# Putting weight on a horse?



## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Our horse pasture turned out horrible this year. We plowed it up and planted a new kind of grass but it never came up really good. There's patches of it here and there but the soil is now loose and kinda sandy in some spots. So anyone that knows anything about planting pasture i would love help on that also.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

(Didn't mean to send that)

They have hay out at all times and get feed everyday but what is a good ration to give. I use the big blue foldgers (spelling?) coffe containers as scoops and ive been giving them a whole scoop of sweet grain a day. I was told when we got them that pellet feed causes colic so i want to stay away from that. Im starting to mix their feed up different, now im adding alfalfa pellets and im thinking about adding corn too. What do yall think? I only have two, a quarter horse gelding and an Appaloosa mare and they are small probably a little more than 15 hands.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I have bought a horse pasture mix at TSC that did well for me. I also overseed spring and fall for a couple years.


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## sunrisefarms17 (Jun 24, 2013)

As far as sweet feed goes i give my horses about a half bucket of sweet feed (its a 5gallon bucket) it works good really they should get it morning and evening but i only do it in the morning. They dont get colic unless basically all they eat is sweets or founder themselves, from my current knowledge anyway. And my horses also have a pasture with more non grass areas then grass but we give them a full round bale of alfalfa hay. My horses gain weight easily, some ppl may consider them over weight.


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## kkruby43 (Jun 22, 2013)

Make sure you weigh your feed and feed to the correct amounts on the label. I've never heard of horses getting colic from pelleted feed but I would recommend that you don't feed corn as it's hard to digest and hard on teeth. I'm also pretty sure it wouldn't help you put weight on your horses. If your horses are really underweight you can purchase supplements that add calories without the risk of over feeding. Having hay out is a good idea since it is forage. Also, beet pulp is great too.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

regular corn oil or vegetable oil can be poured over sweet feed or grain to up caloric intake, you can get feed oil for this purpose in large buckets but I always just used off brand human labeled oil. You can add from a 1/4 cup up to 1 full cup per day. Best to start off at the lower end and work up slowly. It isn't harmful to horses and a bonus is it makes them shiny. Most love the taste of it also. It will help put weight on without upping the chance of founder.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

My mare can be fat as a hog off of just the bad pasture but i still keep hay stocked up. But my gelding could get the pasture, hay, and feed and still not get as fat as her. He's bigger and than her and is bay but his skin is black so he gets hot and sweaty a lot faster, then when he gets hot he has to come in from the pasture and has to eat hay. He enjoys winter so much better. Then my mare she's small framed and white/grey so she stays in the pasture all day and it dosent faze her. I guess that has some to do with it, and someone told me boys burn calories easier but im not real sure about that. 

Im going to start giving them the same sweet feed portion but i think im going to mix a little of the corn and alfalfa pellets into the geldings feed. I wasent real sure about the corn, i dont know many people who feed there horses corn. I just wanted to add a little something more to his feed. 

I usually get horse feed at the local feed store and i get goat feed at TSC so i have to make 2 stops. But the other day at TSC i found sweet feed thats for horses, sheep, and goats. I thought that would be an easier way to mix feed so im thinking of trying it. It might be producers pride brand but im not sure about that part. 

Thanks guys for yalls input, yall are helping me straighten everything out.  sorry for the long post.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Do you have a feed store that sells Farmers Best feeds?


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Your gelding may need his teeth floated too, sometimes horses get waves in their teeth that make chewing properly uncomfortable/impossible. An Equine dentist, some farriers, or your vet should be able to float his teeth if that is the case and improve his bite. If a horse can't properly masticate their food they can't extract as much nutrition from that food. Since horses are grazers they really have to be able to chew up their food. I would have a vet look at his teeth. Beet pulp can help as well it is higher in calories due to the sugars left in it, it is also fibrous. If he were mine I'd up his ration, top dress with corn oil and have his teeth checked for starters.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

A good way to tell if his teeth need floated is to look at him when he is eating grain. Does a lot fall out of his mouth, it just a few pieces here and there? If a lot falls out he needs his teeth floated.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

(warning: long post you dont have to read it, sorry)

It took me a while to type that so i missed the last 2 posts. Ok ill stick to no corn.  And with the vegetable oil is it regular cooking oil like you fry stuff in or grease pans with? Im not sure where to get corn oil from but ill look around.  he isn't under weight but he could use some more pounds. Plus after school gets settled down ill have time to ride more which means they will probably eat more. 

Oh and with the pasture part. I saw the pasture seed online when i was looking for some the other day. Isn't there 2 kinds of horse pasture seed? I wasent sure which was better? What do yall fertilize yalls pasture with? I think we used 10-10-10 but i could be wrong. Im thinking we need more of something for the grass to actually grow in it so sandy. Maybe i could go scoop a trailer or 2 full of cow manure? I was thinking to spit in rows, like take the horses off it, plow one or 2 strips and plant it fertilize it a water it and when it starts looking good then do another strip until the whole field is planted. It's only a 3 acre field that im planning to replant. I thought if i could give it more attention then it will help it. Im guessing it would be best to start that in the spring? 

