Horse won't gain weight?

We have got a two and a half year old buckskin that is broke and gets ridden daily, is used by my son as a cutting and barrel horse. The problem is he is not gaining weight. He has a nice barrel for his size but you can see his ribs. He is fed a 12% sweet feed mixture ( 1 1/2 big coffee cans twice a day), has access to a 16% high energy protien block, has round bales of alfalfa/grass hay mix and is on pasture when not being ridden. He has been wormed and had teeth checked by the vet, now we are at a loss and haven't a clue what else to try. The vet says he is healthy but he just looks bad to us anyone else have any ideals?

Horse won't gain weight?
Try Strategy feed by Purina. Also, you can buy weight gain products. Have you "sanded" him? Horses can pick up sand when eating and it stays in their guts. Take some of his meadow muffins, place them in a jar of water, and shake. When the stuff settles, you will be able to see whether there is sand in there. Feed him Metamucil or a horse desander (anything with psyllium husks) seven days out of the month. mixed in with his feed.


Also, try rice bran or wheat middlings in his feed. With the Strategy, you don't have to feed as much. But I'd really check on his sand - it won't hurt to get him on a desanding program anyway.
Reply:My friend has been having the same problem. The problem may resolve itself over time and if it doesn't not you should find another vet and one that is a farm/horse vet only. It also depends how long the horse is worked. If it shows signs of exhaustion, it may not be cut out for the job, but please do not abandon it because it cant work. If it cant work, make the rest of its life wonderful.
Reply:May be a tape worm or heart worm ...that was not cleared by your wormer.


http://www.petcaretips.net/weight_loss_h... http://www.statelinetack.com/global/arti...
Reply:check your fence posts i had one that would hook his mouth across a post and suck air. he would not gain a pound and finally caught him doing it and found out that was the reason.
Reply:With young horses this is a common problem. Being 2 1/2 years old he may have not yet grown into his full body. If you h ave all of those things accessible to him, then as the Vet said, he is healthy. Being rode everyday, especially at a vigorous event (cutting/barrels) I wouldnt expect this horse to have hardly any fat on him. You might also try increasing his food rations. You might try slowly mixing 1 large coffee can of Rolled oats and 1 large coffee can of 12% Sweet feed. That usually helps with the weight problem. Other than that, I would just let him grow into his body (usually around 4yrs), keep worming him (every 2-3 months - alternating wormers). Some wormers get a specific set of worms, but dont get Bots. Try to locate a wormer that specifically gets Bots, or maybe (im not sure if they have it or not) one that gets all types of internal parasites for horses. As someone before me has said (about the sucking air) that is called Cribbing, you might look into getting a Cribbing Collar, specifically designed to halt these bad actions.
Reply:We had a horse like that and my farrier sold one like him because he was afraid to take him to the shows being as skinny as he was. Both horses started putting on pure muscle after they turned 5. It was like they were just stuck in a skinny phase until they matured fully. Give him time. If he is healthy and sound then use him to keep is muscle mass and see if he gains on his own in a few years. He may just be a naturally lean horse. Some are just like some stay fat on pasture only. I would trust my vet on this one.





You can try the weight gain mix they sell at Tractor Supply and that may help some too.
Reply:Try Purina High Fat High Fiber and Beet Pulp (SOAKED) - this works VERY well to put weight on hard keepers. As with any feed program, change the food gradually (I would likely add the HFHF and Beet pulp with the sweetfeed as it is good as well) But many horses don't need sweetfeed with HFHF so you can choose. I Hope that helps - email if you want any more infor!!
Reply:Firstly your horse is tsill young, and still growing and developing. All his energy from food should be going into that, but instead it is going into the work he is doing. Horses should never be broken before 4 years old. Seeing as he is already backed, you may as well continue to ride him, but certainly not to this extent. Take him out twice a week for a quiet slow hack on the roads. I work with horses and rescue them as well. I have backed my own rescue pony, and handled him quietly from 2 years until he was four and a half, then slowly backed him. For the first year I just hacked, and did some galloping up tracks. He is now five and a half, and I am only just thinking about jumping now. You need to give your horse time to be a horse. He needs to experience things by himself, and play. He really is still a baby. Hope this helps. I don't mean to sound pushy but if you don't take this advice, your horse will be ruined by the time he is eight.
Reply:try beat pulp soaked, it helps to fill them up and fatten them up to.





i had my mare on it for a while, it worked for her, now she is a good size not fat but not thin.
Reply:Corn oil. Start him on 1/4 c. per day (putting it on the hay will prevents him from refusing grain with corn oil on it) and work your way up to as much as 2 c. per day. 2 c. per day is equivalent to 1 pound of fat (+/-) so, all things equal, this should help your horse gain 30 pounds per month.





