I've never had a hard keeper before lol. But my ottb was very skinny when I adopted him two months ago, and has gained some weight but since it has gotten cold out in the last couple weeks, he seems to be losing a bit of weight again. He just finished up a round of Ulcerguard but despite showing ulcer symptoms he has always been a really good eater. Right now he is on 1lb Renew Gold, about 2lbs alfalfa/timothy pellets, a few handfuls of chopped alfalfa, bioflax 20, and a couple other supplements. And pretty much unlimited hay. He doesn't do well on grain, it makes him a little nutty (especially since he has a torn tendon and is on stall rest). I know I could up the RG but it is so expensive I am wondering if regular rice bran would get the job done and save me some $$$. Or something else. I don't know. This is a whole new territory for me lol. 

Purina Equine Senior............I'm sure you can feed it to any age.  It helps to mix in some sweet feed of good quality because it flavors it up for them.

Have you had his teeth done since you got him??

I second the teeth question, that would be my first idea. And not checked/done by a vet who just took a 2 hour class in school. Get a well educated equine dentist, you wouldn't believe what mine has found that my regualr vet didn't even notice while floating. A round of Ulcer-Guard can also cause them to come back when you quit giving it. Rebound effect, it happens a lot. You have to continue to buffer their stomach after use. I ended up in that vicious cycle with mine for years because I had no idea. I would just try upping the Renew Gold to maybe 1.5lbs and see how it goes. See if there's something you could eliminate for now as far as the supplements. Good nutrition should eliminate the need for the BioFlax20, its kind of like BioMane, just a fluffer. All stuff they can get in their food without it.

I would stay away from any type of grain with molasses or corn in it, that's kind of asking for the ulcers to come back. Especially stuck in a stall & can make some hot. Give mine a handful of senior feed and they go bat **** crazy even when they're not in stall and its a 95 degree day. I used to feed them the ProForce Fuel at not even 1/4 of a 3qt scoop & they lost their **** minds for months until I took them off & then they went back to being bomb proof kid safe horses. Chances are when he was on the track he was getting pumped with sugary feeds, the one's I've been around on the track eat about 12-15lbs of sweet feed a day. That's how you fuel them to run several miles a day. So it's possible his body is just used to a crap ton of feed, but they all seem to adjust after some time. Many have gone through transitions where they lose weight & take some time to adjust. And some never do look fat & happy, TB's arent really meant to be fat. They're built to be lean and a little ribby most of the time. I've had a lot of people come back and ask if the horse is sick or something. I just tell them to let them adjust for awhile, they always end up fine after a couple months.

I've got an appendix that takes after the TB side more, she could eat a dump truck of feed daily & never gain weight. But she maintains on not much at all. She'll never look like a QH, she's long, ribs slightly showing, with legs for days & a triangle shaped ass. Thats just how she is & how she'll always be. Yours might just be the same way. And depending on how cold it is where you are, you could consider blanketing to conserve calories. Its 55-60 daytime and 30-40 nighttime here & mine all have sheets on at this point. 

I agree about teeth, if they have already been done I would look into a good senior feed, how old is this horse? I would skip all those supplements and look into Bluebonnet feeds, Intensify senior Therapy or Horsemans Elite senior care is a really good feed and then I would add Forco. 

I feed my hard keeper Equine Senior, alfalfa pellets, and soaked beet pulp. I've also heard calf manna is good for putting weight on one but I've never tried it myself. 

The Active has more fat, and we've been very happy with it since switching from the regular Sr.   I had Dan on it (39) and also my 24 year old and hard keeper 15 year old.  

He has a dentist appointment at the end of the month (they only travel to my area a couple times a year, and I prefer them over just having the vet do it). He's 10 years old. He's a real quiet good boy but went crazy when I gave him TC senior when I first got him. I try to avoid giving anything with soy, corn, wheat, molasses, etc. I am waiting on a supplement to come in the mail for ongoing ulcer maintenance. I don't want to get him fat but he's definitely too thin still and has very little muscle. 

