Getting weight on quick!

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Toast

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Hi guys, my mare has come back from stud a week ago today after weaning her 4th foal at 19yrs old. Shes not a youthful 19yrs and this last baby has taken it right out of her.
She stayed at the stud for a week to let her dry up and things were good until she got off the wagon back at home and was running milk, thus having to begin the whole drying up process again. But since we've not been able to give her hard feed shes really looking like a hat rack. It makes me so sad to see her looking like she does but now shes dried up i need to get some meat back on her bones before winter really does set in!

Ive heard Fibre Beet is a good feed for weight gain, has anyone on here had good results with this?
What else could you suggest to get some weight on nice and quickly?

I can post pics if you need to see how skinny shes gone.
Thanks guys!
x
 
Some kind of beet pulp ( speedi beet/sugar beet/fibre beet), a course mix, build up and chaff. ?? split up over a few feeds during the day.

I know nothing about breeding, just know this tended to keep weight on my boy. :)
 
Plenty of sugar beet and baileys outshine although this is expensive it worked on my new anorexic looking 4 yr old. Failing that you want something thats high in oil mixed with plenty of fibre, for slow release non swinging from the stable roof weight gain.
 
Usually she would be getting:
Allen & Page Old Faithfuls special blend (veteran conditioning mix) which she loves and does well on
Hi Fi
Speedibeet
Oil

Im wondering if to add the Fibre beet, keep feeding the mix cut out the Hi Fi and speedibeet and keep in the oil?
Along with as much haylage i can pump in obviously...
x
 
Loads of haylage and high fibre cubes and sugar beet with an oil based chop. Like Alfa A Oil.

I wouldn't want it going on too quickly though, and would concentrate on the fibre and forage more. I'm a big believer in good quality hay/ haylage being the best thing and the healthiest for the digestive system. Although maybe a bit of pink powder in a simple fibre/ oil based feed would help aid efficient digestion? Have seen success with all the things i have mentioned combined.
 
My old lad didn't do too well last winter and we fed him beet pulp, a mix of oats and barely, along with some alfalfa. I bought him some haylage too, gave him some of that each day but he trived on the feed even after the haylage.

I also put in half a cup of vegetable oil in each feed, one of those plastic white cups you get for parties. I've heard of competition yards feeding it and it seemed to have worked well for him! Of course, it was a mix of everything but he changed in a couple weeks, that worked for him at least!
 
Unfortunately i have to be careful what i feed her as shes a highly impressionable thoroughbred, i had her on alfa a when she was 10 months pregnant and had to take her off it because she almost KO'd herself in the sand paddock as she got so fizzy on it!! Same goes for oats, i think she'd explode!

I hadnt thought of pink powder, ive heard good things about that. I may give that a try!
x
 
hello

i really like triple crown top up. it doesnt heat them up and you don't feed a lot of it so you dont have to feed massive feeds and potentially overload them.

when i've had skinnies i've gone for:
- ad lib haylage or timothy hay
- dried grass (or Alfa)
- sugar beet
- triple crown top up
- linseed
- good multi-vit (equivit/pink powder etc)
- good rugging
- good turnout (excise helps) with grass or hay out so they're always munching

Good luck
 
As you know A&P's Old Faithful is something horses love and it does help them out weight on. However, A&P also do a Weight Gain mix whihc worked very well when we fed it to my sister's scrawny 4 yo a few years back so that may be worth a try?

I don't think it's particularly heating but obviously you'll have to check that. Other than that, when we had some oldies years ago we fed them a mix of high fibre cubes and stud cubes and that kept the weight on them very well. It did require soaking though but that was part of the reason we got it at the time as the horses in question didn't have much in the way of teeth!

I would also make sure she has lots of decent hay, not haylage, just decent hay.
 
somethingorother said:
Loads of haylage and high fibre cubes and sugar beet with an oil based chop. Like Alfa A Oil.

I wouldn't want it going on too quickly though, and would concentrate on the fibre and forage more. I'm a big believer in good quality hay/ haylage being the best thing and the healthiest for the digestive system. Although maybe a bit of pink powder in a simple fibre/ oil based feed would help aid efficient digestion? Have seen success with all the things i have mentioned combined.
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Absolutely agree. Slowly but surely is the answer. I've rescued quite a few and in the early days used to pump them full of food but have learned that a) it doesn't work and b) can lead to lots of complications.
 
I think you've had some good advice already.
I too would agree with lots of fibre. Try splitting feeds if you can so she's getting 3 a day.
If she's in at night then alongside her usual forage you could leave a bucket of sugar beet or grass nuts - love these, cant beat some doctor green!
Another vote for pink powder - will make sure everything is working to its best inside.
 
I don't know if it would be appropriate (know nothing about breeding) for your mare at the moment, but I know a few fizzy poor doers that do well with Copra / coolstance plus chaff and a vitamin supplement.
 
