ideas for weight gain in older horse?
I have a 20 year old QH gelding and and a 6 year old Mustang mare they are both hard keepers, we have tried alot of things but nothing seems to be working very well. My other horses are doing fine. they are all healthy, on a rotation worming schedule etc. i would like some opinions on what really works and what doesnt work well. I feed straight compressed Alfalfa hay, and a seminole spillers feed. A few things i have tried is Ultra Bloom by seminole, it didnt really do anything. i have tried corn oil, it hasnt made a difference either and they get soaked beet pulp as well. i want them to get fatter before it gets colder, please any suggestions.
they get alfalfa hay all year and they are getting Spillers Meadow Herb Senior. and its not just my 20 yr old, its my 6 year old mare too, they are just hard keepers.
I have no idea what seminole spillers is… but if it is a 14% or so pellet, then it’s probably an OK feed. You can put them on senior (even though the mare is only 6) because senior is designed to be more digestible, so older horses that tend to have less fauna in their instentines can break the food down and get the nutrition they need. In a younger horse, it can help to gain extra weight because they are utilizing more of their feed.
You might want to look into switching off the alfalfa feed for a while and go to a nice timothy grass. Alflalfa hay is full of energy, and it can actually increase their metabolism, which will cause them to burn more calories (and be more high strung), than just a regular hay, so they might be burning off what you’re feeding them.
The beet pulp is a good choice, and you can use it with corn oil or wheat germ oil for weight gain. (Feed about 2-4 oz a day)
Rice bran, or “Empower” (a pelleted rice-bran feed) is a great thing for weight gain that you can use, too.
Calf Manna by Manna Pro is a 32% protein pellet for cows, and is used in horses in very small daily portions for weight gain. ( I think 1-2 oz. a day)
The best thing I recommend, that I’ve had the most success with is Weight Builder by Farnam. It’s wonderful stuff and packs weight on. I recently started my 23 yr old on it because he was getting thin. I wanted him to be fatter for winter. He was on it for 3 weeks and his ribs are now covered.
You can also try, since you deworm regularly, and everything else is in check (hopefully their teeth are), putting them both on a daily general vitamin for overall improved health. For this I recommend Source. It comes in a powder or pellet, and is very tasty and they will eat it up just fine.
A combination of things along these lines will help put weight on. Expect to change their weight slowly over 30 -60 days.
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