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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | What do you guys suggest? She has free choice brome hay and fed grain (cracked corn and whole oats) once a day. She really needs some nice green grass to fatten her up but we're a few months away from that. Need something easy she's kept with several other horses. Thanks. |
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  Semper Fi
   
Location: North Texas | Moistened beet pulp twice a day. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | Beet pulp (no molasses) and rice bran. I get MAX E GLO rice bran, blue bag, powder stuff. It seems to soak soooo much better than the pellets.
I also add THE Muscle Mass. And on my OTTB I'm adding Cool Calories. He's putting on some much needed weight and everyone else is hefty and happy. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| Oxymax from Oxygen. Ask Jen Berry. She is a rep on here. |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | how many lbs of grain? that doesnt appear to be a real nutritional diet.. increase fat and calories or add soaked beet pulp or soaked alfalfa cubes or pellets.. |
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Expert
Posts: 1226
| I have had good luck with amplify by Purina. It has gotten expensive tho. |
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 Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | I'm an Amplify fan.It works. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | Mega Oil by Oxygen. It will help her put and keep weight on as well as make her look great! |
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They Don't Know Me
Posts: 3299
Location: Bastrop, TX | If a horse is not fed an ample quantity based on weight it doesn't matter if you fed it pure fat. So many want to add add add all of these other things but if you look at just corn and oats (which we all fed in the old days) well those as old as me....lol.... there's really no vitamins, minerals etc to it.
A horse needs a balance of all of those things, but feeding 1 lb of each a day as an example is not enough. But if you want to feed ALL HAY then you still need to provide a good quality hay and MINERALS at the least.
WORM FREE.....even if you are feed a Top quality feed, it's not doing them any good if they are unable to absorb the nutrients from the feed. 1. Paste then start on diatomaceous earth or 2. Paste and use Strongid C Daily wormer but still paste every couple of months or so.
Teeth......are her teeth good enough to crush the feed you are feeding? Keeping teeth healthy is most important. If they're losing from their mouth and it's falling on the ground, then they're not getting what you just fed. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | If all physical reasons have been ruled out for weight loss. Add alfalfa. A good second cut or even a second cut mix alfalfa will do wonders. |
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 Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | I have one that is occassionally a harder keeper and this year he has done well. What I would do in the past if he showed up a little thinner than I liked:
modified "power pack" a tube of safe guard 10 days apart-this horse is mouthy and tends to lick everything the other horses don't. I make sure the amount of grain he is eating is adequate-trial and error I simply add a pound or two and see how they improve.
What I've been feeding this year has made a WORLD of difference.
2 pounds of whole oats - this horse is picky so sometimes he gets 1 pound oats and 1 pound woodys summer heat instead of just oats-but not always.
1 cup of flax
Free choice mineral-progressive nutrition
Dried up pasture when they want
About 40-50 pounds of second cutting alfalfa.
The forage makes all the difference in the world. If you can add flax and alfalfa to her ration you should see a bloom fairly quickly. |
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 Hawty & Nawty
Posts: 20424
| After ensuring there are no dental issues, and powerpacking, I would free feed bermuda all day. add a flake or two of alfalfa at night along with Calf Manna.
I've had to rehab many horses over the years and this works for us.
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Expert
Posts: 1343
Location: East Texas | I have an old guy (22) and he is getting Purina Senior (it has Amplify in it) and 10 pounds of soaked alfalfa cubes a day. He has put on a lot of weight and is really looking good! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Thank you for the responses.
She is wormed, I might worm her again even though its not time yet, just to be safe.
Her teeth are floated.
She's fed around 3lbs of grain (oats and corn) per day.
Like I mention she has free choice hay, which is good hay, my husband does custom haywork for a living, so hay is put up ourselves for both our cattle and horses and done correctly, we also use net wrapped to help preserve.
I have thrown alfalfa in the past a few flakes a day, I stopped bc she was showing signs of EPM (inflammation not confirmed EPM) a few years ago, and Im pretty certain it came from our alfalfa bales which are stored in a barn where critters can roam and sh*t obviously.