You mentioned free choice hay. What kind of hay is it. I suspect that you will find a teeth issue. Once done, your diet may well prove to be fine. You could consider adding an additional half pound of Renew Gold for a month or so to bump his weight up to where you want it, then back that back down once he is there. Another option would be to increase the alfalfa source by two pounds per day. 

I've dealt with several hard keepers during my years with horses.  First, get their teeth checked/done.  Next, I deworm.  Once I had a gelding I had to deworm every two weeks for 8 weeks to get him cleaned out.  The Nutrena Perform is 9% fat and I've found it to be really good feed.  I allow free choice bermuda hay and mix some timothy into it.  And good pasture -- out 24/7.  The hard keepers I've dealt with have been off the track and it has typically taken six months to a year for them to completely settle in as a 'regular' horse and find their personal routine.  They spent a lot of time walking and looking during the first three to six months instead of grazing and eating hay.  I think it's a mental thing -- just takes time for them to wind down from being at the track and wind down from being on that strict routine that never allowed them to make any choices of their own. Be patient. I've also found Ulc-R-Aid to be helpful.  

I just looked that up and don't think they handle this at our feed store, which is in fact Tractor Supply (doesn't sound quite right does it).  If it could keep a 39-year-old happy, then it's good stuff.   If our 26-year-old lives to be 39 he will probably outlive me so he better not. 

Out OTTB is a tough keeper, he gets buckeye Senior, hemp protien fiber and hemp oil. He gets feet and joint supplement as well but that's not for weight.

He gets worked nearly daily and is looking fantastic going into winter. Hes been chilling since his track days but my daughter needed a stem up English horse so we have been turning him into that.

Ditto, this is my go-to for horses that need to gain weight or are hard keepers. My 32 year old gets about 5-6 pounds of senior feed with soaked aflalfa cubes in the morning and evening, but I add a pound of Renew Gold to the evening feeding.

Oh, he's also on free-choice hay, but has a hard time with chewing it, so that's where the soaked alfalfa cubes really help.

Mine can still handle brome hay and has lots of pasture but he is slobbering his feed so time for a dental check to see if that helps.  As my vet told me "you can't make them younger" so you do what you can.  Lordy, it's expensive feeding old critters.

It's very expensive to feed older horses. We have a stud that's 21. Year before last in late summer he got thin. We kept  him in the barn all winter fed him alfalfa hay & tried different brands of senior feed nothing seemed to help him. We put him with 4 mares this spring in hopes of getting one more foal crop by him. We had lots of grass this year & he did better on it than he had done on the grain & alfalfa. I started feeding him Omaleen 200 every day ( my thought was it's little pieces that maybe he can eat. ) He started gaining weight now that it's fall we have him up and we're feeding him Omaleen 200 & bagged chopped hay. He can't eat regular it has to be chopped. He is eating 2 bags a week at $16 - $17 a bag. But he is in really good shape now. We should be able to get at least one more foal crop by him next year & even if he doesn't bred he has paid for his self 10 fold. You jusy have to keep trying things until you find waht works best for your horse. Mineral licks are good to. If your feeding something they eat in about an hour they need something to entertain them though the day. Mineral tubs will do that plus give them extra minerals they need  

What kind of bagged chopped hay to you get?

That's what I mix with Equine Senior for our old TB.  One gallon can of Senior mixed with the same amount of Omolene 200 twice a day.  He loves it.  I thought the Equine Senior would be enough but he and another old horse were not happy with the taste......adding the Omolene 200 solved that problem.  We give $18 for the 200 and $21 for the Equine Senior per bag. 

I have used Standlee brand in the past. We have also purchased a leaf mulcher from Home Depot & just ran our own hay through it & it does the same thing. Just store in garbage bags. I want to say the mulcher was like $120, and eventually paid for itself in what we were saving from having to buy chopped hay. Yeah it's a little more time consuming, but saves a lot in the long run. I have one now I'm thinking about starting it back up, we haven't had to do it in over a year. 

My go to's for hard keepers are ulc-r-aid, comega supreme oil and alfalfa pellets. All are pretty inexpensive.

