Weight gain advise please!!

[CBJack]

I have a 6 year old Welsh Section D gelding who has dropped a lot of weight in the past month. He is not in work as sadly I had to retire him in September due to previous injuries (I rescued him 3 and a half years ago but the physical damage was irreparable). He is turned out for about 4 hours a day at the moment, there is some grazing in his field but he would rather play than eat! I can't put hay in the field as there would be a fight.

He has a breakfast and a dinner of non heated plain pony cubes and a scoop of Hi-Fi Lite. I am going to start making him a lunch too. He also has a haynet in the morning, at lunch and then through the night. His hay has to be soaked for 24 hours due to a prior operation on his throat. He also has a section of horsehage a day too.

Please can I have some advise on what I could give him for weight gain? It can't be anything dry like ready grass as I need to soak everything I give him and nothing that is too dusty. Also nothing fizzy as he is not in work and is very highly strung naturally.

Thanks you

 

[be positive]

Soaking the hay for that long will be leaching out most of the nutrients so the first thing to add would be a good supplement to make up for what is being lost, I would also give some grassnuts as he is not getting much time out, they can be soaked before feeding, should not make him fizzy but have a reasonable amount of protein which should help build him up, add some oil or micronised linseed and you may find you can cut out the pony nuts.

 

[CBJack]

Thank you that is really helpful x

 

[ashlingm]

We had a hunter who dropped abit of weight one year. Was very hard to get the balance between weight gain and not making him super fizzy and unrideable.

I swear by ad-lib hay, a good quality hard feed, beet pulp and equijewel. The equijewel puts condition on pretty fast and only you only need to feed a cup sized amount per meal. It's my go to product if they drop any weight! Baileys Top Line conditioning cubes are high in calories and are a good source of protein.

 

[1life]

Micronised linseed is a very cost effective easy way of putting condition and weight on too - has worked on our Fell and ISH.
Only soak the hay for a couple of hours to swell the dust pores, without draining all nutrients.

 

[JillA]

Could you steam his hay instead? After 24 hours soaking it will be very little more than fibre, so you need to replace lost vitamins, minerals and protein, and you could supplement for all of those. Speak to Forageplus, they are very knowledgeable and will advise - they identified my poor doer TB wasn't getting nearly enough protein and since I began adding it he has covered his ribs well.

 

[PoppyAnderson]

Check what you're currently feeding for molasses and alfalfa and if it contains either stop feeding it. Then switch to micronised linseed, Coolstance copra, equi Jewel plus a good quality chaff.

 

[Fishfingers]

Soaking the hay for that long will be leaching out most of the nutrients so the first thing to add would be a good supplement to make up for what is being lost, I would also give some grassnuts as he is not getting much time out, they can be soaked before feeding, should not make him fizzy but have a reasonable amount of protein which should help build him up, add some oil or micronised linseed and you may find you can cut out the pony nuts.

what they said 100%

 

[ohmissbrittany]

I second both some kind of vit/min top-dressing to help him get the most out of his calories (lots of trace nutrients are necessary to properly metabolize feed/hay)... and Equijewel/beet-pulp is THE BOMB. It is literally the only thing out of 6 feed combos I tried to put condition back on my horse after a respiratory infection that worked. It looked like a lot of beet (a full black feed tub, was two small scoops and then 3x that volume of water) and like 400g of equijewel. Did not need the EJ after a few mos because she's usually an easy keeper, but it's amazing. Basically rice bran is just fat and fiber, and the EJ is stabilized with vitamin E so they get nice and shiny with healthier skin too!

 

[Damnation]

As a rescue pony, I would be looking at doing a worm count and going from there. I'd be looking to find the cause of the weight loss, although his main source of forage is soaked (for understandable reasons) it could just be he isn't getting enough calories, but then most Welsh types (although not all) are designed to live with not alot of nutrituous food, hence me thinking a worm count wouldn't be a bad idea for peace of mind.

I would also look at a hay steamer instead of soaking the hay with Be Positive's suggestions.

 

[SO1]

Try fast fibre and add oil. This is what I did when I needed to put my New Forest on a weight gain diet after he got a tape worm infestation a few years ago despite having the recommended amount of tape wormers and lost a lot of weight. He could not have anything high in starch/sugar due to the risk of laminitis {normally he has the other problem and is on a diet}

Fast fibre is a soaked feed and I added a sunflower oil I got from Tesco's. Vet suggested adding oil as best method rather than more starch/sugar which can be bad for natives. More info on feed oil here http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horse-care/feeding/qa-feeding-oil-34018

 

[meandmyconnie]

Sugar beet, high calorie haylage, plenty of turnout time. In winter rug him heavily too so he's not losing weight keeping himself warm.

 

[Apercrumbie]

Lots of good advice given but I have one question - you say that there would be fights if you put hay out and I'm wondering why? Surely if you put out enough hay there shouldn't be a problem beyond some shuffling round?

 

[amandaco2]

check worm status and teeth.
add in something oil based for weight gain- I use copra and micronized linseed. I add pro balance as a mineral/vitamin source.
if hes not getting enough fibre due to difficulty eating also give regular hay replacement feed- soaked grass nuts or fast fibre.

 

[xgemmax]

Micronised linseed and coolstance copra are both good for weight gain. Is he having as much hay as he can eat? If not then that is the best starting point and go from there.

 

[Cobby93]

What about Allen and Page Calm and Condition? It's a soaked feed that I've found to work really well and doesn't cause any fizz

 

[applecart14]

I have a 6 year old Welsh Section D gelding who has dropped a lot of weight in the past month. He is not in work as sadly I had to retire him in September due to previous injuries (I rescued him 3 and a half years ago but the physical damage was irreparable). He is turned out for about 4 hours a day at the moment, there is some grazing in his field but he would rather play than eat! I can't put hay in the field as there would be a fight.

He has a breakfast and a dinner of non heated plain pony cubes and a scoop of Hi-Fi Lite. I am going to start making him a lunch too. He also has a haynet in the morning, at lunch and then through the night. His hay has to be soaked for 24 hours due to a prior operation on his throat. He also has a section of horsehage a day too.

Please can I have some advise on what I could give him for weight gain? It can't be anything dry like ready grass as I need to soak everything I give him and nothing that is too dusty. Also nothing fizzy as he is not in work and is very highly strung naturally.

Thanks you

my horse lost a bit of weight, well a lot really; ten kg in ten days which was worrying. He still looks ribby but is loads better and has put on weight again. His coat us amazing with the slightest brush because of the linseed as I put him on Allen & Page Veteran Vitality which is a hot or cold soaked feed ; needs soaking for three mins. He is also on hi fibre cubes; think they are Dodson & Horrell. He has them in his snackaball and his feed. And he is on good doer chaff which is a bit of a contradiction i know but i didnt know what else to put him on as he hates plain alfa a type chaffs and i didnt want to load him down with a sugary chaff full of syrup or molasses like an apple chaff or similar. He is also on around 25kg of hay a day.