Favorite diets for hard keepers

[critterseverywhere]

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?

[pdevlieg]

I hugely agree on the free choice hay! With Prada, she is the slowest eater around...she had trouble keeping her weight on at Clayton's and it's because she simply doesn't live on the two meals a day program. Even with her grain, she nibbles and makes it last (maybe that's the secret to a svelte figure!).

My horses don't like the oil on their grain, but I am having good success using Cool Calories, which is basically dehydrated oil. I like to add the flax seed too, it does wonders for shiny coats, healthy skin and strong hooves.

[funnyfarm]

CE, we are using veggie oil, ultium, weight gain, whole oats and free feed local for Rutger and Gabby with really great success. We need to keep the alfalfa and sugar down to a minimum due to their founder issues. My feed store has a brand of senior horse that isn't sticky with molasses. The mill is Conway feeds, a local mill (in Conway, Washington) north of Seattle. This feed is great, it is dry!!! It does cost a little bit more ($12.95 at Old Getchell road feed store), but it is worth it and we don't have to worry about excessive sugar content. Gabby is in great weight, one of those rare woolly TBs (and no coat!). Rutger is gaining a lot more slowly, is somewhat woolly and is coated due to his weight. His feet are in worse shape than Gabby's so we expected this.

[mbalsack]

I had a 17+h TB who was really a hard keeper and the more grain he got the higher he got. I put him on beet pulp and he turned into a porker and calmed down to where I was teaching beginners and showing in lower level dressage. Just make sure you soak it for several hours. I feed it to my drafts too.

[lildunhorse]

Hi, Mary!! Thanks for popping in! ;D

[cardicorgi]

Thanks for posting that PEC!