|
|
  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.
|
|
| |
|
 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. |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
 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. |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
 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. |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
 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.. |
|
| |
|
 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
 (12509616_965943420109080_8280669833532166277_n.jpg)
Attachments
----------------
 12509616_965943420109080_8280669833532166277_n.jpg (38KB - 179 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
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 |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
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  |
|
| |
|
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. |
|
| |
|
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.
|
|
| |
|
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. 
|
|
| |
|
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....
|
|
| |
|
 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. |
|
| |
Folks on-line