Again sorry for the long post i tend to rant... Haha


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

I missed 2 more again. I really need to learn to type faster. He dosent spill a drop when he eats, we made that mistake when we first got into horses a few years ago. We got a 20 year old huge gelding that was supposed to be calm as can be. He was a rescue horse and after a little while of having him he absolutely hated being rode. And he had always dropped a pile of food and we just took it as him being a messy eater. We finally gave him away to more experienced horsemen so he could be retired and they found out his teeth were bad. So we learned our lesson.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Yeah just the oil people buy to fry things in, corn oil is best but regular vegetable oil is fine too, don't use canola or olive oil. I just buy the always save corn oil. Well I did, my old gelding died that I used this for. Listen I kept a boy with NO back teeth alive for about 7 years making him a soup of alfafa cubes, beet pulp, sweet feed and corn oil. I made it so soupy he literally drank it. He was a 36 year old horse when he passed. Your gelding may just be a harder keeper than your mare he may just need more calories, or he could have issues with his teeth or something else. Start simple and see if a simple fix helps if not widen your circle.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you for all the responses.  ill try around and change up feeds and try the oils im thinking he will gain weight pretty easy if i start that and he will love the extra attention. Ill get the farrier to have a look at his teeth too. He can probably tell me if he needs it done or not but ill probably get the vet to do it if they need it done.


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Didn't completely read everything, but I've taken and rehabbed several very thin horses... once I make sure teeth are good and they aren't packed full of worms (Power Packs are awesome unless they are reaaaallly wormy and need the worms to be slowly killed) I find rice bran to be hands down the best. I don't use fancy feeds or oils. I just use a COB of some sort that isn't too sugar laden and has good protein levels and mix it with the rice bran. Rice bran is very fatty. Horses are less picky about it than beet pulp and less (if any ) is wasted compared to oils and pulp. Works awesome. Of course if their teeth are bad or they have worms feed wont matter. Also, make sure the hay isn't empty hay...if its straw like or dull it probably has little calories. I feed alfalfa or grassy alfalfa anymore or oat hay and avoid "normal" grass hay these days. Might cost more for alfalfa but I feed much less and they stay much more fat and it making a horse "hot" is an excuse for people who cant handle their naturally energetic horse or are too lazy to make sure their penned horses get proper exercise or turn out to burn off excess calories...lol.


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## imissthesun (Jul 28, 2013)

We used beet pulp to put weight on a hard keeper ex race QH horse mare.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

I reread the thread (i was bored  ) and realized i left some stuff out on the first post. 

He was a rescue when we first got him, he was under weight then and my goodness his mane was so matted i thought i was going to have to roach it. That was a long time ago and now hes great now.  I'm just looking for new or different feed ideas. We used to get a brand that i had no idea what it was called but it worked awesome. It was a black bag with horses on it with either a blue or green tag depending on the protein level in it. It wasent cheap or expensive, just regular i guess lol. The feed store quit selling it, and TSC never sold it so we had to find a different brand. And the fact the pasture was bad this year didn't help any. He's not underweight, he's just not in his prime form like he usually is. 

We tried the feed the local feed store replaced the old brand with and it was horrible. He barely even ate it, but my mare did, she eats anything and everything. Which is another reason i dont have a problem fattening her up, he on the other hand is very picky haha. 

I just started using the brand from TSC and im mixing some alfalfa pellets in it he eats it better than the other kind so im hoping he will get used to it and start liking it sooner or later. If not im trying to talk the feed store guy into changing back or ill try some other TSC brands. I guess since hes been on the black bag feed for 5 years now hes just gotten used to it and dosent want to change. 

Thank you guys for all the help.  And more tips are gladly welcomed.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Im thinking about trying beet pulp if this new feed doesn't work like i want it to.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

safe choice is a good feed you can find most places but it is kinda pricey


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Thanks,  it sounds kinda familiar. Ill try to find it and if i do ill try it out. Maybe the price wont be too bad since ill only be feeding two.


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

There have been a lot of wonderful suggestions. I will share what I normally use and works for me. I actually feed the Nutrena SafeChoice (my big guys get 3 cups twice a day, which isn't much, mini 1 cup twice a day) and alfalfa pellets (amount varies on current conditions). I love using beet pulp shreds (molasses free, most places carry both with and without molasses), rice bran (needs to be heat treated like EquiJewel brand) and regular grocery store corn oil (or veggie oil, canola etc). I normally soak my beet pulp shreds (I don't like beet pulp pellets) and drain the water off, add rice bran powder (once again I don't like the pellets), add a little water until you make a nice mash that allows the rice bran to mix into the beet pulp shreds. Now you can even add some of the oil to the mash or you can use the oil on the grain you feed. I normally added the oil to the grain and let the mash just be as is. I do agree that it is good to start with a smaller amount of oil and increase over time if need be. As with anything make changes slowly.