Some of you have mentioned beet pulp, Ive looked into this before but I feel like if you have good quality hay and I feed oats, Im getting the same thing from them? Correct me if Im wrong. Beet pulp is a form of fiber which could be but should be equal to good quality hay, also is a source of energy which Im getting from the whole oats.
Someone mentioned above minerals, how are you getting minerals to your horses? Loose? Something I will look in too also.
I might try the calf manna for a month or so and see if that helps, I looked into the mega oil, this looks like its solely just crude fat, so not sure that I want to push that and get no other nutrients/protein from it.
I have 6 other horses that look great, fat and happy, so I don't feel like my feed program is a terrible one with no nutrients, Ive never been one to try a bunch of different/fancy/expensive supplements or added feed. I like it simple. In the summer they are out on grass and sometime they come up for grain and sometimes they don't.
Thanks again for the information!!
Edited by Peewee212 2016-02-17 4:57 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | ...
Edited by Peewee212 2016-02-17 4:56 PM
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Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | With that many horses, are you sure she's getting to the hay feeder?? They might be ganging up on her..... |
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 Shoot Yeah
Posts: 4273
Location: Where you need a paddle... Oregon! | I feed whole oats, free choice orchard and alfalfa, and Renew Gold. She looks fine, I suppose, but I upped her Renew Gold last weekend to see if I could plump her up a little. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | 3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 6:51 PM
3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition
Do you realize the nutritional value in good hay? And I know a lot of guys who feed hay only.
What do feed if you don't mind I ask?
Yes she's in the hay feeder, no one's ganging up on her. She was with just 3 other horses until a week ago. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Peewee212 - 2016-02-17 8:22 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 6:51 PM 3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition Do you realize the nutritional value in good hay? And I know a lot of guys who feed hay only. What do feed if you don't mind I ask? Yes she's in the hay feeder, no one's ganging up on her. She was with just 3 other horses until a week ago.
my point is if she needs to put weight on then its not enough for her.. some horses do well on less with good hay.. winter time it can be a struggle for some. |
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | How many pounds is your horse?
Five of mine have done fine on 3 pounds of grains (one 3qt scoop) and they weigh 1,000-1250 pounds. That's with basic mix grass filler type hay (all they'll clean up) and 1/4 scoop of beet pulp/alfalfa cube mix.
Then I've got two that 3 pounds doesn't even remotely touch what they need. One gets 12+ pounds of oats & barley per day in addition to 5 pounds of top alfalfa and the same mix grass hay everyone else gets - he's 1300+ pounds. He also gets rice bran.
I also have a little 1130 pound horse that's a bottomless pit - but he is long bodied too & I've found them to be a lot tougher keepers on average anyhow. He gets 2 pounds of rice bran, 3 pounds of barley, 4 pounds of Total Equine, 1 scoop of chaffhaye, 1 scoop of beet pulp, and all the mix grass hay he'll clean up. He's half the size of my bigger horses but eats twice as much!
My "go to" feeds are alfalfa, rice bran, and chaffhaye as far as just needing straight weight gain, no extra protein, etc. I also like rolled barley, and Super Sport protein supplement for horses that need a little more.
Beet pulp I've fed mainly to stretch my hay - they back off the hay a lot when they get the beet pulp. I've never had fabulous results feeding it for weight gain, and I've had horses get hot on it. I feed it as a pre-race boost. The one gelding that gets the full scoop won't touch alfalfa and has to have the chaffhaye mixed in to eat it, so the beet pulp was really the only easily accessible option to get a little more calcium into him.
Every horse is different.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Fairweather - 2016-02-17 7:35 PM
How many pounds is your horse?
Five of mine have done fine on 3 pounds of grains (one 3qt scoop) and they weigh 1,000-1250 pounds. That's with basic mix grass filler type hay (all they'll clean up) and 1/4 scoop of beet pulp/alfalfa cube mix.
