Weight on my horse?

I finally got Mo, my Arab, to the vet. WHEW! Needless to say our vet was appalled at the condition of his teeth at only 11 yrs old. She said he was probably a "grain baby"(?). His teeth looked like a roller coaster and it would take us at least 4 years to flatten them out. She did what she could and he can at least eat and will hopefully get more nutrition.


I need to get at least 70-80 lbs on him before winter hits. She said to feed hom more SafeChoice but I have heard some other suggestions on here for fattening him up.


Heard about beet pulp....what is that?

Weight on my horse?
Beet pulp is what is left over after they extract the sugar from sugar beet. It's dried and sold as animal feed.


It is very good for putting weight on horses and keeping them warm through winter but it must be soaked before feeding as it swells up. The length of time you need to soak it varies on the type - you can buy it in pellets, flakes or shreds. The one I use has to be soaked for 12 hours. Generally horses love it.


Don't give them the water you soak it in though as it will have a high sugar content and can make them fizz up fast.








Easi Beet costs more, soaks in 10-15 minutes but the horses don't think it's as nice ( well, mine don't anyway.)








BTW numerous people I know have successfully used unsoaked sugar beet as rat bait - it tastes good, they eat it and die.
Reply:Here is an article on beat pulp, it may be a good alternative since your horse has dental problems.
Reply:I've used Nutrena Empower to put weight on a horse. It is a supplement with a very high fat content. But keep in mind, this is fat, not muscle. If you want muscle, you need more protein. Do not change the diet suddenly -- do it gradually over at least a week.
Reply:Below is some info on beet pulp from equisearch.com (some may be useful)...i would try and add oil to his food , linseed, soya, corn, vegetable...i know a tb who keeps weight horribly...oil added to feeds helped. as did weight gain mix...good luck








Beet pulp contains lots of fermentable fiber and is fairly easy for horses to digest. It is often incorporated into "complete" or "high fiber" commercial concentrates as a source of fiber and some horse owners feed it as a separate "mash" for a variety of reasons, one of the most common being the belief that it is high calorie and will help horses gain weight.





However, beet pulp is not high calorie--it has only slightly more calories than good quality hay and less than an equivalent weight of oats. Beet pulp does contain about 10 percent protein, 0.8 percent calcium and 0.5 percent phosphorus, making it a more "balanced" source of energy and fiber than the more traditional wheat bran (15 percent protein, 0.06 percent calcium, 1.3 percent phosphorus). The high fiber content may "normalize" fermentation in the large colons, resulting in more efficient "digestion" over all, which may be why many "hard keeper" horses that have a significant portion of their grain concentrates replaced with beet pulp seem to maintain better body condition. It has been used to replace over 50% of the forage in horse's rations without adverse effects when fed with other balanced concentrates.





An enduring concern about beet pulp is that if you feed it to a horse dry, it will swell up after it is eaten and cause choke or colic. While some horses have choked after being fed shredded beet pulp, a fairly large university study did not document this problem. This is a good way to encourage increased water intake, especially in the winter. Pelleted, extruded or shredded beet pulp product need to be soaked for old horses and/or those with severe dental problems.
Reply:I have put some websites for you to look at:





This is by far the best one:





http://www.equussource.com/articles/nutr...





Good luck with fattening hinm up! Also talk to your vet about vitamin supplement for your horse.
Reply:You can feed soaked sugar beet and boiled barley is also good for adding weight. You can use just regular corn oil added to the food (same as what you cook with) and just a drizzle over the food is enough. Too much and you could give him the runs. Canola oil can also be used and doesn't have such a laxative effect.
Reply:Corn Oil not veg. oil. It works the best because of the calories. Other common sources of fat include rice bran, linseed, sunflower seeds, full fat soybeans and coconut meal (copra meal). Rice bran is an excellent product for improving body condition of thin horses because it is a good combination of rice oil and highly digestible fiber. Rice bran can be added to the regular grain to increase the caloric density of the ration. Linseed, sunflower seeds and other seeds provide fat in the diet. However, a problem does arise when feeding vast amounts of seeds. As quantities of seeds fed increases, consumption will frequently slow sometimes to the point of total refusal. Roasted soybeans are also great in small quantities but will increase the protein percentage of the diet too much if fed in larger amounts. A high fat diet is a MUST tool for achieving weight gain in a skinny horse. Normally horses have no problem digesting fat as long as it is introduced gradually into the diet. Dietary fat works best when fed in conjunction with grain and/or highly digestible fiber sources like good quality hay.


