Most of us don't have to worry about being too skinny. So it might be hard to understand why a horse might have trouble putting on weight, especially if food is readily available. This type of horse is known as a "hard keeper".
There could be several reasons for a horse being a hard keeper. Some horses have a more active metabolism and require more calories to maintain adequate body weight, others may burn more calories due to a nervous or stressed condition. Before starting a weight-gain program for an underweight horse, identify any of the following conditions that may be interfering with its digestive efficiency.
Chronic Digestive Problems
Ulcer, diarrhea, and gut obstruction from an abdominal tumor or surgery can reduce feed intake and utilization.
Poor Dental Condition
Missing or worn teeth can interfere with feed intake and proper chewing of feed, reducing the calories the horse can extract from its diet.
Old Age
Weight loss in older horses is often a result of dental problems but decreased digestive efficiency in older horses normally results in weight loss.
Parasite Infestation
A heavy internal parasite load can reduce nutrient absorption and prevent a horse from maintaining proper weight or gaining additional weight. A regular deworming program is essential in sustaining good health and body condition.
Use the following guidelines for a feeding program for your hard keeper. This will allow you to "fine tune" the feeding program and maintain optimum body condition to get the best performance from your horse. Depending on your horse's initial condition, it may take several months to get to his ideal body condition; a slow and steady weight gain is the best approach.
Forage
Feed high quality hay or add some alfalfa hay to the diet. Poor quality hay is more mature and contains more indigestible fiber and fewer calories than higher quality, less mature hay. High quality alfalfa hay can contain as much as 300 more calories per pound than lower more mature grass hay.
If you don't have a high quality grass or mixed hay available, replace some of the grass hay in the diet with alfalfa hay. Chopped alfalfa forage is available can be fed separately or mixed in with the horse's grain meals. Adding 5 to 6 pounds of alfalfa to the horse's daily ration can add 1,500 to 1,800 extra kilocalories over a sole diet of grass hay.
Senior Feed
Select a senior horse feed for older horses. For older horses (over 20 years of age) or younger horses with poor dental condition that are underweight, switch to a feed formulated specifically for them. These feeds contain higher levels of fiber to compensate for the reduced chewing ability of older horses with worn or missing teeth that cannot consume adequate amounts of hay or pasture.
Digestion
Use a horse feed with digestive aids. They contain probiotics, yeast culture, and digestive enzymes that can improve digestive efficiency and weight gain. Feeds that have 10% fat and high digestible energy values help meet the needs of hard working horses.
Horses are Not All the Same
Feed horses individually. All groups of horses develop a social structure with some horses being more dominant. When horses are fed together, the more dominant horses will eat their feed and others as well. Simply providing more feed will not work, the horse that needs more feed must be fed individually.
High Fat
Switch to a high-fat feed or add a high-fat supplement. Fat contains 2.25 times more calories than the same amount of carbohydrate or protein. Select a feed or a supplement with more fat for your hard keeper so you can feed less grain to minimize the risk of colic and maintain body condition. Legends horse feeds contain 6%, 8% and 10% fat, and Legends Pelleted Rice Bran has 18% fat. There are five Triple Crown horse feeds formulated with 10% fat and Triple Crown Training Formula has a 13% fat content. Triple Crown Rice Bran Oil Plus (98% fat) is a supplement that contains flaxseed, rice bran and soy oils.
According to Size
Feed according to body weight and activity level. The larger the horse and the greater the workload, the more calories are needed to maintain body weight. Horses can only consume 2.5 to 3% of body weight daily of grain and hay. For a horse at maintenance to light activity (riding for an hour or less once or twice per week), start with feeding grain at .5 to .75% and hay at 1.5% of body weight. This would be 5 to 7.5 pounds of grain and 15 pounds of hay for a 1.000-pound horse.
For a horse in moderate activity (riding 3 to 4 times per week for an hour or more), feed grain at .75 to 1% and hay at 1.5% of body weight. For intense activity (race training, riding several hours daily for 5 to 6 days per week, etc.), feed grain at 1 to 1.5% and hay at 1.25% of body weight. High-fat feeds like Legends and Triple Crown will allow you to feed less grain and still meet the greater energy needs of a hard keeper.
Monitor the Horse
Monitor changes in the horse's condition with a weight tape. Rely on a weight tape (or a scale, if available) instead of your eye to judge the changes in body condition. A weight tape may not be very accurate for estimating body weight for a particular horse, but it is consistently accurate at finding changes in your horse's weight. Take the measurement every 30 days, applying the tape at the same location around the heart girth and behind the withers, and maintain the same tension on the tape each time you use it. Use this information to adjust your horse's feeding program to maintain a constant body weight.
Making the Change
Make dietary changes gradually. Drastic changes in the type or amount of grain or hay could upset your horse's digestive system. Introducing new feedstuffs in small amounts allows the intestinal microbes to adapt without causing adverse effects. When introducing a new grain concentrate or hay, replace 25% of each meal with the new feedstuff for three days, then replace 50% for three days, then 75% for three days, so that in ten days you have switched over to the new feedstuff without causing a digestive upset.
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About Southern States
Since its beginning as Virginia Seed Service in 1923, Southern States has been at the forefront of agricultural advances throughout its 80 years in business. As a result of its leadership role in agriculture, Southern States has continued to expand and today encompasses some 1,200 retail locations in 23 states. Owned by more than 300,000 farmers, the cooperative purchases, manufactures or processes feed, seed, fertilizer, farm supplies and fuel. Visit them online at www.southernstates.com.
