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| ive been watching atlot of videos and researching gaining weight and just feeding your horse in general. and im just confused about how to feed and if im feeding to much or not enough or if i need to change feeds or what i need to do. im not super rich but i can afford nice things for my horses. so i feed 2 scoops of the ProForce Fiber, which is 12% protein and 13% fat. morning and night. with 2 scoops of empower boost (Red Solo Cups as scoops) which is 12% protein 22% fat. they also get 1 flake of timothy/Alfalfa hay morning and night, and if i cant feed the T/A i feed 2 flakes of costal hay morning and night. I dont have much grass, if any at all. so what i feed is what they get. i have a colt that looks very good if not almost fat. but i just bought a underweight horse and ive only had him for 3 weeks and i just havent seen any change in his coat and skin and weight. He is going to be my main horse when hes get looking better, but i want him to be slick and fat. and ive heard from pervious owners that he blows up in the summer time. any advice?? |
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 Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
  
Location: Minnesota | They need more hay. A flake or two in the AM and PM is not enough. If you don't have grass for them to graze on, get them a round bale. |
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| but my other horses are getting fed the same and are fat! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 477
Location: Lost in the swamps | Has he been dewomed? Teeth checked?
aside from that I have taken in or helped with a few neglected horses, some only needed 50 or so some were so imaciated they were walking skeletons! It takes time, and take your time you can do more harm than good by over feeding, you won't see drastic changes in three weeks, you might see his belly getting bigger, but top lines take time and exercise to put that back and hip fat on them, the less neglected ones took about three months, the skeleton almost 9 months. also started them on l lysine supplement, it's an amino acid that helps their bodies absorb the proteins they are ingesting. Definitely pleanty of hay! You seem like your on the right track, it will just take a little more time. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 683
Location: Ohio | I agree he needs free choice forage. A few flakes am and pm is not enough. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 158
| I am feeding 11 horses right now, and almost all are eating different amounts, I have a 14.1 hh horse that needs to eat more than my 16.2 guy!!! like the previous posts said, up the hay. that is where you will make the difference. I just bought a big 16h strawfly special / TB gelding that needs to gain probably 75 pounds, I threw him 3 huge flakes of grass hay with his grain and came back a few hours later to not find a scrap! He may very well eat almost a whole bale lol! Where as others can munch on two flakes all the way till dinner. |
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Underestimated Underdog
Posts: 3971
Location: Minnesota | Barrelhorsehelp1 - 2014-04-17 3:47 PM
but my other horses are getting fed the same and are fat!
Like the others have said, every horse is different. So many things can determine how much a horse needs to eat compared to another. I have 3 horses and they are all roughly the same size. They all eat different amounts, its just how they are but all of them get to graze on a round bale in the cold months and pasture in the warm months. Horses need to be grazing almost all the time, its what they do. If some of your horses are getting fat, back off the grain but IMO hay/pasture is much more important and having access to it in one form or another at all times is what is best.
My one gelding is a very easy keeper, if I notice him getting a little thick I back off the grain not hay.
Hope this helps. Good luck. |
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| okay! thank you! all this has been VERY helpful. hes a very nice horse and i want him to look and feel nice also. im going to start adding more hay to his diet. and less to my other fillies diets. today i felt like i seen a very differnce change in his appearance! his belly and chest are looking nice its just his top line, hip and butt that need more weight. but thanks everyone! this has all helped so much!!! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 443
Location: Southern IL somewhere between KY and MO | Black oil sunflower seeds 1 cup AM and PM it put tons of weight of my under weight horse this winter now he is fat slick and sassy. |
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Expert
Posts: 3514
| Have you thought about trying Renew Gold? Feed 1 1/2 lbs a day and I give 1lb a day of oats. Timothy Hay and Alfalfa. Plus a good vitamin mineral. |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | The only time I've had good luck with getting weight off of hay is if it's extremely good quality alfalfa hay. I've not had any luck even feeding a whole lot of grass hay.
I've had the best luck with weight by adding soaked alfalfa cubes to their hay. Usually a scoop a day gets big results for me. |
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Veteran
Posts: 158
| I second renew gold, its a great product! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 383
| I pm you with some info
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
Location: Sperry, OK | Barrelhorsehelp1 - 2014-04-17 7:05 PM okay! thank you! all this has been VERY helpful. hes a very nice horse and i want him to look and feel nice also. im going to start adding more hay to his diet. and less to my other fillies diets. today i felt like i seen a very differnce change in his appearance! his belly and chest are looking nice its just his top line, hip and butt that need more weight. but thanks everyone! this has all helped so much!!!
Horses digestive systems are made to have constant forage pass through them. That is what keeps them working properly and how they generate heat in winter, cool themselves in the summer, and get energy for activity. If you are going to decrease anything, decrease the grain and up the hay. Please do not decrease the hay to your fillies. I would up all they hay and cut back on grain. If they start losing weight, add back in some grain until you have the right mix, but do not decrease the hay. You don't have any grass and they NEED to be able to "graze"! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 581
Location: Fort Collins, CO | he needs more hay.
but also get his teeth checked and deworm him. Give that boy more forage, preferably hay, not just a grain with a high fiber and fat content. You're probably feeding enough fat so up that forage. It will take time, but you'll get there. |
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| okay. i started feed the alfalfa cubes he gets two scoops of that morning and night, and i cut back his feed to 1 and a half scoop with 1 cup of empower morning and night. and he gets 4 flakes morning and night? sound better everyone?? i'll have a round bale out there before next weekend. but sense hes going to be getting free choice hay along with my other horses should i keep his feed the same? or up it again?? ive been feed my other filles now, 1 scoop of feed 1 scoop of empower morning and night and 1 scoop of alfaifa cubes in the morning. i am going to post pictues of him the day i got him and now in just a sec when they come to my email. |
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| this rash just started showing up in the last couple of days? what is it? and how do i get rid of it? could it be the change in hay and feed? i attached a pic below
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 Expert of all Expert...
Location: Arizona | Do you weigh your feed? Flakes can vary from bale to bale, material to material and region to region. A flake of alfalfa from a 2 strand, 50lb bale won't weigh the same as a flake of alfalfa from a 3 strand, 100lb bale. A flake of alfalfa from a 2 strand, 50lb bale won't weigh the same as a flake of bermuda or timothy from a 2 strand, 50lb bale. You also need to weigh your pelleted or mixed feed. In general, a horse will need 1-2% of their body weight in feed/day, split across 2 or more feedings.
If you have a hard keeper, you'll need to be at the top end of that range, or consider feeding more nutrient or fiber dense feeds. If he's fed with other horses, you may want to consider segregating him for part of feeding time to ensure he's getting his share.
Edited by roan critter 2014-04-19 10:41 AM
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | I would cut out the empower boost, your feed is already high enough in fat, quit feeding the empower and feed more of your pro force. I would also add alfalfa, hay, cube or pellets doesn't matter, you just need the protien and forage. |
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