Then I've got two that 3 pounds doesn't even remotely touch what they need. One gets 12+ pounds of oats & barley per day in addition to 5 pounds of top alfalfa and the same mix grass hay everyone else gets - he's 1300+ pounds. He also gets rice bran.
I also have a little 1130 pound horse that's a bottomless pit - but he is long bodied too & I've found them to be a lot tougher keepers on average anyhow. He gets 2 pounds of rice bran, 3 pounds of barley, 4 pounds of Total Equine, 1 scoop of chaffhaye, 1 scoop of beet pulp, and all the mix grass hay he'll clean up. He's half the size of my bigger horses but eats twice as much!
My "go to" feeds are alfalfa, rice bran, and chaffhaye as far as just needing straight weight gain, no extra protein, etc. I also like rolled barley, and Super Sport protein supplement for horses that need a little more.
Beet pulp I've fed mainly to stretch my hay - they back off the hay a lot when they get the beet pulp. I've never had fabulous results feeding it for weight gain, and I've had horses get hot on it. I feed it as a pre-race boost. The one gelding that gets the full scoop won't touch alfalfa and has to have the chaffhaye mixed in to eat it, so the beet pulp was really the only easily accessible option to get a little more calcium into him.
Every horse is different.
Thank you for the info.
This mare is my smallest, she weighs maybe 850lbs. Shes fed approximately 3lbs each ration and I misclarified above, this is each feeding. (So twice a day).
I agree with each horse being different, sounds like you do a good job of finding what each of yours needs. I have 3 that are easy keepers and would probably be fine on just hay but I grain them also.
Thanks again. |
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Sometimes it just takes some tweaking. I've got my usual that works most of the time, but then every now then I'll get one that needs something different. Especially for horses that are more finnicky or that have issues, I let their appetite tell me what's working & that's helped me more than anything. |
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Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | I am going to say add the alfalfa in for her again. I have an older gelding also on the smaller side that I just could not get any weight any weight on. He had good hay in front of him at all times and he just never gained weight. This year I picked up a couple of wagons of a good second cutting alfalfa mix hay and he gets that at night in his stall all he wants and when he is out with the others during the day he gets the very nice first cutting I have always fed. He now looks good. Not fat but has a nice roundness to him. No amount or type of grain made any difference. And I think I tried about all of them. He just needed a different type of hay. All of my other horses look fine on my original hay including my old mare that is older then him so its not really an age thing. There is just something he needed in the new hay. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 7:34 PM
Peewee212 - 2016-02-17 8:22 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 6:51 PM 3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition Do you realize the nutritional value in good hay? And I know a lot of guys who feed hay only. What do feed if you don't mind I ask? Yes she's in the hay feeder, no one's ganging up on her. She was with just 3 other horses until a week ago.
Yes Bibliafarm I realize she needs to put on weight and what im feeding is obviously not enough, that's the reason I posted the question in the first place, I was wanting to get ideas and info about what others use to put weight on a hard keeper in winter months, Ive had this horse since she was 3 months old, and she's pretty much been on the same diet besides the few years I had her in college and I fed a sweet feed along with oats, but for the last 6 years she's been eating hay and grain and has looked good along with all our others. So again thank you for stating the obvious. If your going to take the time and post that what Im feeding is not enough or does not have enough nutrients in it (somehow knowing my horses and hay better than me) you could at least post something helpful like what it is YOU feed to keep weight on a horse that seems to be a hard keeper compared to your others, I have yet to learn what it is you feed?
I will try just adding alfalfa for now and see how that goes before trying something else, spring will be here soon. Thanks for the posts gals, I appreciate the information. |
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Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | Peewee212 - 2016-02-18 1:29 PM
Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 7:34 PM
Peewee212 - 2016-02-17 8:22 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 6:51 PM 3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition Do you realize the nutritional value in good hay? And I know a lot of guys who feed hay only. What do feed if you don't mind I ask? Yes she's in the hay feeder, no one's ganging up on her. She was with just 3 other horses until a week ago.