Just be sure when using rice bran that you get a brand that is heat treated stabilized. My favorite brand is EquiJewel but if it is not available around you I think the Max E Glo is suppose to be heat treated stabilized now too. I think TSC carries it too. I get my SafeChoice at TSC.

Hope this helps.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Thank you, it helps a lot. 

With the pasture, it has some grass then big patches of this tall bush thing, then patches of this little clover stuff. It doesn't grown anywhere but in their field. I asked dad and he said it was probably something that was in their feed that started to grow. I never thought about that but it makes sense. I think the plants are over powering the grass so we are looking into spraying it sometime then not plowing over the grass thats there, but spreading more seed over the other grass. And since they aren't getting much grass from that field anyway, im taking them out full time and keeping them in the riding place and letting them in the goat field for a few hours a day until the pasture is ready. That is if we can manage to get the grass looking right.


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

Sate Choice is excellent IMO...if I wasn't going to do COB/Rice Bran Pellets w/any of mine I'd do Safe Choice....fed it to a made through pregnancy and lactation and it was awesome


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

If you do have Farmers Best brand of feed where you live, get a bag of LMF Gold, really helps put weight on horses! It's my favorite feed for doing just that


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Those both sound really familiar, i think i have seen them before. I look around and try a few.  

I wish i had this app when we first got into horses yall are so much help.  It took us forever to gain his weight back up when we first got him, mostly because we had no idea what we were doing. I remember the first hay we ever bought was thick stem cow hay (we had no idea) and we didn't tie it down good enough and it fell out of the back of the truck in the middle of the road. So we didn't exactly get all of it home anyway, its kinda funny now but wasn't when we were trying to pick up most of it while dodging the occasional truck. Lol, Now we are a little more experienced but far from being pros. It's nice to have people who know what they are doing and can help.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

If you can get access to a big tractor pulled mower, mow your pasture. Once you get that taller brush and weeds out, your grass has a better chance of growing. We have to do that with our pasture as we get sunflowers and pigweed that over power everything. Where we mow, we usually have super grass that the horses just can't get to. It also gives the grass a chance to take over and will eventually crowd out most of the weeds. 

I have a super hard keeper here too. He is old (we don't know for sure how old....were told he should be 19 this year but he's been aged at closer to 30). We've floated what's left of his teeth. He won't eat wet feed at all so making a mash or slurry doesn't work with him. I feed a ration that is 1/3 ground corn, 1/3 oats and 1/3 alfalfa pellets. We add 50 pounds of black oil sunflower seeds to 500 pounds and then about 5% molasses. This is our all around mix that gets fed to all our animals. We're adding a weight gain supplement to Cy's feed also and trying some roasted soybean halves (high protein in soybeans). I'm facing the prospect of him having to be put down due to his weight issues....He's not wanting to finish off his grain or alfalfa the last few days.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

georgiagirl98 said:


> They have hay out at all times and get feed everyday but what is a good ration to give. I use the big blue foldgers (spelling?) coffe containers as scoops and ive been giving them a whole scoop of sweet grain a day. I was told when we got them that pellet feed causes colic so i want to stay away from that. Im starting to mix their feed up different, now im adding alfalfa pellets and im thinking about adding corn too. What do yall think? I only have two, a quarter horse gelding and an Appaloosa mare and they are small probably a little more than 15 hands.


What kind of hay are you feeding and how much per day per horse? What is the quality of the hay? How much do you ride these horses? Do they have a 'job' or are they just pets? How often are they wormed and with what?

Pelleted feed does not cause colic any more than sweet feed, oats, rolled wheat, or any other kind of feed. Colic is caused by improper feeding, too much grain, too many weeds, heavy worm load, feeding on sandy ground (sand colic), or a genetic predisposition for colic. The last thing I would add is corn. It has very little protein (about 8%) and it is a "hot" feed in that it is a high energy feed that can cause problems for both the horse (cribbing, eating wood, fighting through the fence, and becoming destructive due to an excess of energy and no outlet to get rid of it) and rider (bucking, acting out, excessive friskiness making him/her hard to handle). Based on later posts it sounds like your mare is maintaining condition fine, and it is your gelding that needs a boost.

