I have had one of our horses to the vet for his weight once already (in Janurary). He did need his teeth done and she removed foxtails from his mouth and tounge. The vet stated that hay this year may look good but is testing bad. The vet felt he was lacking in protien, switched feed to Strategy, added alfalfa pellets and a protien supplement. He has gained some but is still too thin trough his top line. I have also done a powerpak on him and my mare (she is too thin to me also). I have a message into the vet and I will be making an appointment to get them checked out again. Should I ask for blood work to be done or is Strategy not a good feed? They also have hay 24/7 and grass is trying to come up now. They are always turned out until feed time and then they are seperated so no one steals from another.

Thanks for any advise.

Rather than strategy i would switch to a high fat senior feed. Triple Crown senior will put the pounds on one like no other if you can get it. 

I agree with Flit, switch to a feed higher in calories (fat and protein), but I also think bloodwork would be the next step, like you thought. How old are the horses? I would test for Cushing’s as well, as they’ve even seen it in some horses as young as 7. I think you’re off to a great start, but remember that it takes a lot longer to build back good muscle than it does to lose it. The horses might also need some specific exercises to help build that topline back up.

ETA: I would be less inclined to think Cushing’s if it was two horses looking thin, but it’s always good to rule things out.

I don’t like Strategy but regardless of other opinions, it is not getting the job done for your horse so I would switch to something else.  I don’t feed a grain, just renew gold and alfalfa but Bluebonnet makes a great high fat feed, limited ingredients so you are not getting a lot of junk they don’t need.  

Most horses don't get enough protein that are getting used everyday. That is why I have my own feed made up.  I have my feeding program set up so my horses are getting a half a pound of Bean meal a day and only about 2 lbs of grain.

We have an appointment with the vet next week and I will have her do bloodwork. It's only been about 2 months since we changed everything up so maybe I am expecting too much change to happen too quickly. Before I moved he barley got any grain at all and was FAT FAT so I thought maybe he was just stressed from the move. I will look into everyones suggestions and talk to my vet and hopefully we will have him back were he was soon.

Thanks again!!

I go to 3 different vets, I have a local & 2 specialist places I go. Both say healthy gain for a horse is around 5lbs a week. So it would essentially take a month to put just 20lbs on. That's how they recommend it so that you're building muscle and not just adding fat weight. Strength training will help fill them out as well, assuming they're getting enough protein now. Weight loss after a move can also be an ulcer indicator. Alfalfa pellets youa dded would have helped to buffer them enough to heal slowly on their own assuming there's no other stress in their life. I'd rule that out as well. But I do think you're on the right track following up with the vet and maybe a grain change