moderation. If she is not used to them, you do not want to give her a lot or she may colic. Some horses do not take readily to beet pulp, so mix some of those oats in with it and she should eat them no problem. You can also mix corn oil in with the grain for some added fat.
But, free choice high quality hay is still the best for them in gaining weight- roughage will put on more weight than anything.
I am not sure what you mean by "cool and cooked" I am not familiar with that.

Answer 4

Hi Barley is a good fattening straight feed and it doesn't heat them up as much as oats. Also, Horses can't digest rolled oats very effectively because their stomach acid cant get through the outer shell. They can digest crushed oats well though. You should make sure she has plenty of forage in her feed too (chaff, alfalfa) so she is chewing and digesting properly and getting the right amounts of fibre in her diet, you need this to effectively fatten her up as too much glucose and not enough fibre kills off the bacteria that helps them to digest. She will benefit from good quality ad-lib hay. Trouble is there is no way of fattening her up on the cheap. She would do well on hayledge too!

Answer 5

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Answer 7

Oats is an excellent feed for a horse to put on weight. If you have tried this and it does not work, make sure to have her teeth checked as often horses won't put on weight due to bad teeth
Good luck

Answer 8

i have two horses a thourghbred and a part thourghbred im in the uk and i feed mine sugar beet high fibre cubes alfa a and soaked hay 5 sections each a night i found when i bought my thourghbred he could not keep weight on and it was tria and error with his feeding i asked a lot of peoples advice and i was given this diet sheet for him and it worked i scoop sugar beet and one scoop high fibre cubes and a scoop of alfa a twice a day and sunflower oil is a good supplement it puts to weight as well as making the coat shiny good luck

Answer 9

Baileys Non Heating cubes, if they still make those. They used to be barley based and thats good for putting on condition without making them too energetic.
Beet pulp is good, it must be soaked first. Rolled oats will make her too fizzy, especially if you're resting her.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=feeding+a+tb+horse&btnG=Google+Search&meta=
Theres some good sites here.

Answer 10

Contact the feed manufacturers and pick the best of the bunch. they have invested a lot of money in formulating these feeds and their advice is free. If i have one that's a bit ribby, i find that blue chip is good and i feed oil (usually linseed and soya) of which the former is good for the skin and coat and the latter is a slow release energy.