We can't get it at our TSC either.   Have the Sr but not Active.  We have to get it from feed store that's almost a 4 hour round trip.  They were special ordering it for us until they accidentally sold a couple of our bags to another customer.  They loved it so now store is keeping some in stock.   And totally agree with y'all about the cost--I would hate for anyone (including myself!!!) to know how much I've spent on horse feed over the years.

If I had known about BHW when I first got Dan, I'm sure my feeding regimen would be different.  I would have had a wealth of information to access because there are so many smart, helpful folks on here.  But I just researched and did the best I could on my own for my old guy. . . Doodlebug was a happy boy, and I hope you get at least 13 more years with yours.  

I'm guessing my old guy is around 18-20 yrs young. We bought him a few months ago for my daughter to learn to rope on him. He also runs a nice set of barrels and is a pretty awesome pole horse! Hes super fun and gentle. He came to us kinda weak in the topline and just meh.... I've switched my barn over to purina. He gets roughly 5lbs of purina sr active a day, plus outlast and I'm half way thru a 5lb bucket of this supplement called Tri Amino by ukele, I wanted topline support without a bunch of added fillers and the Tri Amino fits the bill. I'm super happy with how they are looking. He eats unlimited coastal hay in a slow feed net in his stall when hes not turned out on the pasture. I also feed him Bute Less daily and I've got to say hes barely even stiff anymore even when stalled overnight. I never thought an OTC joint supplement would do what it says but I'm pretty impressed by this stuff!

I wanted to add that all 3 of my tractor supply stores carry the Sr. Active, I dont typically buy from them but if I was in a pinch, i could get it there. They are almost $2 higher a bag than my purina store. Our newest TSC also carrys amplify and outlast too. In fact this new store carrys a lot of things I've never seen in a tsc. Including DAC products and also a few Silver Lining Herbs products. 

Completely off topic comment on my part but ohhhhh. He is

Awww thank you! We call him "Chuy" we absolutely adore him! I stumbled on him on Facebook of all places. He was in Missouri, we live in Texas. I watched videos of a little girl roping on him and we hooked up and made the trip! Hubby roped on him first and then we put our daughter on him and he went right into the box and she scored on him, he was 100% perfect. Then she wanted to try to come out of the box on him after a steer. She was so nervous, her hands were shaking lol! He took total care of her he didn't  budge a muscle until she asked him to go and he just loped nice n slow up to the steer. He goes hard or soft as you need. We handed over the cash right after that lol! Hubby still heels on him and he loves it, hes super nice on the heel side. I love his unique markings myself! Hes got what looks like a smeared cross on his neck. Hes just an overall cutie pie! The gentleman we bought him from said he was a bit of a hard keeper and he fed him about 10lbs of grain a day, he was feeding nutrena. Said that was the only feed he had luck with keeping the weight on him. I was prepared to have to pour the grain to him but hes doing really well on the sr active. I think our hay was a lot better too.

First get his teeth done then have your vet check for ulcers!  Nothing will make a horse loose weight faster that a horse ate up with ulcers and ottb are known for it.  Then make sure you are feeding a good quality feed, then add a cup of rice bran oil or corn oil or wheat germ oil to his feed everyday.  That puts on "cool calories"  Make sure you feed plenty of good forage.  Alfalfa and coastal.  

Once you are certain there is nothing going on with teeth, worms, or ulcers...

I have had fantastic luck adding Calf Manna pellets to my hard keepers feed, one is 30 (was always a hard keeper even as a young guy) and the other is 3. They love the taste of it, dont get hot off of it, and it's very economical. Alfalfa pellets, rice bran, beet pulp, and canola oil are also good things to try. They're all different just like we are and what works for one may not work for the other. I typically give it a solid 60 days of trying something and make sure to take before and after pictures to see progress. Good luck! 

I have a 5 yr old that is a hard keeper too and Purina Equine Senior Active solved that problem for me too.

I like adding in more Amplify for a hard keeper. Purina SR has it in it already but for a hard keeper, I like a 1/2 LB AM and PM to put weight on. My mom's big gelding gets 1 LB AM and PM with his scoop and a half of Senior.