Yes Bibliafarm I realize she needs to put on weight and what im feeding is obviously not enough, that's the reason I posted the question in the first place, I was wanting to get ideas and info about what others use to put weight on a hard keeper in winter months, Ive had this horse since she was 3 months old, and she's pretty much been on the same diet besides the few years I had her in college and I fed a sweet feed along with oats, but for the last 6 years she's been eating hay and grain and has looked good along with all our others. So again thank you for stating the obvious. If your going to take the time and post that what Im feeding is not enough or does not have enough nutrients in it (somehow knowing my horses and hay better than me ) you could at least post something helpful like what it is YOU feed to keep weight on a horse that seems to be a hard keeper compared to your others, I have yet to learn what it is you feed?
I will try just adding alfalfa for now and see how that goes before trying something else, spring will be here soon. Thanks for the posts gals, I appreciate the information.
Good lord grouchy much? I hope you have luck putting some more weight on your horse-you've had plenty of suggestions that should be beneficial. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Not grouchy, just being honestly blunt today. Then read LJ's devotion from yesterday about our words.....(both sides)
And thank you for your advice that was earlier posted, much more useful than being told what my diet isn't. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | I was suggesting to up her grain and add fat.. usually when we suggest to add a Multitude of things people get frazzled or dont want to spend the extra money so saying she was not getting enough calories was a reason she was thin.. some people do not realize that. and complain the horse is thin and dont know why.. also was not able to elaborate for I was in a hurry and knew others would help.. alfalfa or a grain that has more fat..would help.. |
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | I had a lot of luck switching to a whole foods diet and adding in Cur-Ost on my 24 year old. He didn't look bad before but now he is fat eek!
He gets 1lb oats, 1/2 flax, Alfalfa and grass hay, and then his Cur Ost
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Peewee212 - 2016-02-18 2:29 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 7:34 PM Peewee212 - 2016-02-17 8:22 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 6:51 PM 3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition Do you realize the nutritional value in good hay? And I know a lot of guys who feed hay only. What do feed if you don't mind I ask? Yes she's in the hay feeder, no one's ganging up on her. She was with just 3 other horses until a week ago. Yes Bibliafarm I realize she needs to put on weight and what im feeding is obviously not enough, that's the reason I posted the question in the first place, I was wanting to get ideas and info about what others use to put weight on a hard keeper in winter months, Ive had this horse since she was 3 months old, and she's pretty much been on the same diet besides the few years I had her in college and I fed a sweet feed along with oats, but for the last 6 years she's been eating hay and grain and has looked good along with all our others. So again thank you for stating the obvious. If your going to take the time and post that what Im feeding is not enough or does not have enough nutrients in it (somehow knowing my horses and hay better than me) you could at least post something helpful like what it is YOU feed to keep weight on a horse that seems to be a hard keeper compared to your others, I have yet to learn what it is you feed? I will try just adding alfalfa for now and see how that goes before trying something else, spring will be here soon. Thanks for the posts gals, I appreciate the information.
I do not feel my past posts were offensive , just stating you should increase calories |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | I'm having luck adding beet pulp and rice bran pellets to my hard keeper gelding. He has many allergies and I have trouble finding good sources of food for him. (allergic to oats and barley)
I am also treating for ulcers. Two weeks in and he's starting to look less ribby. |
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It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | Longneck - 2016-02-19 11:22 AM I'm having luck adding beet pulp and rice bran pellets to my hard keeper gelding. He has many allergies and I have trouble finding good sources of food for him. (allergic to oats and barley) I am also treating for ulcers. Two weeks in and he's starting to look less ribby.
My mare was also allergic to oats, and Alfalfa. Now that is what she eats, thanks to Cur Ost  |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 672
| I have a smaller gelding that is hard to keep weight on and one thing I noticed is he is a slow eater. He's had his teeth done and processes the feed fine, he's just pokey about everything including his eating.