Please don't go pumping her full of food else you'll run the risk of her coming back into milk which is a problem you don't want.
Most weaned broodmares look light of condition when weaned, they've been working hard over the summer and need time to recuperate no matter whether they're 9 or 19; I'd bet my bottom dollar it's because she's given her all to the foal that she's light; I'd be more worried about the health of the foal if she was well covered at this stage of the season because it would sound like she's been giving very little away to the foal which is not the right way for the foal to do well either.
Give her adlib hay and small feeds of what she likes but keep off anything high protein or too molassed or wet. My mares get hay, poorish grazing until thoroughly dried up when they'll be moved to the winter grazing and something like basic cubes; you'll be surprised how quickly the weight goes back on now they've stopped feeding a monster. Whatever you do, you want a slow gain, never a fast gain of weight; a fast gain will give you far more problems.
What's wrong with a 20 year old going in foal again BTW if she's still fertile? Many can and do without any problems and many produce their best offspring when they are in their twilight years too.
 
My old TB does loose condition and doesnt do to well in winter anymore, but i have found a warm mash of Rowen and Barbary ready mash with leisure mix and alfa does the trick with ad lib haylage. Im sure with you looking after her she will be back to normal in no time :)
 
Mint helps dry milk up.
Stick to fibre and plenty of it. Are her teeth ok and has she been wormed? Make sure shes warm enough.
Mixes are usually very high starch, particularly some of those mentioned. This is likely to cause digestive disturbances as well as excitability.
I would stick to feeds like grass nuts, sugar beet and linseed oil. they will provide calories without starch. You cant feed too big feeds anyway and these will be far safer than bucket loads of mix.
 
Hi Toast - she's your horse and you know if she's up to having another foal or not:)

I would always recommend Blue Chip - I know its expensive but it lasts for ages and really works without the fizz.

Good luck:)
 
when my boy took ill last year he lost loads of weight we put him on adlib haylage, hifi, fibre nut and build and glow from D&H and looked great realy quickly without to much fizz. i am very much a fibre based feeder
 
Thankyou everyone for your advice, i would never have been pumping her with large amounts of feed anyway, i know enough to start off little and build it up. And as far as im concerned, at 19 she is not fit or well enough to go back in foal again, although i would never dispute putting a 20yr old in foal if she was healthy enough and fertile, infact my boss has her 23yr old in foal this year. All depends on the horse! I have decided to start her on 3 feeds a day which i know wont contain too much protein as i plan to give her ad lib haylage. I'll see how we get on.
Thanks everyone again for the advice, i can always rely on hho to help!
x
 
I seem to rember having problems getting her to dry up last year when she was weaned as well,

Fiber beet is pretty good for weight gain but interesting not the one that they recommend for weight gain, soft and soak by rowan barabary feeds is excellent fr weight gain but if they are fussy some dont seem to like it, Outshine by baileys is also excellent but again i fidn alot wont eat it
 
Smile_and_Wave said:
I seem to rember having problems getting her to dry up last year when she was weaned as well,

Fiber beet is pretty good for weight gain but interesting not the one that they recommend for weight gain, soft and soak by rowan barabary feeds is excellent fr weight gain but if they are fussy some dont seem to like it, Outshine by baileys is also excellent but again i fidn alot wont eat it
Click to expand...

Shes had issues with mastitis i know that, i remember you telling me when i picked her up when we bought her! To be fair she did really well drying up until we took her home, when she walked off the trailer running milk, but we seem to be on a winning streak this time with no signs of sore boobs!

I'll look into the soft and soak, i'll give anything a go really. Just want to get her right before winter! x

ETA: Just looked up that Soft and Soak, theres 3 different feeds? Ready Fibremash, Ready Mash and Ready Mash extra... which would you reccommend?
x
 
*sigh* having posted all this, ive been to the farm tonight and shes still got milk... im at a loss now as to what to do. Off to consult the breeders for more advice! Thanks to everyone whos helped me so far!!!
x
 
Toast said:
Shes had issues with mastitis i know that, i remember you telling me when i picked her up when we bought her! To be fair she did really well drying up until we took her home, when she walked off the trailer running milk, but we seem to be on a winning streak this time with no signs of sore boobs!

I'll look into the soft and soak, i'll give anything a go really. Just want to get her right before winter! x

ETA: Just looked up that Soft and Soak, theres 3 different feeds? Ready Fibremash, Ready Mash and Ready Mash extra... which would you reccommend?
x
Click to expand...

i think its ready mash extra that we have used in the past
 
My boy has been on

1 scoop of calm and condition
1 scoop of alpha a oil
and garlic

he has also been on really rich haylage that is normal fed to the calves. He has put some awesome weight on over the last 3 weeks, however this evening he has gone from being a calm boy to one pushing his luck.

He is an exracer TB who I got 5 weeks ago, we are currently trying to decide if it's the haylage or whether he is hitting the pushing his luck with me and testing me! It's a hard decision but he will be returned to horse haylage just to check ;)

I will take some pics tomorrow if I remember the camera :D
 
Fibre beet is great, better than speedi beet imo for conditioning, and if possible try and split her feed into 3 or 4 meals a day. Maybe try horsehage - the blue one I think is most fibrous. Maybe switch from Old Faithful to Weight Gain (also made by a & p).
 
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