Feed to Weight Gain and Stamina?

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ChunkyMonkey25

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Hi - I know how knowledgable you all are so thought you may be able to help!

I have a 5yo Hannoverian who just does not keep weight. I have had teeth checked and worm burden and neither of these are the problem. He is being fed 1 round scoop of alpha-a and 2/3 scoop saracen sports horse mix 4 times a day! I do not want to add any more bulk to his hard feed and feed comes in with the livery so changing feeds would be very expensive as livery charge would not change so I would have to buy a different feed on top! Is there any supplements that I could use to help him keep weight?

Also he lacks stamina (I know this will come as he builds muscle) but atm he just dies after 20 mins of work. Is there a supplement/oil that will combat both?!

Thanks in advance x
 
You don't say how much forage he is getting? If you have a horse who needs to gain condition, you need to ensure they are getting ad lib forage of good quality ie hay, haylage and/or grass. You want them to have hay or haylage available all the time they are in the stable, and good grazing when they are in the field. If the grazing is poor then hay or haylage should be available when they are turned out as well. Lack of enough good quality forage is a common reason for horses to lack weight even when receiving serious quantities of hard feed.
 
Hi, sorry yes he is getting 2x 14lbs nets of haylage at night (one in at 5pm and one in at 9pm) and he is out on great grass (just moved fields and they have been rested since october!) from 8am until 4pm.
 
If he has just been moved to good grazing then that alone will probably be enough for him to start gaining weight now. But if you really want to feed some sort of supplement then you could look at a probiotic with the idea of ensuring that he has good gut bacteria to ensure he makes the full use of the feed he is getting. Another option is to add some sort of high oil feed as a concentrated form of calories - micronised linseed for example.
 
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