Don't believe that it'll make him "hot," either. That's corn, not corn oil.





Finally, buy it at Sam's or Costco so it isn't too expensive per serving.





Good luck!





~DancesWithHorses~
Reply:well, as some people have already said, beet pulp works well, and you should soak it first. Secondly, the corn oil will work also, but takes longer and works better for their coat (makes it shiney and soft) than actual weight gain, but it will work with time. The #1 best thing to do, is start mixing 3 parts oats with 1 part sweet feed. The oats are much better for them and will make them gain more weight than the sweet feed even though most people think the other way around. The sugars in sweet feed are not only bad for their teeth (after several years) but also makes their blood sugars and their motabloism spike to points where they don't gain weight. Start switching the feed slowly by just adding a little oats and then a little more and then a little more until you are at the 3:1 ratio. It should take about a week to completely switch the food. Then, once he's on the oats, if you want you can use corn oil, vegi oil, or cotton seed oil to the feed. I don't recommend going over a cup though because it is oil after all. And if you really want the weight on fast, add a little bit of soaked beet pulp too. On the beet pulp I would add about 1 qt. of SOAKED beet pulp so that would be about 2 cups of dry. I also recomend alternating these things. Keep the horse on pasture, hay and oats at all times, but add beet pulp for 3 days, then dont for 2. same with the oils.
Reply:Your horse might be under some kinda stress my wife's paint (she does barrels and pole bending)was that way for a while she just stayed thin and after a while she was fine . My own thererie is the hay we had at the time might not have had all the nutrients it should of had switched hay and h vent had any trouble since oh and my girls get supplements I think my wife loves our horses more than me lol hope all come well. And if you think about it drop an E-mail id like to know how the horse is doing
Reply:not sure what your worming schedule is-one you can try to worm monthly and rotate womers use full dose of the syringe. the other is to try the panacure power pack. double dose for 5 days. up the grain amount to two coffee cans or try a different grain like LMF. check ingredients to see how they are absorbed by the body like chelated minerals etc. add corn oil to feed and or rice bran to feed. can free feed all in one in a garbage can. go to feed store and order weight gain product. the other thing you may want to try is a product that puts natural enzymes back into the gut. you got a hard keeper and may always be this way. gonna be alot of money in feed to get fat. good luck
Reply:horses get sand in the belly many times and it causes the nutrients from feed not to be absorbed. even horses that eat out of a bunk get this as they scrounge for food on the ground or pick up hay that is thrown out of the bunk, get some bentonite..it is drilling mud and you can get it at an well drilling place, it is very cheap, give the horse 2 cups in his grain for 3 days then weekly for a month, then once a month there after, this works great, it lifts the sand out of the gut and moves it through,i have had many horses brought to me on deaths door and have used this method and saved every one...an old vet taught me this 25-26 years ago and it works. i use this as a preventive measue on all of my horses and never have a gut problem or colic..it gets gummy so they dont like it plain but will eat it with grain...this is the reason many horses eat and do not gain weight,the vet can do a belly tap and see that there is sand in the gut, this will cure that and their hair will glow also ...good luck
Reply:At two and a half,, it might be an ugly duckling kinda thing..


If the vet says he is fine, it could be he was not inshape when training started,,,,,,,,,,, Grease goes away fast,,, muscle comes slow.... At 2 1/2 cut back a little on his workouts, and change the way you feed a little.





Keep his system full of roughage,, and grain in smaller amounts, but more frequently,,, a horses stomach is fairly small





feedinding the larger amount will mainly pass over the abdomen without being utilized.

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