Post by critterseverywhere on Feb 2, 2006 17:38:22 GMT -5
There are so many different tricks out there for getting (or keeping) weight on hard-keepers. I thought now would be a good time for us all to share some of our favorites.
-Free choice hay. Yeah, I know, it's obvious. But it seems like so many places don't do this anymore. But aside from the calories & that a horse's system was designed to always have food in it, it also seems to help calm nervous horses (hey, eating makes ME calmer ;D ), it can prevent ulcers, and can encourage horses to stand in their shelter out of the chilling (and calorie-burning!) wind & rain.
-Alfalfa. In my experience, many TBs seem to need a bit more protein but get a little wound on the simple carbs & sugars found in grain. A flake (or more) of alfalfa even just once a day can make all the difference in the world.
-Oil. I used to always feed corn oil to hard keepers (as much as 1 cup twice a day!), but have discovered that regular vegetable oil seems to be pretty much interchangable. It's not as traditional, but seems to work just fine & I haven't had any problems with it.
Soaked flax seed & Beet Pulp. I like to soak these two together. Soaking is a total pain in the neck so if I'm going to do it, I want more bang for my buck. Both these are really digestable & make for a healthier coat & skin while adding weight. Warning: to neutralize the alkloids in the flax seed, horses use selenium. If you're over about 3 oz of whole flax seed per day then you'll need to provide a bit of extra selenium
Soybean meal. Just one cup a day of this adds a ton of fat AND protein to the diet without throwing of your mineral balance. When I need to up both my protein & fat, I prefer to use this to alfalfa & oil since oil can be messy & good alfalfa can be hard to get around here.
Of course, Ultium and Equine Senior are givens!
Who else has some?
-Free choice hay. Yeah, I know, it's obvious. But it seems like so many places don't do this anymore. But aside from the calories & that a horse's system was designed to always have food in it, it also seems to help calm nervous horses (hey, eating makes ME calmer ;D ), it can prevent ulcers, and can encourage horses to stand in their shelter out of the chilling (and calorie-burning!) wind & rain.
-Alfalfa. In my experience, many TBs seem to need a bit more protein but get a little wound on the simple carbs & sugars found in grain. A flake (or more) of alfalfa even just once a day can make all the difference in the world.
-Oil. I used to always feed corn oil to hard keepers (as much as 1 cup twice a day!), but have discovered that regular vegetable oil seems to be pretty much interchangable. It's not as traditional, but seems to work just fine & I haven't had any problems with it.
Soaked flax seed & Beet Pulp. I like to soak these two together. Soaking is a total pain in the neck so if I'm going to do it, I want more bang for my buck. Both these are really digestable & make for a healthier coat & skin while adding weight. Warning: to neutralize the alkloids in the flax seed, horses use selenium. If you're over about 3 oz of whole flax seed per day then you'll need to provide a bit of extra selenium
Soybean meal. Just one cup a day of this adds a ton of fat AND protein to the diet without throwing of your mineral balance. When I need to up both my protein & fat, I prefer to use this to alfalfa & oil since oil can be messy & good alfalfa can be hard to get around here.
Of course, Ultium and Equine Senior are givens!
Who else has some?