I would start by watching him to see if he is dribbling hay while eating. If so, he needs to have his teeth floated. Then I would get a fecal to see if he has a worm problem. After taking appropriate action based on the fecal, I would start feeding the gelding soaked beet pulp along with his normal hay ration. Horses only need about 10% protein and beet pulp has a protein content of 11%. It also has fiber to keep his gut in good working order and, when soaked, brings extra water into play. Most importantly, though, beet pulp helps with feed conversion. I would start with a half pound - 1 cup - see what that does and adjust from there. If necessary, I would add a half pound to a pound of a good pelleted feed formulated for his life stage. I would stay away from sweet feeds as the molasses changes the ph in the gut and can lead to problems such as chewing wood in an attempt to restore the correct ph in the gut and acting out. I would also stay away from corn or vegetable oils as they are empty calories that do nothing but put on weight - they have no nutritional value at all. You want a slow, steady, healthy weight gain. It is much healthier for your horse.


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## MesquiteTreeHill (Oct 1, 2013)

I've brought back more malnourished horses than I care to think about. First thing, and it's already been mentioned, is to figure out why he's thin. Fecal and teeth both need to be checked.
I agree with corn no corn, hard on teeth and hard to digest.
I've used several different methods and feeds to put weight back on horses but the last 2, one of which was pregnant, was brought back on senior feed. I love Patriot Senior made by ADM but Purina puts out a decent Senior feed as well. Senior feeds, in my experience, seem to be pretty much colic proof and are balanced for most life stages.... AND many are complete feeds so that you don't necessarily have to feed hay (but of course you have to feed more if you don't) but most importantly they make up for lack of quality hay (a problem we have here due to the never ending drought in Texas).
I don't think minerals have been mentioned - just as important to keep out a good quality mineral for the horses as it is for the goats.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

My personal experience with senior feed was that my guy lost weight on it. Then I was told that it needed to be fed pretty much "full feed" (out all the time) for it to actually work. I simply can't afford that high a feed bill with all my other animals too. My horses don't make money, they only eat it! I don't use the store bought veg oils either. I bought a high priced oil at the feed store that has some added vitamins in it. The oil will do more than just give you empty calories. Fat is a necessary nutrient. You will be amazed at what a difference added fat will make for your animals coat. I do add the black oil sunflower seed (boss) mainly for the fat content, but also the fiber. 

I know a lot of people say no corn, no molasses, etc. This is a personal choice. Corn will help put weight on an animal (why else do they use it to fatten butcher animals????) Molasses is empty calories for the most part, but does also contain some essential nutrients such as iron. Horses LIKE sweet....have you ever had a chance to taste horse milk? It is thin and watery and tastes like sugar water! It's no wonder horses have a sweet tooth, it's what they are raised on!


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## MesquiteTreeHill (Oct 1, 2013)

Kccjr
For senior feed to be effective as a complete feed the amount you have to feed is substantial enough that is would seem that it was out all the time. However, you dont have to feed as much if you are feeding with hay and even less if feeding in with good quality hay.
Now all horses do respond differently. 
I like and reccomend senior for bringing back thin horses because generally speaking senior feeds tend to be higher in fat and lysene (totally misspelled) both essential ingredients in putting on weight and healthy muscle.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

How old is your horse ?

When I first got my mare she was underweight and someone suggested calf manna and it did the trick in no time.

I remember adding a splash of wheat germ oil to her feed for her coat.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

MesquiteTreeHill said:


> Kccjr
> For senior feed to be effective as a complete feed the amount you have to feed is substantial enough that is would seem that it was out all the time. However, you dont have to feed as much if you are feeding with hay and even less if feeding in with good quality hay.
> Now all horses do respond differently.
> I like and reccomend senior for bringing back thin horses because generally speaking senior feeds tend to be higher in fat and lysene (totally misspelled) both essential ingredients in putting on weight and healthy muscle.


Yep. All do respond differently. When I tried the Sr Feed he was out on a good green pasture at the time too. We were supplementing about 8 pounds of grain along with the grass. Someone recommended Sr Feed and I started feeding it....he started dropping weight almost immediately. Put him back on our grain mix, and the weight started back up. It may have just been our brand of sr, which I can't remember, but when I compared it to other feeds....didn't have the amount of nutrients that the others did. I also tried another brand that "is the best thing around for putting weight on skinny horses"....wish I could remember what the heck it was cause it was a HUGE waste of money! Had to starve him out for 3 days before he would even touch it....didn't think much of that. LOL The stuff looked and felt like dry dog food....


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## MesquiteTreeHill (Oct 1, 2013)

looked and felts like dry dog food - that's extruded feed and my horses hate it too!!!! I had a friend talk me into trying a brand of extruded complete feed and I don't know why I did - total waste of money!

I have my mares on a "complete" that feed more as a supplement - they are on a not so great pasture - so I use the feed and a good mineral tub to fill in the gaps.

My 4yr old gelding who is ridden daily and shown often is on Patriot 14 and I LOVE it. He's been on adm feeds since he was weaned and though a little on the pricey side he's done well on it and I don't want to fix something that's not broke.


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