I have a 10 yr old TB gelding. When we got him he was literally skin and bones, I have pics and it was ridiculous how he was treated and it got me paranoid. He has a good size belly now (healthy weight) but his shoulders and along his withers he has started dropping weight since the grass is dying so I want to keep him at a good weight. He gets 2 feeds one is a dumor pleasure horse 12% and the other is the big pellets of purina strategy. I want to start adding something to that will put a little weight on and keep him at a healthy weight but won't get him hyped up or give him any extra energy. ideas? I was looking at some things from Kentucky Performance Products to give him but I'm open to anything. He is a little picky with his feed but not to much
First off, have his teeth been floated recently? A leading factor is poor body condition and weight is a lack of dental care. If all checks out there then you can move on to feeding.
You mentioned the grains you are feeding but nothing about hay. When I am trying to put weight on a thin horse I give enough grain to meet the horses daily requirements, and most of their calorie intake is in hay. An alfalfa/grass mix hay is great. Also feeding 3 to 4 times a day instead of two large meals is ideal, if your schedule allows. You might also consider a complete senior formulated grain. They usually contain a larger percentage of fiber which aids in digestion. I've also had success with things such as ground flax seed and beat pulp. Both of which are already found in most complete senior grains.
Yes, cool calories are great. I might also consider blanketing him. Other feed products that can help keep weight on are rice bran, soybean oil, and beet pulp, but I've had the best results with cool calories. I also feed orchard grass hay which has a higher protein than grass hay, but not as much energy as alfalfa.
my barn rescues tbs from slaughter who are usually insanely skinny its sickening to look at. along with as much hay as he can eat, there's a feeding suppliment called coka soya (maybe spelled a different way idr) but it cant hur thte hrose no matter how much you put in. helps with healthy coat and hooves and add weight gain.
The best thing for keeping weight on a horse is hay 24/7 freechoice. It's a slow burning energy provider and will also assist in helping themselves to keep warm.
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I would up his feed as well to a scoop and a half per feeding.
Give him extra hay, not extra grain/pellets. If possible, give him as much hay as he is willing to eat. It will keep the weight on without giving him extra energy.
i've always used beet pulp and corn oil for my hard-keepers and i've never had them get "hot" from them. make sure you add both gradually to your horse's usual grain ration.
Look into feeding him CoolCal100 - It's what we feed our aged horses to help them keep weight on, and we also use it for underweight horses. It smells kind of like bananas, but our horses LOVE it
How much hay are you giving him?
beet ulp mixed w grain?
heard it would help
good luck
We used rice bran and beat pulp for our TB
I don't know whats available in the states but the sort of thing I would be looking for is a fibre based conditioning mix with a high protein content ( minimum of 12%, more if poss). Use that and sugar beet. Also a really good way of getting calories into them is oil - they can have up to a pint of oil a day, it get's calories without the cereals which cause the fizziness. Linseed is good but expensive. I've used ordinary vegetable oil and that works just as well. Another good thing for getting weight on is hay replacer pellets - they tend to be high calorie and you can feed them soaked or not - I tend to put in a treatball - it's good calories and keeps them busy for a while. My lot love these and will do anything for them.
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Defiantly rug him and rug quite heavily - there's no point in putting calories in him for him to use them up keeping warm, if you do that for him he'll be able to use the calories to keep his weight up.
Don 't blanket him until his winter coat comes in. Putting a blanket on him too early will stop his winter coat from coming in and will just defeat the purpose. Wait for his coat to come in and then blanket him.
CoolCal100 is great. Max-E-Glow (which uses rice bran) mixed with 1/2 to 1c of corn oil is my personal fav. If you use beet pulp, soak it before hand. It will expand and you'll get more use out of it.
Corn oil is a great way to pack on calories without forcing him to intake a bunch of food. It also makes the coat really nice and shiny.
