i need help on making my horses fatter?

Question

its not really my horse its my parents horse. She is skinny & will NOT gain weight, i had this mare for 4 years before my parents bought her from me, she was skinny then, my cousins had her before me (about 3 years) she was skinny then. we i bought her i tried senior feed, weight gainner, & veg. oil, none have put 1 pound on her!!!!! the vet looked at her & said she might need her teeth flouted, we got that done she didnt gain weight from that, my parents worm her & so have i when i had her. someone PLEASE help us she looks like we are starving her when were not!!!!! we dont ride her so she is just out in the pasture, so we dont no whats going no with her. PLEASE HELP

Answer 1

Have the vet draw out a worming routine for your area - and stick to it

Have her teeth checked every 6 months

Feed her supplemented hay - alfalfa preferred for skinnier horses

Give her 5 lbs of beet-pulp daily

Just because she's in pasture doesn't mean she's eating right and what she is eating she's wasting in walking around. If you REALLY want to put the weight on, take her out of pasture and put her in a paddock or corral (no larger then say 100 x 100.) If she's with other horses, maybe they push her around making her exercise and expend calories. Separate her from the others at least by a fence.

Could be that's just how she is and you need to keep her filled with good quality calories (alfalfa, beet-pulp, weight gain, etc)

I have a 16h TB that's a very hard keeper - he works 5 days a week and gets all sorts of extras - its just how he is. He lives in a box stall 12 x 12 - but just doesn't put weight on.

Answer 2

Can you post a picture of her for us? There are a number of reasons a horse won't gain weight. Hyperthyroidism, ulcers, cancer, worms (maybe try the PowerPak system), or she was stunted in early life and doesn't metabolize feed well, and just plain old not enough feed is being fed.
I had a mare that was 19yrs old. She looked like a stick horse. I put her on a Purina product called Equine Senior. She was looking better and feeling better in about 1 week. But because she had been stunted in early life she still looked like a stick horse but at least she was a fatter stick horse than she was before the Equine Senior.
I would also give her some Probios paste after worming with any wormers. And I would start her off slow on the Equine Senior. Work up to the recommended amounts over a period of about one week.
If you can though take a picture and post that. Thanks.

Answer 3

The absolute best supplement I've found for this problem is Omega Horseshine. You can get it here: http://www.smartpakequine.com/ If you have a Mills Fleet Farm in your area, they also carry it. Here is a direct link to the Omega Horseshine website: http://www.omegafields.com/productDetail.asp_Q_catID_E_2_A_subCatID_E_1_A_productID_E_1
My young Friesian/Paint cross was a hard keeper for a long time until I put him on this supplement. It took about a month to notice a difference, but it was well worth it. And after several months he was absolutely blooming. As well as helping with weight gain, it is also wonderful for the skin, coat, hooves, and joints. It's packed with omega-3 fatty acids which have an anti-inflammatory effect.
I had tried another supplement before Omega. It was Platform Weight Formula. It didn't help, and I didn't like the idea of giving my horse something that was purely bad fat. If it's not good for us, it's probably not good for horses either--that's why I also shy away from feeding corn oil.
Omega Horseshine is made from a stabilized flaxseed base, so it's much healthier--it has the good fats.
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Answer 4

I'm not sure what age your horse is but since you tried Senior feed I assume she is older. I have a 33 year old pony with the same problem. We tried every suggestion under the sun. I had three vets out to try to help her too. One vet did have a suggestion that has really worked well. My pony has old teeth & can't chew too good. The vet told us to take her off hay completely. He said older horses can't chew hay well enough for proper digestion. I thought he was crazy (after all, a horse can't survive without hay) I tried what he suggested & it really worked. Now she has good weight. I still see two or three ribs. But before she was like a walking skeleton. She looked so skinny, we even got reported to Animal Control (they ruled we took good care of her since I had many vet bills to prove to them we were caring for her but we could not get her weight up). She ate a ton of hay & never would gain. She used to eat more hay then a horse & was skin & bones. Now she actually has muscle & a good coat.
Here is what the vet suggested I do.

Use Hay Replacer Pellets
Beet Pulp (Caution You MUST soak these first And only needs about a cup at a time Soaked)
Equine Senior Pellets
A&M (Alfalpha & Molasses)
I also put her on Triple Crown 12% Supplement 1 cup per day
&
Triple Crown "Forage" - (Finely chopped Timothy hay) Two Handfuls daily.

Remember I have a Pony so feeding will have to be more since she is a horse. Read all feed bags to get the correct amount.

As the horse gets older you can soak these things to help them chew it. Be sure to have a Vet rule out other illnesses such as Cushings Disease Since that also shows up as horses who can't gain weight. But if the horse is healthy & you get them off hay you will find they do really well.

KEY to success - DON'T GIVE UP-- at first our pony hated the diet. So I gradually took her hay down slowly & gave her small amounts of the other food. I slowly cut her hay back until it was gone as I increased her other feed. It took about 4-5 months of messing with her to get her to accept her new diet. It is so worth it since the results are remarkable. Plus all her food comes in bags & is easy to store in large garbage containers. No more MESSY hay. I hope this helps. GOOD LUCK I know how frustrating this problem can be

Answer 5

First things first.... you say she is wormed, but is she wormed correctly???? What type of wormer do you use and do you rotate wormer? Do you deworm with the correct dewormer at the correct time of year to target the correct parasites at the correct stage of their development when they are most vulnerable?

Nextly, does the horse have ulcers? Ulcers will cause weight loss and prevent weight gain. Ulcers are diagnosed using a gastroscope --- a stomach scope, the horse will need to be fasted from food for at least 18 hours before the vet can look into her stomach and make a diagnosis.

After all that has been resolved... look here for suggestions about weight gain:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvLyJiYkTsTTXS2W.DXV8FGQ.Rd.?qid=20070816161640AARDjq5

Answer 6

If she is a older horse she may need a good quality feed like an Equine Senior it is formulated for older horses,also have a blood test pulled for blood viruses finally have you tried a vitamin B injection it may help her body to retain fat,I had an Arabian like this we struggled for 2 years and got her to an acceptable body weight she never did gain a lot of weight.

Answer 7

I have been taking in rescue horses and the last gelding that we got was a bag of bones, we started him off on good quality hay and gave him a 1/2 gal. of rolled oats every other day, and wormed him, now he looks like new horse and he has a lot of good years to look forward to he is 10 years old, I plan to ride him on Sunday

Answer 8

I have been trying to put weight on an old horse too. I have been feeding him boiled barley and Gumnuts (a type of pre-digested horse nut) and it seems to be really working. He is also getting hay but he doesn't go for that like he goes for his barley and Gumnuts. I have had him for about 3 months and he is a different horse.

Answer 9

how about feedig your horse 3 times a day if you can if you can't once in the morning and once at night in the morning feed her 2and a half scoops and the same at night once she gains the right ammount that you want her to gain. Then give her the amount that yo uwere giving her before about 1 scoop.

Answer 10

have you tried a daily pellet wormer...
My horse was getting skinny and i used "fast track" it helps horses proned to ulcers (i belive) gain weight and it works wonders on my horse. also, try giving your horse access all the time to a lower protein hay or like one of thoes huge bales you leave out in the pasture