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 Expert
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Location: Somewhere around here | Now that my horse and I are working as a team and going to more jackpots I noticed that he's not keeping his weight on very well. At home he gets basically as much grass hay as he wants and recently we started giving him a small flake of alfalfa morning and night, but we are taking him off of it since it seems to have just made him hotter.
Feed or grain wise, what do you recommend is the best for keeping weight on a horse without making them hot? |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Stabilized rice bran or Renew Gold |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| GLP - 2017-06-13 7:00 AM Stabilized rice bran or Renew Gold
This ^ and I would take him off grain and keep the alfalfa. What type of feed is he on? What is probably happening is the alfalfa slows the gut down so the grain is digesting more so it is getting better absorbed resulting in the extra energy. My horses get renew gold and alfalfa and are not hot at all. I just took a lesson on one that has. Even stalled st the trainers for 2 months, he gets all the alfalfa he wants and RG. He was as cool and calm as can be plus he looks great. Per my vet, alfalfa and pasture is a great feed program. |
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Addicted to Baseball
Location: Where the stars at night are big and bright, TX | We always go with a quality Sr. feed like Purina or Triple Crown for our hard keepers or those who have to gain weight (many of ours are OTT). Neither of these feeds have failed us in putting weight on a horse. Purina is very easy to chew and digest. I have a new jumper prospect, huge horse. Was thin when we got him, a month on PES and he's being backed off to just a scoop (2 lbs.?) AM and PM and still leaning towards chubby now. We also only feed alfafa, which helps too. I've had 2 on Renew Gold (he came having been on RG for over a year) and wasn'tI impressed with their weight or coat condition. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 534
Location: Ohio girl moved to PA | Tribute Kalm n EZ. It has all my easy keepers looking amazing and i've never had it make any of mine hot. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 690
Location: Georgia | He will calm down on the alfalfa after he gets used to it. Mine went through the same thing |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| mandita8907 - 2017-06-13 8:04 AM
He will calm down on the alfalfa after he gets used to it. Mine went through the same thing
I am glad you mentioned this. Sometimes if I have to change a supplement on a horse they will get a higher for a couple of weeks, but my chiropractor told me if I felt they needed the supplement to stick with it for a couple weeks because they may be adjusting to feeling better. I know after I have had my sinus surgeries, I always have mad energy. My doctor told me it was because I felt healthy, that it had just been that long since I felt good. After a week or two I settle down but still feel good. |
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 ...Dot Dot Dot...
Posts: 2064
Location: SW New Mexico | Free choice hay... alfalfa/grass, or whatever?is the Best quality.. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | When a horse gets hotter when alfalfa is added to the diet it is usually because the grass hay portion of the diet is now being better digested. Sounds strange, but alfalfa slows the hind gut. Grass hay is faster through the system and slowing it down allows more complete digestion. Many people don't realize that some grass has are significantly higher in starch and sugars than alfalfa hay is. When this is more completely digested, there can be blood sugar spikes that the horse is not accustomed to. Higher protein in alfalfa is not what makes a horse hot, but improved digestion of whatever else is in the diet may. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| winwillows - 2017-06-13 11:23 AM
When a horse gets hotter when alfalfa is added to the diet it is usually because the grass hay portion of the diet is now being better digested. Sounds strange, but alfalfa slows the hind gut. Grass hay is faster through the system and slowing it down allows more complete digestion. Many people don't realize that some grass has are significantly higher in starch and sugars than alfalfa hay is. When this is more completely digested, there can be blood sugar spikes that the horse is not accustomed to. Higher protein in alfalfa is not what makes a horse hot, but improved digestion of whatever else is in the diet may.
That was a great explanation, thank you. That makes perfect sense. |
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Veteran
Posts: 268
| I've had my hard keeper on Renew Gold for a little over 30 days and am already SO impressed with the results. He's putting pounds back on even though he still gets worked 4-5 times a week, his coat is like a mirror, he's running harder, and best of all he's stayed his easy going, quiet self. He gets 3-4 flakes of grass/timothy mix, 2-3 hours of pasture time, and 1.5 lb of Renew Gold with his Muscle Mass a day. |
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Expert
Posts: 1631
Location: Somewhere around here | Thanks everyone for the reply's! Just clarifying, this horse is not on any grain right now. I've used rice bran in the past but that was mainly on older horses that had a few teeth missing or just hard to keep healthy. I have heard of Renew Gold doing good things before but I was curious about other options. For those of your wondering about the grass he's eating, it's a type that we had grown and sold on our farm last year. Sadly the name of it is slipping my mind  I'll mention the alfalfa idea to my husband. Maybe we'll keep him on it a few weeks longer. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | When were his teeth last done. On a mostly grass hay diet this is very important for the reasons stated above. Fast through the hind gut, and harder to break down means grass hays need to be chewed as much as possible. This only gets done if his mouth does not hurt. |
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