I hope this helps..... a little food for thought!! LOL
Reply:Good to know you made it to the vet and back!


I have used Weight Builder on my horses. It is a supplement and in 30 days my horse was fat! Good stuff. Expensive but good. I am taking my ole man to get his teeth done tomorrow, not really looking forward to it as I don't know if they have ever been floated!


I can't comment on beet pulp or SafeChoice. Empower is good but read the protien and fat levels. It is high in energy but not so high for getting fat on one.


Use Corn Oil, you can get the store brand. I use those medicine cups that come with Peptobismol or cough meds. Just fill to the top and pour over the feed. I would not use more then that because your horse will get the runs. Not only will this help get weight on him but his coat and hooves will really start lookin good. If you feed corn oil before they start to shed, it will speed up shedding and you will be done with it really fast. Nice slick ponies! I would not feed him senior feed. That feed is geared to keep weight on one, not to build it up. Feed something like Strategy or Omolene 300 or 200.


Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
Reply:I don't know much about beet pulp, never have used it. I am learning from your answerers links though -good question.


I do however want to mention caution on feeding the corn, vegy, soy, etc. oil thing. "Some" horses get very gassy from it. ( I know this from personal experience) My TB for example, collics hard from it (he is a big baby though).


Anyway, just thought I would share so no surprises.
Reply:okay first i was told by a horse nutrionalist that beet bulp is more of a laxative for horses like the psyllium perfect example the answer you were given stating its high in fiber..... well what happens if you eat too much fiber???? i gave a horse beet pulp once and all it did was give him the runs!!! i feed it to him just as suggested and so i called my nutrionalist friend and that is when he had told me about it being like psyllium. you could try to feed him rice bran about a 16 oz. coffee can per day split in half give half for breakfast and half with dinner.... you could try the senior feed by purina its a very soft feed but be careful as some horses tend to get hot with the sweet feeds like that so just keep an eye on him make sure it doesnt make him crazy hot!! you could also give him a light lunch since horses are grazing animals by nature you could give him a 3-way hay(oat,wheat,%26amp;barley) if he is unable to chew the hay cuz of his teeth you could also give him the alfalfa in the pellet form, like the thoroughbred blend, that is a complete pellet and it also has extra vitamins and good stuff in it for them!!! as with any new feeding program or introducing your horse to a new feed plz be carefull and gradually introduce them to what you are starting them on. i do know the rice bran and senior work i have had to fatten up 3 horses that i rescued a few yrs back and it worked!!! i gave them the rice bran and senior with source one in a bucket with there alfalfa for breakfast and dinner and than for lunch they got a half of a flake of the 3-way hay!!! good luck to you and your horse!!!
Reply:When I first got my horse so was about 200# under weight. My vet told me to feed 25# of alfalfe meal to her and let her eat it free feed till she finishes it, then when she finishes it to dump the other 25# in her feeder. I tryed this and it took about a month for her to finish the alfalfa meal, but she put 200# on. It worked great and she loved it.


If your horse is a hard keeper and wont keep the weight on I would suggest giving Mo a coffee can full of the alfalfa meal and adding a supplement called Cool Calories. This combo works really well for my hard keeper.





Good Luck!!
Reply:i think you've got lots of answers on what beet pulp is and whats in it but i have to say i dont really find it that good for putting on weight i find it as a temporary filler upper lol nice termonology. cuz i mean you have to soak it in water so its basically filling them up real nice but theres not loads of calories in it.





try a higher percentage of pellets that has molasses in it and add canola oil to it to help it stick to the ribs. thats how i fattened up my mare, with good hay many times during the day, they can only use so much at one time!
Reply:also you can use Calf manna it is like a powder and horses love it just take a handfull and put it on there feed ....you should see a big change quickly and it make there hair shine as well.