My horses are out on pasture but I feed alfalfa + grass hay 2x a day + their grain at night. I noticed a difference once I started penning him separate for his grain and pm feeding, now he can take as long as he pleases and still gets the correct amount. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS | Bibliafarm - 2016-02-19 10:09 AM
Peewee212 - 2016-02-18 2:29 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 7:34 PM Peewee212 - 2016-02-17 8:22 PM Bibliafarm - 2016-02-17 6:51 PM 3 lbs a day is Not enough calories..nor nutrition Do you realize the nutritional value in good hay? And I know a lot of guys who feed hay only. What do feed if you don't mind I ask? Yes she's in the hay feeder, no one's ganging up on her. She was with just 3 other horses until a week ago. Yes Bibliafarm I realize she needs to put on weight and what im feeding is obviously not enough, that's the reason I posted the question in the first place, I was wanting to get ideas and info about what others use to put weight on a hard keeper in winter months, Ive had this horse since she was 3 months old, and she's pretty much been on the same diet besides the few years I had her in college and I fed a sweet feed along with oats, but for the last 6 years she's been eating hay and grain and has looked good along with all our others. So again thank you for stating the obvious. If your going to take the time and post that what Im feeding is not enough or does not have enough nutrients in it (somehow knowing my horses and hay better than me) you could at least post something helpful like what it is YOU feed to keep weight on a horse that seems to be a hard keeper compared to your others, I have yet to learn what it is you feed? I will try just adding alfalfa for now and see how that goes before trying something else, spring will be here soon. Thanks for the posts gals, I appreciate the information.
An I guess I shouldn't have taken offense to it, it was more that fact you took the time to post several times and I was getting from you that her diet has a lack of nutritional value and quantity and that was it.
I agree with you on adding calories, was just wanting ideas on how others add calories, fat, protein when one of their's starts to go down hill or look thin this time if year. My apologies. I was wanting to try something more than just adding more lbs of grain and from what I learned everyone seems to be feeding a different amount of grain depending on the rest of their diet and the horse, alfalfa will be the easiest for me to add right now because we have it, if I feel like that's not cutting it I will try adding something to her grain, have had lots of suggestions on what I could try and that is what I came here for. Thank you.
Right now to me she's not LOOKING bad thin-wise (but her winter coat is probably helping with that), she just feels thin to me, and she seems to be loosing her topline.
None of them are getting rode right now, I'm expecting and was told I shouldnt risk riding, so I feel like they all should be looking fat and happy since they on the lazy side these days.
Im not convinced beet pulp will help her, I could be wrong, but feel like the hay should be covering what it does. Im not familiar with CurOst, is this a pellet or powder added to grain?
Thanks again. gals.
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Experienced Mouse Trapper
Posts: 3106
Location: North Dakota | What a gracious and mature response! Congrats on the baby! Info about Curost:
https://www.secondvet.com/
I think you're on the right track with adding the alfalfa. If she still doesn;t come around after a couple weeks-maybe she should be given a little more of the grain you're feeding now. Sometimes things change, I've learned a long time ago with the picky brat I have that he definitely doesn't fit into the same mold as everyone else-my hubby calls it the "prince" syndrome Scooter eats like a prince and everyone else is a pauper! He doesn't eat as well as the others for whatever reason so I buy him "special" stuff to get him to eat enough to keep him healthy. It's a pain but it's working. Maybe you're mare has hit the princess stage. 
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 312
Location: KS |
Thank you Lana!
This mare has always had my heart, so she is my princess, guess I haven't had to go as far as feeding her like one....
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 Expert
Posts: 1261
| I think it's going to be different for every horse honestly different biology different results. I have a very hard keeper and I switched her over to LMF super supplement about a year and half ago. I use it as a ration balancer and my horses get 1# a day that provides all the vitamins and minerals they need but it's only 5% fat so I add rice bran pellets (about 120z), and about a lb of alf pellets, as well as two ounces of chia. She gets free choice grass hay and is also on pasture and she looks better than she ever has in the 6 years I have owned her.
I just picked up a new horse that is under weight and I am going to be starting her on the same plus Forco and seeing how it goes. I tried everything with my hard keeper for years before finding this that seems to work for her. |
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