what feed for a skinny horse ???

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lg4770

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I have a horse that has just come over from Ireland, he is lovely but underweight, what food would anyone suggest for getting weight on him quickly, at present he is have a whole scope of cooling mix, whole scoop of chaff and sugar beet twice a day, plus lots of hay....
 
Depends on his work level and temperament.

I would recommend trying Alan and Page calm and condition - worked well with my TB. He put on weight gradually and I found this feed worked well for him.
 
^^^^^^ Calm and Condition is very good. I'd suggest a high fibre high calorie diet.
So Sugar beet is great, also somethoing with oil in it, Bailey's Outshine is a brilliant weight gain when fed accordingly. Takes about four weeks to see good results...expensive but good.

You want him to but the weight on gradually, and in the right places, keep work down to just exercise rather than fittening so you can build good even muscle without using the important calories you want for his weight, lots of walking long and low and hills. :D
 
He is a 16 hand middleweight, lovely temperament, but i dont want to feed him anything that will fizz him up, as he is just right as he is. He is ridden for 1/2 most days (i dont want to ride the weight off him, so just keeping it to 1/2 hour a day at the moment)
 
Would second the calm and condition, or you could try something like Build up cubes. The mix seems to send them a bit doo lally.
Your better off putting weight on slowly so the C +C would be what I would go for. Don't forget spring grass will be coming soon so he will put weight on soon enough from that :)
 
I am a Allen and Page Calm and Condition convert. I was struggling to put the weight on my Irish boy with out blowing his mind. Calm and Condition, Alpha A oil and Build and Glow are working wonderfully. He's gaining weight at a sensible rate and is staying totally sane.

So Calm and Condition is very highly recommended.
 
I've just got a racehorse 3/4 weeks ago & he was rather 'slim' too!

Been feeding him - D&H High Fibre Nuts, Dengie Hi Fi & D&H Build & Glow x 2 a day.

Also supplemented with Pink Powder (he had very runny poos) & Equus Health Fenugreek - very cheap & really good for putting on weight.

He's living out at night & eating 3-4 slices of soaked hay in the day.

And he's piling on the weight and condition but very sensibly and in the right places! Plus, he's stayed very calm & not become silly. I agree that fibre is the way to go - much better for their guts.

x x
 
We have had great success with grass nuts with a 40yr old pony which dropped a lot of weight. He doesn't have many teeth and as it is soaked it is very mushy and easy for them to eat. also Fricas (not sure if thats how its spelt) is meant to be very good too.
 
Spudlet said:
Good old Dr Green - try and get him out onto some decent grass if you can.
Click to expand...

2nd time agreeing with you today spudlet lol!

Also I have found this year that conditioning cubes have worked well for my boy- I usually feed these with Alfa a oil, sugarbeet and I used barley last year but this year am using competition mix- not advising you use that 1 though lol!

I would just try 1 main food ie the calm&condition or cubes with the sugarbeet and chaff in 3 feeds a day if poss obviously making changes gradual and keeping the main part of the diet grass/ hay/ haylege.

You shouldn't have to try for too long though as the grass will be the best thing as already stated.

Please be aware though of how much work - feed horsie is now getting as I've known loads of underweight horses change very quickly with the extra feed.

Good luck!
 
Firstly make sure you worm him, no point poring feed into him and worms getting it all. Get his teeth done and make sure he is not in pain anywhere (this can cause weight loss).

If you HAVE to exercise him keep it brief, the extra exercise will burn the extra calories.

Make sure he is warm, you do not want him to burn extra calories keeping warm.

If he can be turned out on good quality grass this will really help! If not good quality ad lib hay or preferable haylage, this tastes better and will enourage him to eat more, dont put it in a hay net, it will be much harder for him to get and may just unmotivate him all together.

Concerntrate, switch him ASAP onto a conditioning feed, preferably one higher in oil and fibre rather than starch (ie oats). Mixes are normally higher in starch so it would be better to go for a pencil. You could add extra Sugarbeet and oil to the diet. Chops will bulk out the feed more = less calorie dense feed. Never feed him more than 5lbs per feeding.

So if he were mine my plan would be;

Out 24/7 on good quality grass, suppliment this with haylage if he will eat it, rug him so he does not loose any extra weight.

Morning feed 3lbs conditioning pencils, ad 1lb of sugarbeet, half a cup of soy oil

Mid day feed 3lbs conditioning pencils, ad 1lb of sugarbeet, half a cup of soy oil

Evening feed 3lbs conditioning pencils, ad 1lb of sugarbeet, half a cup of soy oil

If a third feed is a problem can you not feed him when you first get there in the evening and go back or get who ever checks last thing at night to throw it in.

If money is not a problem you could try him on some outshine, equijewel or falcon Omega Rice.

Good luck! and it will take a while to see results but keep at it
 
I bought a new horse 5wks ago and he was very skinny. I have been feeding Alfa A Oil, speedi-beet and Baileys Conditioning Cubes, he now has a good covering, I cant believe the difference :)
 
The best thing for him would be some good grass, however most people don't have access to that at this time of year. Make sure he is getting as much hay/haylage as he can eat as this is normally the best way.
To give him a helping hand I have had success with Calm and Condition, Bailey's Outshine and Bailey's No 4 Top Line Conditioning Cubes (not all at the same time :D ) Adding oil to feed also works very nicely - a lot of people on here use supermarket vegetable oil.
Don't excercise him too much and make sure he is well rugged so the calories put weight on him and don't have to keep him warm. In about a month's time you should start to see a difference. Oh, and make sure you take before pictures so you can compare :)
 
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