Weight Gain - run out of ideas.

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Lorian

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Hi

I have been trying to put weight on my horse but I am running out of ideas so any advise please.

He is:
17yrs old, Arab, 15hands, can be lively but isnt too bad at the moment

I feed him twice a day and he is on longish grass but its quite yellow (the field had been cut for hay)

At the moment I feed him (all round scoops)
Morning: 1 scoop Alfa A, 1 scoop D+H Veteran Mix, 1 scoop flaked barley, veg oil
Evening: 1 scoop Sugarbeet, 1 scoop Alfa A, 1 scoop flaked barley, veg oil, cod liver oil, glucosamine

I have tried:
Calm and Condition - didnt do anything
Barley Rings - he didnt eat them
Pink Powder Supplement - didnt seem any different

Does anyone have any ideas? He is out 24/7 at the moment and has a chaser clip but is warm enough as he is in a 220g landa combo rug. The hay we have is poor quality but he has enough grass so doesnt need hay? The vet advised to feed barley and sugar beet but this doesnt seem to be making any difference either?
Oh yeah and last year he was tested for his liver function and vet said it was fine.
I am running out of ideas.
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I would be tempted to try and feed him smaller feeds, but more often. So perhaps split what you are currently feeding in to three or four meals a day. You are feeding him quite a bit quantity wise, however, it may just be passing straight through his system.

The grass doesn't sound as if it has any value at all - so he may well benefit from comming in and having ad lib hay at night - as well as being moved on to some better grazing.
 
Baileys Number 1. Its a cooked cereal mix made specificly for weight gain. You will need to feed an all round supplement with it though.

Baron is a 16.3 IDxTB who is worked for around an hour a day and competes most weekends, he gets...

3/4 scoop No.1
1/2 scoop barley
1 scoop alfa oil
1/2 scoop speedi beet (unsoaked amount)
1 cup soya oil
Pink Powder

Scoop = a big round stubbs scoop.

He was on poor grazing all summer and this seemed to hold his weight. He is quite a poor doer and I always have trouble keeping his weight, especially on his back end.

The above seemed to work. I have now cut it down a little as his is on brilliant grass at the moment.
 
TopSpec all the way,changed Beau from this:

11022007706-1.jpg


to this, in 6 months:

Image13-1.jpg


the crappy grazing we had this summer certinaly didnt do it!


Remarkable food, and no faff!
 
buy some cheap kitchen scales for the yard.

1 scoop (round one with handle) of alfa a is about 1lb= half kg

so if you are feeding 2 scoops a day of it he is getting 1kg which is less than recomended on the back of the sack.

different feeds weight different amounts so you need to check them all out.
 
Quick question and I don't mean to cause offence, but how regularly do you have his teeth done? He is getting older after all..............
 
My first thought was the same as SN, do you have his teeth done regularly?
Second was topspec balancer has made a considerable difference to several of our horses utilisation of their feed, no matter what they were on.
I would keep adding oil to his feeds too.
One other possible cause could be as he is getting older his heart may not be quite as efficient, a horse here of a similar age never seemed to thrive as well as the rest, and after various tests they found the problem was his heart....
 
Agree with zigzag, boiled barley is excellent for weight gain..mine live on this stuff in the winter whilst hunting and thrive on it..plus they love it warm! bit like a comforting bran mash!!
 
you say he is out 24/7, does he have company all of this time?
i ask because my anglo arab use to pace and fret when his field mates were taken away, he was skinny, i couldn't keep the weight on him, for two years now he's been joined at the hip with a pal (see avator pic!), and a year ago they started living out all year round and he is now chilled out and as fat as a fat thing!
(don't tell him but he's about to come out of retirement)
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Is the horse DEFINATELY warm enough? That's probably the first thing Id double check.

You could try changing the sugarbeet (which isnt particularily conditioning) to I think its called "Alfa-Beet" by Dengie. Its gross stuff when soaked, bright green cow pat basically but my horses liked it last year.

One of mine dropped weight every winter - only thing which finally worked for him was Spillers Build Up Cubes. But the TB x I have now (who was also thin), put weight on with Baileys Top Line Cubes. He's still on these cubes and they seem to maintain his weight all year round now. Obviously make sure you're feeding the right amount - I can only feed 2 scoops to my boy because he's quite picky and won't eat anymore than that
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but it still seems to work for him.

Id also give him an all round vit & min supplement but something high in B vits as well.

Otherwise Id get better hay or if that's not possible, can you give some haylage just now? You dont really want him being thin going into the winter to start with. I think this is probably you're best bet at putting weight on him personally. Mine are demanding hay already - we have decent grazing but they snatch hay of me too!
 
From what you say, I would guess there isn't much value in the grass. Does he have to stay out at night? I would definitely give him some high fibre haylage (or good quality hay if you can get it). Simple Systems feeds are excellent for Arabs (Jane van Lennep who devised the feeds has been breeding and competing Arabs for years and all hers live out all year round - unrugged) as they are completely free of cereals and molasses and aren't at all heating. Alternatively, you could feed conditioning cubes, chaff and assuming you won't be feeding the cubes up to the manufacturers recommendations, you could top up with a balancer - either Top Spec or Blue Chip. If you put good hay or haylage out for him and he eats it, it means he needs it!
 
Fibre Beet as mentioned above. It may look like slurry, but my boys don't come up for air until they've finished the bowl when I feed it to them! It's a mix of Alfalfa and unmollassed sugar beet.
 
Blue Chip Original is excellent but my riding pal has a TB and she struggles to keep the weight on him. In a last-ditch, desperate attempt a year ago, she was recommended to include vegetable oil and baby milk powder in his feeds! Worked a treat!
 
two weeks ago my tb was quite ribby as had suddenly dropped weight. I decided to change his feed and started to give him;

2 cups baileys outshine
1 scoop baileys N0.4 topline cubes
pink powder
3/4 scoop of alfa beet
apple cider vinegar (he was already on this)

He is VERY fussy with his food, but he literally digs his mouth in and tucks in. I went down the other day, being away for a week, and i cant believe how much weight he has put on. His coat has gone very dark, sleek and shiny, and his ribs can almost not be seen now. I will get some pics up when i can, and i dont actually know which bit of his feed is doing the trick but its working!!
 
i would check his teeth and make sure he is well wormed, not stressed and warm enough at night.

if the grass is poor i would feed good hay or haylage if it doesnt make him fizzy(or half and half).

alfalfa and sugar beet 'slop' with his alfa a and some conditioning cubes is also really good for helping keep weight on.

you could try alfa a oil with added oil and a vit e suppliment.

i would also recomend ultimate finish(oil based) for safe none fizzy weight gain.

try splitting the feed into as many as poss-can anyone feed him before or after you arrive and/ or at lunch time?
 
Ditto simple systems - my mare use to loose weight in the winter but if I fed her more she would get very hyper- not since she has been on SS feeds, I dont think she tolerated the cereals.
 
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